أبوالحسين بجكم المكاني، ويشار إليه بالاسم بجكم (من Bäčkäm، وهي حدثة فارسية وهجرية تعني ذيل الحصان أوذيل الياك)، هوقائد عسكري توركي وأمير الأمرء في عهد الخلافة العباسية. كغلام سابقة للزياريين، ولج بجكم في خدمة العباسيين في أعقاب اغتيال الحاكم الزياري مرداویج‎‎ عام 935. أثناء الخمس سنوات التي قضاها في بلاد الخلافة ببغداد، مُنح لقب أمير الأمراء، مما عزز هيمنته على الخليفة الراضي والمتقي ومنحه سلطة مطلقة على ملكياتهمم. أثناء حكمه قابل بجكم تحديات من مختلف منافسيه، ومنهم سلفه، أمير الأمراء السابق ابن رائق، من بويهي البصرة، وبوهيوإيران، لكنه نجح في إحكام سيطرته حتى وفاته. قتله مجموعة من الأكراد أثناء رحلة صيد عام 941، بعد فترة وجيزة من تنصيب المتقي كخليفة. اشتهر بجكم بحكمه الصارم ورعايته لمفكري بغداد، الذين كانوا يحترمونه وفي بعض الحالات يناصرونه. أدت وفاته إلى إلغاء السلطة المركزية، مما أسفر عن فترة وجيزة من عدم الاستقرار والقتال في بغداد.

بداية حياته العسكرية والخدمة تحت إمرة ابن رائق

تفاصيل الحياة المبكرة لبجكم غير معروفة. كان أحد الغلمان (العبيد العسكريين، وعادة ماقد يكونوا من أصل توركي) التابعين لأمير الحرب الديلمي ماكان بن كاكي شمال إيران. اعتنى ماكان بتدريب بجكم وتعليمه، الجميل الذي اعترف به بجكم باتخاذه لقب راعيه نسيبة. بعد ماكان، ولج بجكم في خدمة مرداویج‎‎، مؤسس الأسرة الزيارية، التي حكم ديلم وإقليم الجبال وطبرستان. أساء مرداويج معاملة غلامه، الذي لاقى حتفه في النهاية في إصفهان، يناير 935، الحادث الذي كان فيه شبهة تواطؤ من جانب بجكم. بعد وفاة مرداويج، تشتت معظم الغلمان الذين كانوا في خدمة الزياريين. قام بجكم وتابعه توزون بقيادة مجموعة ضخمة، بعد أول عرض تلقوه لخدمة الحاكم الجديد لإقليم الجبال، حسن بن هارون، تقدما للبلاط العباسي في بغداد. في البداية، رُفض عرضهم من قبل البلاط، حيث شعر حرس الخليفة بالغيرة من صلاحياتهم، لكن في النهاية ولج الغلمان في خدمة محمد ابن رائق، حاكم البصرة وواسط بجنوب العراق. بعد حتى أصبح يُعهد باسم بجكم الرقائقي، شكل بجكم قوة عسكرية ضخمة تحت قيادته تتألف من تابعيه فضلاً عن أفراد تورك آخرين استنادىهم الدلايمة من إقليم الجبال.

في أوائل نوفمبر 936، الخليفة الراضي (حكم 934-340) منح ابن رائق لقب أمير الأمراء حديث النشأة، مما منحه سلطة مطلقة على الخلافة. أثار هذا ردود أفعال مختلفة من حكام المقاطعات فضلاً عن الجماعات المتطلعة للسلطة في بغداد نفسها، مثل حرس الخليفة. ضدهم، استعان ابن رائق ببجكم ومناصريه التورك. بمساعدتهم، تمكن من تحييد وحدات حرس حجري وساجي، بعد ذلك، في فبراير 937، تقلد بجكم منصب صاحب الشرطة وحاكم المقاطعات الشرقية.

Far more difficult and protracted was the war against the ambitious governor of Ahwaz, Abu Abdallah al-Baridi, who aimed to supplant Ibn Ra'iq. Al-Baridi's family was of Basran origin, and had served the Abbasids in various roles as officials before managing to assert a weak hold over Khuzistan. Ibn Ra'iq himself was defeated and forced to leave Basra to the Baridis, but Bajkam saved the situation by scoring two major victories, despite being outnumbered, that allowed him to take possession of Khuzistan. The hard-pressed al-Baridi now turned to his powerful neighbour, the Buyid ruler of Fars, Ali ibn Buya, for help. Ali's brother Ahmad soon took over Khuzistan, and Ibn Ra'iq was forced to offer possession of the province as an independent domain if Bajkam would recover it. Bajkam however was repulsed by the Buyid forces, and fell back to Wasit.

Ignoring Ibn Ra'iq's orders to retake Khuzistan, Bajkam remained at Wasit, and began plotting to depose Ibn Ra'iq himself. To this end, Bajkam began seeking allies: he offered the governorship of Wasit to the Baridis, and through the former vizier Ibn Muqla, who wished to avenge himself on Ibn Ra'iq for his own downfall and confiscation of his property, gained the covert support of Caliph al-Radi himself. In September 938, Bajkam led his troops from Wasit to Baghdad. Ibn Ra'iq tried without success to impede his advance by destroying the great dams of the Nahrawan Canal and flooding the plain, but Bajkam's army entered the Abbasid capital without opposition, and al-Radi immediately transferred Ibn Ra'iq's title of amir al-umara to Bajkam.

أمير الأمراء

Despite the continued relegation of al-Radi to a ceremonial role, the relationship between the Caliph and Bajkam was strong, with al-Radi praising Bajkam for his harsh discipline and referring to the latter as his "protégé". Al-Radi was appreciative of Bajkam's respect for his position as Caliph, and promised his support for the amir al-umara.

وفي أكتوبر-نوفمبر 938، شن بجكم والخليفة حملة ضد أمير الموصل الحمداني المؤثر، ناصر الدولة حسبن بن عبد الله, who had taken advantage of the turmoil in Iraq to cease forwarding his province's revenue to Baghdad. Although Bajkam's army captured Mosul, Hasan fled before him to the remotest corners of his domain, where Bajkam's forces pursued him in vain. In the meantime, the local population resented the presence of the caliphal troops and launched guerilla warfare against them, while Ibn Ra'iq used Bajkam's absence to take control of Baghdad at the head of a Carmathian force. These developments forced Bajkam to negotiate with his rivals: the Hamdanids were restored in their province in exchange for the payment of the tax arrears, and Ibn Ra'iq was bought off with the governorship of the provinces of Tariq al-Furat, Diyar Mudar, Qinnasrin and al-'Awasim, which were also claimed by the Ikhshidids of Egypt. This arrangement allowed Bajkam and the Caliph to return to Baghdad in February 939.

Bajkam, having consolidated his control over Baghdad, now turned to face the threat posed by the Buyids. To this end, he strengthened his ties with the Baridis of Basra, by handing over Wasit, as previously agreed, appointing Abu Abdallah al-Baridi as vizier of the Abbasid court (although the latter remained at Wasit and did not visit Baghdad), and, finally, by marrying himself to one of al-Baridi's daughters. Bajkam's success against the Buyids was mixed: Wasit was saved from Buyid attack, and the Baridis led a successful campaign in Susiana, but an expedition into Jibal was crushed by the third Buyid brother, Hasan. The alliance with the Baridis quickly soured, however, as al-Baridi still maintained his ambition of replacing Bajkam, and ajkam was aware of this. In late August 940, Bajkam removed al-Baridi from the vizierate and launched an attack on Wasit, which the Baridis abandoned without resistance. In the meantime, the Baghdad was in turmoil as religious violence had become commonplace, with fanatical members of the Hanbali school imposing their tenets on the general populace.

In December 940, al-Radi died. Bajkam remained at Wasit, but sent his secretary to Baghdad to convene a council of Abbasid aristocrats, who selected al-Muttaqi (r. 940–944), al-Radi's brother, as Caliph. Bajkam also sent a slave named Takinak to the deceased Caliph's palace, the Dar al-Sultan, to procure various items, including the valuable al-Yatimah pearl. He also obtained three female slaves from al-Radi's palace, whose singing he remembered from his earlier visits to the Caliph.

Among al-Muttaqi's first actions as Caliph was the confirmation of Bajkam as أمير الأمراء. Despite al-Muttaqi's gesture of support, Bajkam still faced opposition among the semi-autonomous provincial governors, including al-Baridi.

مصرعه والفوضى التي تلت ذلك

Bajkam opened a campaign against al-Baridi in early spring 941. His lieutenants were at first defeated by the Baridis, whereupon Bajkam himself left Wasit to take the field. On his way to join his army, however, he was informed that his generals had achieved a major victory over the Baridis, and decided to return to Wasit. On 21 April 941, while travelling, he took part in a hunting excursion, during which he and his party inadvertently encountered a band of Kurdish brigands. During a brief skirmish, Bajkam was slain when one of the Kurds stabbed him in the back with his lance.

Bajkam's unexpected death created a power vacuum in Baghdad, with disagreements between Daylamite and Turkish forces prompting the former to join the defeated al-Baridi. With their assistance, he marched on Wasit and Baghdad, capturing them, but was soon forced to flee due to the disorder that followed his usurpation of power. A Daylamite chief named Kurankij replaced him as de facto ruler of Baghdad, but he imposed tyrannical rule, and al-Muttaqi appealed to the former amir al-umara Ibn Ra'iq for assistance.

Ibn Ra'iq soon retook control of Baghdad, but political turmoil did not cease with his re-installation as amir al-umara. Once again, al-Baridi captured the city, and Ibn Ra'iq fled with the Caliph to Mosul, from where the Hamdanid rulers launched a successful attempt to restore them. The Hamdanid emir Hasan, after ordering the assassination of Ibn Ra'iq, was made amir al-umara and given the laqab of Nasir al-Dawla ("Defender of the Dynasty"). In 943, the Hamdanids were forced to retreat to Mosul when Tuzun, one of Bajkam's officers, seized power with military support; the following year, Tuzun captured, blinded, and deposed al-Muttaqi, assuming the role of amir al-umara. The Caliph's brother, al-Mustakfi (r. 944–946), was appointed as his successor. The competition for control of the Caliph ended in 945, when the Buyid Ahmad took over the position of amir al-umara with the title of Mu'izz al-Dawla. This begun the period of undisputed Buyid control over Baghdad and Iraq, which lasted until the Seljuk conquest in the 1050s.

شخصيته

Despite his slave origin, Bajkam was educated in Arabic (although he reportedly did not speak it for fear of making mistakes), respected by intellectuals and was known to seek the company of such men as al-Suli and the physician Sinan ibn Thabit. It is in their writings that glimpses of his character survive. According to the researcher Marius Canard, Bajkam was "covetous of power and money, he did not hesitate to resort to dissimulation and ruse, corruption and torture to attain his ends; he was at times cruel, though his bravery was legendary, and was more upright in character than Ibn Ra'iq". Bajkam was also solicitous for the welfare of his subjects, and especially the inhabitants of Wasit cherished his memory.

الهامش

المصادر

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• Canard, Marius (1986). "Badjkam". The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume I: A–B. Leiden and New York: BRILL. pp. 866–867. ISBN .
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• Shalem, Avinoam (1997). "Jewels and Journeys: The Case of the Medieval Gemstone Called al-Yatima". Muqarnas. XIV. Retrieved 27 October 2012.