Isma'il ibn Bulbul

Who is Isma'il ibn Bulbul?

Abu 'l-Sakr Isma'il ibn Bulbul was a prominent official of the Abbasid Caliphate during the reign of al-Mu'tamid, serving as vizier of the Caliphate from 878 to 892.

Although he claimed membership of the Arab Banu Shayban tribe, he was of Persian or Mesopotamian origin. He rose through the ranks of the Abbasid bureaucracy, becoming head of the diwan of the royal domains, and was appointed to the highest civil office, that of vizier, by the regent al-Muwaffaq in 878. He was deposed soon after, but was reinstated within a 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 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 sympathies, and a determined enemy in al-Muwaffaq's son, the future Caliph al-Mu'tadid, 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.