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The General Ransom and the Conquests of 190 AH

الفداء العام وفتوحات سنة 190

c. 805 CE · 189 AH

In year 189 the Romans ransomed captives until no Muslim remained prisoner in their lands; in 190 Heraclea was conquered and al-Rashid spread his armies through Roman lands — Sharahil ibn Ma'n ibn Za'ida took the Saqaliba fortress, Yazid ibn Makhled took Malquniya, and Humayd ibn Ma'yuf sailed to Cyprus, demolishing and burning and carrying off sixteen thousand of its people 1.

Depth

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Anatolia
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In time

790800810820 c.
The Early Abbasid Caliphate

Overview

Al-Suyuti reports that al-Rashid ransomed the Romans in 189 AH, until no Muslim captive remained in their lands. 2

Conquests of 190 AH

In 190 AH he took Heraclea and sent his armies into the land of the Romans. Sharahil ibn Ma'n ibn Za'ida took the fortress of the Slavs, and Yazid ibn Mukhallad took Malqunniya. Humayd ibn Mayuq marched to Cyprus, destroyed and burned it, and took sixteen thousand of its people captive. 2

An additional source is needed: the account rests on one source, and the Gregorian conversion is derived.

Connections

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Had participant
Harun al-Rashid· حميد بن معيوف الهمداني

People and things also explored

Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The Aman of Samalu and its People's Transfer to Baghdad· The Conquest of Crete· Death of Harun al-Rashid at Tus· Umar's Expulsion of the Christians of Najran· The Building of Madinat al-Hadath· The Building of al-Rafiqa· The Garrisoning of Sur man Ra'a (Samarra)

Sources

  1. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p. 463
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.463
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The General Ransom and the Conquests of 190 AH”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/harun-ransoms-and-conquests/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom at Baghdad, the greatest library whose report survives from the first Abbasid age: al-Rashid laid its nucleus and al-Ma'mun enlarged and strengthened it. Al-Rashid put Yuhanna ibn Masawayh over the translation of the ancient medical books found in Byzantine lands with skilled scribes writing before him; Abu Sahl al-Fadl ibn Nawbakht rendered Persian wisdom-books into Arabic in its khizana, and Allan al-Shu'ubi copied for al-Rashid, al-Ma'mun and the Barmakids. Al-Ma'mun widened it, sending to the Byzantine emperor for the ancient sciences an embassy of al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Bitriq and Salm the master of the House, and making Sahl ibn Harun keeper of its treasuries — though its precise organisation and site remain wrapped in obscurity.