The Fall and Demolition of Malatya, 133

سقوط ملطية وهدمها سنة 133

c. 750 CE · 133 AH

In al-Baladhuri from al-Waqidi: in year 133 Constantine the tyrant advanced deliberately on Malatya — Kamkh then being Muslim-held under a Sulami — and Kamkh's people sent the appeal to Malatya's, who rode out with two hundred horse and were beaten by the Roman cavalry; the Roman camped on Malatya and besieged those inside — the Jazira then in turmoil, its governor Musa ibn Ka'b at Harran, the messenger they sent him unable to relieve them — and when Constantine heard of it he told them: 'people of Malatya, I came only knowing your state and your sultan's distraction from you — come down on aman, evacuate the city for me to demolish, and I depart from you'; they refused, so he set mangonels on it, and when affliction ground them down and the siege hardened they asked him for sureties, which he gave; they prepared to march, loaded what they could, threw much of the weight into wells and caches, and went out — the Romans formed two files from the city gate to the end of their line with drawn swords held tip to tip like a bridge's arch, then escorted them to safety, whence they dispersed through the Jazira; the Romans demolished Malatya leaving but a tower they had partly wrecked, and demolished the fortress of Qaludhiya.

Overview

In 133 AH Constantine the Roman besieged Malatya and ruined its wall after its people had come out under safe conduct. This is al-Baladhuri's account, from al-Waqidi. ¹

The siege

Kamakh was in the hands of the Muslims, and its people called on the people of Malatya for help. Two hundred horsemen came out of them, and the Roman cavalry routed them. Then Constantine came down upon Malatya and besieged it. The Jazira was in turmoil, and its governor Musa ibn Ka'b was in Harran, and could not relieve them. ¹

He offered them safe conduct on condition that they evacuate the city and let him demolish it. They refused, so he set up catapults against it. When the distress grew severe, they asked him to put it in writing, and he did. ¹

The departure

They carried what they could and threw much of it into the wells and hiding places, then went out. The Romans stood in two lines with drawn swords at the city gate, and then escorted them until they reached safety. The people of Malatya scattered through the Jazira. ¹

The Romans demolished the city and left only a tower that suffered some damage, and they demolished the fortress of Qaludhiya. ¹

Constantine V's part in the event is recorded in the entity data, and he has no page yet. An additional source is needed.

Al-Mansur's Rebuilding of Malatya

In al-Baladhuri: in year 139 al-Mansur wrote to Salih ibn Ali ordering Malatya rebuilt and fortified, then resolved to send Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim al-Imam as governor of the Jazira and its frontier — he set out in year 140 with al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba among the Khurasani armies, proclaiming a levy on the people of Syria and the Jazira until seventy thousand converged, and camped on Malatya having gathered labourers from every land; al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba would carry stone to hand the builder, and a camel of his went round feeding the people from his own purse with field-kitchens deployed — Abd al-Wahhab envied this and wrote to Abu Ja'far accusing him of out-feeding the state in a bid to prolong and corrupt the work by extravagance and vainglory, and of having callers summon people to his food; Abu Ja'far wrote back: 'O boy! Al-Hasan feeds from his own money, and you feed from mine — nothing comes of you but smallness of worth, littleness of ambition and foolishness of opinion,' and wrote to al-Hasan: feed, but keep no caller — so al-Hasan would say 'whoever reaches my awning first gets such-and-such'; the men worked hard and finished Malatya and its mosque in six months; for the garrison each 'arafa — ten to fifteen men — received two lower houses, two upper chambers and a stable; he built a muslaha thirty miles out and another on the river called Qubaqib that feeds the Euphrates; al-Mansur settled four thousand Jaziran fighters in Malatya, it being of their frontier, with ten dinars added to every man's pay and a hundred-dinar allowance besides the camel the tribes engaged between them; he deposited its armoury, granted the soldiers farms and built the fortress of Qaludhiya — and Constantine the tyrant came on with over a hundred thousand as far as Jayhan, heard of the Arabs' numbers and held back.

The Fall and Demolition of Malatya, 133

At a glance

In time

Overview

The siege

The departure

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Al-Mansur's Rebuilding of Malatya