The Treaty with the People of Tiflis

صلح أهل تفليس

c. 646 CE · c. 26 AH

In al-Baladhuri Habib ibn Maslama reached Tiflis and wrote its people a peace whose text runs: 'This is a writ from Habib ibn Maslama to the people of Tiflis of Manjalis, of Jurzan al-Qirmiz: aman on yourselves, your houses of worship, your monasteries, your prayers and your religion — on your acknowledgment of subordination and a jizya of one dinar per household; you may not join households to lighten the jizya, nor may we divide them to multiply it; we have your counsel and your back against the enemies of God and His messenger as you are able; the quartering of a needy Muslim for one night with the lawful food of the People of the Book that is ours; and if a man of the Muslims is stranded among you, it is on you to convey him to the nearest band of believers unless harm is between them; if you repent and keep the prayer you are our brothers in religion, else the jizya is on you; and if the Muslims are distracted from you and your enemy overcomes you, you are not held to blame for that, nor does it break your covenant — this is yours, and this is upon you; God and His angels witness, and God suffices as witness'; and al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami wrote the people of Tiflis a writ whose copy runs: 'This is a writ from al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah to the people of Tiflis of Rustaq Manjalis, of the district of Jurzan: they brought me Habib ibn Maslama's writ of aman for them acknowledging the jizya's subordination, and his treaty with them over lands of theirs — vineyards and water-mills called Awari and Sabina of Rustaq Manjalis, and Ta'am of Rustaq Quhuyt of Jurzan's district — on their paying for these mills and vineyards a hundred dirhams yearly, no second term; so I have executed their aman and their treaty for them and have ordered the revenue-officers that whoever resists my writ shall not exceed it against them, God willing.'

Overview

Al-Baladhuri relates that Habib ibn Maslama reached Tiflis and wrote a peace for its people, then al-Jarrah ibn Abd Allah al-Hakami wrote another letter confirming their safety. The date is approximate, around 26 AH, and the Gregorian conversion is derived. ¹

The letter of Habib ibn Maslama

The letter gave the people of Tiflis safety for themselves, their houses of worship, their prayers and their religion, in exchange for acknowledging the poll tax at one dinar per household. They were not to combine households to lighten the tax, and the Muslims were not to separate households to increase it. They were to advise the Muslims and help them against their enemies as far as they could, and to host a Muslim in need for a night. If affairs busied the Muslims away from them and their enemy overcame them, they were not to be charged with that, and their covenant would not be broken. ¹

The letter of al-Jarrah

Al-Jarrah confirmed that the people of Tiflis had brought him a letter of safety from Habib, and that he had made peace with them over lands, vineyards and mills in the district of Manjaliyas for a hundred dirhams a year, and ordered the officials to enforce it. ¹

the Armenia–Azerbaijan treaty (25 AH)

When Azerbaijan repudiated the treaty on 'Utba ibn Farqad's dismissal, al-Walid campaigned there — 'Abdallah ibn Shubayl raiding Muqan and the Tailsan until its districts bought peace at 800,000 dirhams on Hudhayfa's old terms — while Salman ibn Rabi'a ranged Armenia with twelve thousand. When the patrician Mawriyan advanced with eighty thousand, Habib ibn Maslama resolved on a night attack; his wife Umm 'Abdallah bint Yazid asked «where is your tryst?« — «the pavilion of the Mawriyan« — and when he reached it she was already inside, the first woman into the Mawriyan's pavilion.

The Treaty with the People of Tiflis

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In time

Overview

The letter of Habib ibn Maslama

The letter of al-Jarrah

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Time

the Armenia–Azerbaijan treaty (25 AH)