Bughā al-Kabīr (d. 248/862), to be distinguished from Bughā al-Saghīr, a contemporary but of no relation, was an ʿAbbāsid commander who rose from the ranks of the Sāmarrāʾ-based Turkish-Central Asian slave corps. He is reported to have been acquired by al-Muʿtaṣim (r. 218-27/833-42) in 204/819-820 (al-Ṣūlī, 457). A passage in al-Ṣūlī refers to Bughā's well-established martial reputation and the simultaneous purchase of his sons (awlāduhu) . His origins are likely to have been Transoxanian although a