861 CE
Caliph al-Mutawakkil is assassinated by his Turkish guard, starting the period of troubles known as the "Anarchy at Samarra" (861–870). He is succeeded by his son Al-Muntasir, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate. Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) orders the construction of a Nilometer on Rhoda Island in central Cairo, supervised by the Persian astronomer Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani. Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, a Muslim military leader, starts rebelling against the Abbasids and founds the Saffarid Dynasty in the 870s. He rules over parts of Khurasan and eastern Iran, and establishes his capital at Zaranj (modern Afghanistan).
Conflict & Security
- March – Robert the Strong is appointed margrave of Neustria by King Charles the Bald. He re-establishes the Breton March, and extends his remit by campaigning against Salomon, duke 'king' of Brittany. Robert hires a combined Seine-Loire fleet for 6,000 pounds of silver, 'before Salomon can ally with them against him'. In return, Salomon enlists 12 Viking ships under the command of Hastein, to raid the county of Maine, which, with Anjou, becomes squeezed between Brittany and Neustria.source
- Carloman, eldest son of King Louis the German, revolts against his father. He is captured, but manages to escape to the Ostmark (or 862).source
- Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, a Muslim military leader, starts rebelling against the Abbasids and founds the Saffarid Dynasty in the 870s. He rules over parts of Khurasan and eastern Iran, and establishes his capital at Zaranj (modern Afghanistan).source
- Summer – Viking raiders sack the cities of Paris, Cologne, Aachen, Worms and Toulouse.source
Religion & Belief
- December 11 – Caliph al-Mutawakkil is assassinated by his Turkish guard, starting the period of troubles known as the "Anarchy at Samarra" (861–870). He is succeeded by his son Al-Muntasir, as ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate.source
- Spring – The Council of Constantinople, attended by 318 fathers and presided over by papal legates, confirms Photius the Great as patriarch, and passes 17 canons.source
Science & Discovery
- Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) orders the construction of a Nilometer on Rhoda Island in central Cairo, supervised by the Persian astronomer Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani.source
Births
Deaths
- April 6 – Prudentius, bishop of Troyessource
- December 11 – al-Fath ibn Khaqan, chief confidante and councillor of al-Mutawakkilsource
- December 11 – Al-Mutawakkil, Abbasid caliph (b. 822), On the night of 11 December, about one hour after midnight, the Turk guards burst in the chamber where the Caliph and al-Fath were having supper. Al-Fath was killed trying to protect the Caliph, who was killed next. His son, Al-Muntasir, who now assumed the caliphate, initially claimed that al-Fath had murdered his father, and that he had been killed after; within a short time, however, the official story changed to al-Mutawakkil choking on his drink.source
- Álvaro of Córdoba, Mozarab scholar and theologiansource
- Shuja also known as Umm Jaʽfar was the mother of Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil.source
- Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani, Persian astronomersource
- Meinrad of Einsiedeln, German hermit and martyrsource
- Samuel of Kakheti, Georgian princesource
- Pribina, Slavic prince (approximate date)source
- Bai Minzhong, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 792)source
- Gregory of Khandzta, Georgian archimandrite (b. 759)source
- Gladilanus, Galician clergyman (approximate date)source
- Ansovinus, bishop of Camerino (approximate date)source