Conquest of Amorium

فتح عمورية

223 AH

Al-Mu'tasim set out campaigning into Byzantine lands in the year 223, though some say his departure was in 224 or 222, after he had killed Babak ¹. According to al-Suyuti, he took it by the sword, killed thirty thousand of its people and took as many captive. The astrologers had judged the ascendant unlucky when he was preparing and that he would be broken; yet his victory exceeded anything feared, and Abu Tammam said that the sword is truer in its reports than books ². According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mu'tasim was roused to war, donning a white woollen tunic and the raider's turban, when Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi recited to him, 'O raid of God, you have now beheld it, so break in.' He encamped on the west bank of the Tigris on Monday, two nights into Jumada I in the year 223. He placed Ashnas in the vanguard, Itakh on the right wing, Ja'far ibn Dinar al-Khayyat on the left, Bugha al-Kabir in the rear, and Ajif at the centre. He entered by the Pass of Safety, while al-Afshin entered by the Pass of Hadath; he met the king and defeated him. Lawi the patrician came out to him from Amorium and surrendered it; he took Batis captive, killed thirty thousand, and stayed four days demolishing and burning ³.

Overview

al-Mu'tasim set out on a campaign to the land of the Byzantines in 223 AH, after he had killed Babak. It is also said 224 AH or 222 AH. ¹ The following accounts agree that he took Amorium.

al-Suyuti's account

al-Mu'tasim took it by the sword, killed thirty thousand in it and took the same number captive. al-Suyuti says that the astrologers had judged the omen to be unlucky, so the victory came contrary to what they had said, and that Abu Tammam said on this: "The sword is more truthful than books." ²

al-Mas'udi's account

al-Mas'udi says that al-Mu'tasim encamped on the west bank of the Tigris on Monday, two nights into Jumada al-Ula 223 AH, with Ashnas at the vanguard, Itakh on the right wing and Ja'far ibn Dinar the tailor on the left. He entered by the Road of Safety, and al-Afshin by the Road of al-Hadath, and he defeated the king. The patrician Lawi came out to him and handed Amorium over to him, and al-Mu'tasim stayed four days, demolishing and burning. ³

The Sack of Zibatra and al-Mu'tasim's Retaliation

In al-Baladhuri: Zibatra was an old Roman fortress taken with the old fortress of al-Hadath by Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri, standing until the Romans wrecked it in al-Walid ibn Yazid's days; rebuilt unsoundly, the Romans camped on it in Marwan ibn Muhammad's civil war and demolished it; al-Mansur rebuilt it, they damaged it, and al-Rashid rebuilt and garrisoned it through Muhammad ibn Ibrahim; in al-Ma'mun's caliphate the Romans raided it and its people's pasturage, driving off livestock, and al-Ma'mun ordered its repair and fortification; when the Byzantine tyrant's embassy came in year 210 seeking peace he refused and wrote to the frontier governors, who ranged Byzantine lands killing and subduing with handsome success, only Yaqzan ibn Abd al-A'la ibn Ahmad ibn Yazid ibn Asid al-Sulami being hit; then in the caliphate of al-Mu'tasim — Abu Ishaq ibn al-Rashid — the Romans came to Zibatra, killed the men, captured the women and wrecked it, which grieved and angered him so that he raided them as far as Amorium — having destroyed forts before it — camped on it, took it, killed the fighters, captured the women and children, then demolished it and ordered Zibatra rebuilt, fortified and garrisoned, which the Romans afterwards attempted and failed to take.

Conquest of Amorium

At a glance

Overview

al-Suyuti's account

al-Mas'udi's account

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

The Sack of Zibatra and al-Mu'tasim's Retaliation