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

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

during the reign of

al-Mu'tamid Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Muʿtamid ʿalā’Llāh (; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtamid ʿalā 'llāh (, 'Dependent on God'), ...

(r. 870–892), serving as

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

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

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

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

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 is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

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 Ṭalḥa ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Muwaffaq bi'Llah (; 29 November 843 – 2 June 891), better known by his as Al-Muwaffaq Billah (), was an Abbasid dynasty, Abbasid prince ...

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

Shi'ite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

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

al-Mu'tadid Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn (), 853/4 or 860/1 – 5 April 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh (), was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 892 until his death ...

(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 9th-century government officials