Ahmad ibn Tuloon skillfully utilized Egypt’s human potentials and resources and made full use of them. His reign was considered the real beginning of the Islamic state in Egypt; due to the fact that Egypt had reached the peak in all aspects of life; political, social and artistic. Egypt even surpassed the government of the Abbasid Caliphate, materially and morally.

This drove the Abbasid Caliphate to rely on Egypt. The Egyptians relished prosperity, stability and affluence during the reign of Ibn Tuloon in a way that was not to be found in other regions in the Islamic world in the third century AH / ninth century AD. Ahmad ibn Tuloon ruled a vast state from Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south and from Cyrenaica in the west to Ash-Shaam in the east. He was the first ruler to control Egypt and Ash-Shaam under the dominance of the Islamic Caliphate.

The best description of the development of Egypt in the reign of Ahmad ibn Tooloon was what Al-Qalqashandi said, “In the days of Ahmad ibn Tooloon, Egypt prospered and flourished and turned from being an emirate to being a kingdom."

Ahmad ibn Tuloon founded a new city in 256 AH / 870 AD on Yashkur Mountain, which is known as Al-Kabsh Citadel between Al-Fustaat and the hills of Moqattam. The new city was named Al-Qataa’i‘; because each group of his men had taken a piece of its lands and inhabited it. There was a piece of land allocated for the people of Sudan, another for the Romans, another for Al-Farraasheen, and so on. The army lords built houses all over the new city that it was crowded with residents. Mosques, mills, and public baths were built and turned it into a major city.

Ahmad ibn Tooloon built himself a huge palace in his new city and made a large and spacious field before the palace for the marches of his army. He set up barracks around the palace for his soldiers and staff. When Ahmad ibn Tuloon died, his son Khumarawiyah came to power and expanded the palace of his late father. He turned the field into an orchard where he planted various types of herbs and varieties of trees. Ahmad ibn Tuloon also built at the foot of Yashkur Mountain his famous mosque that bears his name. The Ahmad ibn Tooloon Mosque is still intact until the present time and it is considered one of the main Islamic religious monuments in Egypt. Its construction was over in 265 AH / 879 AD.

Ahmad ibn Tooloon also built Al-Maarastaan (hospital) in the year 259 AH / 872 AD to treat all patients regardless of their social classes or religions. The hospital was open for all patients free of charge and he also affiliated a pharmacy to the hospital to supply patients with medicine. When a patient was admitted to the hospital, his old clothes were replaced with new ones, his money was deposited with the secretary of the hospital, and he received the needed treatment until his disease was cured. The indication of the patient’s recovery was his ability to eat a loaf of bread and a chicken. Then, he was allowed to be discharged of the hospital. Ahmad ibn Tuloon used to inspect the hospital himself and monitor the doctors’ work and supervise the patients.

Ahmad ibn Tooloon managed to build a huge army for Egypt. It was the first independent army for Egypt in the middle ages. Ahmad ibn Tuloon was the Supreme Commander of the army and no one had authority over the army and his men. [20]

The army was composed of Sudanese, Greeks, Turks and Arabs and it included more than twenty-four thousand Turks, forty thousand Sudanese, and seven thousand mercenaries. The army salaries during the reign of Khumaarawayh reached nine hundred thousand Dinars.

Ahmad ibn Tuloon exerted great efforts to promote agriculture in Egypt and increase agricultural production. He fixed the canals that irrigated the fields and drilled new ones. He also fixed the broken dams and protected the farmers from the injustice and oppression of the tax collectors. All these commendable efforts resulted in increasing the cultivated lands in Egypt and decreasing the prices of grain to the lowest level. His son Khumaarawayh paid similar attention to agriculture.

Industry also prospered in Egypt during the Tulunid Era. The textile industry topped the industries for which Egypt was famous at the time. The flax industry prospered and gained new markets. Various types of linen were manufactured in the cities of Tennyis, Damietta, Daabiq, Shata and Dumayrah and other Egyptian cities. Linen was also manufactured in other cities in Upper Egypt, Fayoum, Bahansa, and Akhmim. Egypt was also famous for the wool textile that was known for its high quality. It was exported in large quantities to many countries. Gold-embroidered and embellished textiles that were produced in Alexandria were also known for their high quality.

https://www.islamstory.com/en/artical/20614