Basāsīrī, Arslān al-Muẓaffar al-

▪ Islamic military leader

died Jan. 15, 1060, Saqy al-Furāt, near Kūfah, Iraq

      Islāmic military leader.

      Al-Basāsīrī was born a Turkish slave, and his activities were first mentioned about 1025. At the time, the weakened ʿAbbāsid (Abbāsid Dynastyʿ) caliphs at Baghdad, who represented Sunnite Islām, were under continuous pressure from the Fāṭimid (Fāṭimid Dynasty) caliphs of Egypt, representing the Shīʿite sect, and the insurgent Turks commanded by Toghrïl Beg. Al-Basāsīrī, a veteran of many battles in these struggles, joined with Arab tribesmen in 1058–59 to attempt to defeat the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Qāʾim in favour of the Fāṭimids. He was unsuccessful and was killed by the Turks in 1060. Toghrïl Beg seized Baghdad and reestablished under his control the supremacy of the ʿAbbāsids, and thereby favoured Sunnite over Shīʿite Islām.

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