At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Overview
At the start of Abu Bakr al-Suli's service under al-Muktafi, he played al-Mawardi, a chess player the caliph favoured and watched. Al-Suli beat him decisively, the caliph's favour shifted, and he remarked to al-Mawardi that his rosewater had turned to urine. 1
The event is tied to the caliph al-Muktafi and to al-Suli. The text does not date the match; it is placed within al-Muktafi's reign (289–295 AH) 2.
Connections
- Occurred at
- Baghdad
- Part of
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Had participant
- al-Suli· al-Muktafi bi-Allah
- Related to
- al-Mawardi the chess-player
- During the reign of
- al-Mu'tadid bi-llah· al-Muktafi bi-Allah
People and things also explored
Al-Mu'tadid at chess when al-Qasim ibn Ubaydallah entered· Baghdad· Baraz al-Rawz palace· Abu Ahmad Imprisons His Son Abu al-Abbas al-Mu'tadid· Al-Farabi moves to Baghdad· Al-Radi prefers al-Suli's chess to a garden's flowers· The appointment of Amr ibn al-Layth over the lands beyond the Balkh river· Unrest over the Christian accused of insulting the Prophet, 284
Sources
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 677
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p. 634
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Chess match of al-Suli and al-Mawardi before al-Muktafi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/chess-match-al-suli-and-al-mawardi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-09.
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