Wasif al-Turki

Wasif al-Turki (Arabic: وصيف التركي‎‎) (died October 29, 867) was a Turkish general in the service of the Abbasid Caliphate. He played a central role in the events that followed the assassination of al-Mutawakkil in 861, known as the Anarchy at Samarra. During this period he and his ally Bugha al-Sharabi were often in effective control of affairs in the capital, and were responsible for the downfall of several caliphs and rival officials. After Wasif was killed in 867, his position was inherited by his son Salih.

Wasif was originally a slave (ghulam) and was owned by the Nu'man family in Baghdad, where he worked as an armorer. At some point he was purchased by the future caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), and he soon rose to prominence as a member of the Abbasids' new Turkish corps. When al-Mu'tasim decided to move his capital to Samarra in 836, Wasif and his followers were settled in the new city, having received land allotments adjacent to al-Hayr. In 838 Wasif participated in al-Mu'tasim's Amorium campaign, and is mentioned as commanding the caliph's advance guard as they passed through the Gates of Tarsus. According to al-Ya'qubi, Wasif also served as al-Mu'tasim's chamberlain (hajib).

During the caliphate of al-Wathiq (r. 842–847), Wasif was granted the Samarran cantonment of al-Matira, which had formerly been in the possession of the disgraced general al-Afshin. In 846 he undertook an expedition to the areas of Isfahan, al-Jibal and Fars, where he attempted to stop a band of Kurds from infiltrating the region.

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