Al-Fath ibn Khaqan

Al-Fatḥ ibn Khāqān (ca. 817/8 – 11 December 861) was an Abbasid official and one of the most prominent figures of the court of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). The son of a Turkish general of Caliph al-Mu'tasim, al-Fath was raised at the caliphal palace alongside the future al-Mutawakkil and adopted by the Caliph at age seven. With the accession of al-Mutawakkil, he occupied a series of official posts, including governor of Egypt and the Syrian provinces, but his power stemmed mainly from his close relationship to al-Mutawakkil, whose main adviser and confidante he was. A well-educated man and ardent bibliophile, al-Fath was himself a writer and a patron of writers, and assembled a large library at his palace at Samarra. He was assassinated by the Turkish guard alongside al-Mutawakkil.

Al-Fath was the son of Khaqan ibn Urtuj, a Turkish leader related to the ruling family of Ferghana. Coming from his homeland in Central Asia to serve in the caliphal army, Urtuj had risen to become one of the main commanders—alongside Ashinas, Wasif al-Turki, and al-Afshin—of the Turkish guard established by Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). Al-Fath was born around 817/8, as he was likely of age with the future al-Mutawakkil, along with whom he was raised and educated since infancy, and whose closest companion and confidante he became. At the age of seven, al-Fath was adopted by al-Mu'tasim. Indeed, as the historian Matthew Gordon comments, "a range of anecdotal evidence suggests that al-Fath and al-Mutawakkil were inseparable". Of his brothers, the most notable was Muzahim, who became a military officer and ended up as governor of Egypt, where he was succeeded by his son Ahmad.

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