Abuʾl-Ṣaqr Ismāʿīl ibn Bulbul () (844/5–891) was a prominent official of the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

during the reign of

al-Mu'tamid Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن جعفر; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name Al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh (, "Dependent on God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 t ...

(r. 870–892), serving as

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

of the Caliphate from 878 to 892. Although he claimed membership of the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Banu Shayban The Banu Shayban () is an Arab tribe, a branch of the Bakr ibn Wa'il group. Throughout the early Islamic era, the tribe was settled chiefly in the Jazira, and played an important role in its history. History In the pre-Islamic period, the Shayb ...

tribe, he was of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

n origin. He rose through the ranks of the Abbasid bureaucracy, becoming head of the '' diwan'' of the royal domains, but appears in the sources only in 878, when he was appointed to the highest civil office, that of

, by the regent

al-Muwaffaq Abu Ahmad Talha ibn Ja'far ( ar, أبو أحمد طلحة بن جعفر}; 29 November 843 – 2 June 891), better known by his as Al-Muwaffaq Billah (), was an Abbasid prince and military leader, who acted as the ''de facto'' regent of the Abba ...

. He was deposed soon after, but was reinstated in the same year. Nevertheless, real power in the government resided with al-Muwaffaq's own secretary, Sa'id ibn Makhlad, and it was not until the latter's downfall in 885/6 that Isma'il truly became head of the administration. He enjoyed wide-ranging authority which extended even to the military. It was he that, facing chronic financial shortages, recruited two merchant brothers, Ahmad ibn al-Furat and his brother

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

, who became central figures within the caliphal administration over the next few decades. Isma'il ibn Bulbul had

Shi'ite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

sympathies, and was a determined enemy in al-Muwaffaq's son, the future Caliph

al-Mu'tadid Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa al-Muwaffaq ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن طلحة الموفق), 853/4 or 860/1 – 5 April 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh ( ar, المعتضد بالله, link=no, ...

(r. 892–902), whose growing political and military power he tried unsuccessfully to neutralize. Consequently, when al-Muwaffaq died in June 891 and was succeeded as regent by al-Mu'tadid, Isma'il was arrested and died shortly after.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail Ibn Bulbul 840s births 891 deaths Viziers of the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century Iranian people Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate