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

خراب زبطرة وغزوة المعتصم

c. 838 CE · c. 223 AH

In al-Baladhuri: Zibatra was an old Roman fortress taken with the old fortress of al-Hadath by Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri (may God be pleased with him), 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.

Overview

In al-Baladhuri's account, Zibatra was an old Byzantine fortress taken by Habib ibn Maslama, and it went through cycles of ruin and rebuilding. In the caliphate of al-Mu'tasim the Byzantines came out against it, killed, took captives and destroyed it, and he raided them as far as Amorium. ¹

The history of the fortress

Al-Baladhuri says that the Byzantines destroyed it in the days of al-Walid ibn Yazid, and then demolished it in the strife of Marwan ibn Muhammad. Al-Mansur built it, then al-Rashid built it and garrisoned it. In the caliphate of al-Ma'mun they raided its people, and he ordered it repaired and fortified. ¹

Al-Mu'tasim's campaign

Al-Baladhuri relates that what the Byzantines had done angered al-Mu'tasim, so he raided them until he conquered Amorium, then ordered Zibatra rebuilt and fortified. The Byzantines were never able to take it after that. ¹

Al-Mas'udi says that Theophilus, king of the Byzantines, came down upon it with other kings, and took it by the sword, killed and took captives, and raided the lands of Malatya. ²

The Court's Wooing of Transoxania

Al-Ma'mun's Khurasan agents campaigned the unsubmitted while his envoys enrolled willing Transoxanians — their kings' sons included — in the diwan, honored and raised in stipend at court. Al-Mu'tasim kept the same till most of his army's standing troops were Sughdians, Faraghanis, Ushrusanis and Shashis, their kings attending his gate; Islam prevailed there and they raided the Turks beyond them. Abdallah ibn Tahir's son Tahir opened lands of al-Fuziyya none had reached before; and Ibn Ayyash holds Qutayba settled Arabs beyond the river as far as Farghana and al-Shash.

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

At a glance

In time

Overview

The history of the fortress

Al-Mu'tasim's campaign

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

The Court's Wooing of Transoxania