Abu Bakr al-Suli

Abu Bakr Muhammad bin Yahya al-Suli (born: 266–267 A.H/ 880 A.D, died: 334–335 A.H/ 946 A.D) (aged 68-69. lunar calendar) was a nadim (boon companion) of successive Abbasid caliphs. He was noted for his poetry and scholarship and wrote a chronicle called Akhbar al-Radi wa'l-Muttaqi, detailing the reigns of the caliphs al-Radi and al-Muttaqi. He was a legendary shatranj (an ancestor of chess) player, still remembered to this day.

Upon the death of al-Radi in 940, al-Suli fell into disfavour with the new ruler due to his sympathies towards Shi'a Islam and as a result had to go into exile at Basra, where he spent the rest of his life in poverty. Born into an illustrious family of Turkish origin, Al-Suli's great-grandfather was the Turkish prince Sul-takin and his uncle was the poet Ibrahim ibn al-'Abbas as-Suli.

Al-Suli's chronicle has long been in the shadow of more famous chronicles such as those of al-Mas'udi and Miskawayh, perhaps because al-Suli was seen as a nadim and not a serious scholar. However, the account is significant for offering an eyewitness account of the transition to Buyid rule. It was during al-Radi's caliphate in 936 that the position of amir al-umara was created, which allowed for the transfer of executive power from the caliph to an amir, a position that the Buyids later used to establish a new dynasty alongside the Abbasids. After this point, the Abbasids never regained their full power. However, al-Suli's account makes it clear that not all power was transferred to the amirs. He treats the period as a time of crisis, but not the end of the Abbasid caliphate.

Al-Suli came to prominence as a shatranj player sometime between 902 and 908 when he beat al-Mawardi, the court shatranj champion of al-Muktafi, and the Caliph of Baghdad. Al-Mawardi was so thoroughly beaten that he fell from favour, and was replaced by al-Suli. After al-Muktafi's death, al-Suli remained in the favour of the succeeding ruler, al-Muqtadir and in turn ar-Radi.

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