Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)
Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782) | |
---|---|
Part of the Asia Minor | |
Result | Abbasid victory |
al-Barmaki
Staurakios
Michael Lachanodrakon
Tatzates
Anthony the Domestic
The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 782 was one of the largest operations launched by the
The Byzantines, who in the meantime had neutralized the detachment left to secure the Abbasid army's rear in
Background
Taking advantage of the internal difficulties of the
In response to these Byzantine successes, Caliph al-Mahdi now resolved to take the field in person. On 12 March 780, Mahdi departed
This defeat infuriated the Caliph, who prepared a new expedition. Intended as a show of force and a clear display of the Caliphate's superiority,[b] it was the largest army sent against Byzantium in the second half of the 8th century: it allegedly comprised 95,793 men, about twice the total Byzantine military establishment present in Asia Minor, and cost the Abbasid state some 1.6 million nomismata, almost as much as the Byzantine Empire's entire annual income. Harun was the nominal leader, but the Caliph took care to send experienced officers to accompany him.[17][18]
Campaign
On 9 February 782, Harun departed Baghdad; the Arabs crossed the
According to
Furthermore, despite his success so far, Harun's position was precarious, as the defeat of al-Rabi threatened his lines of communication with the Caliphate. Consequently, after plundering the Byzantine capital's Asian suburbs, Harun turned his army back, but during his march along the valley of the
Thus, when Harun asked for negotiations, Irene dispatched a delegation of three of her most senior officials: the Domestic Anthony, the
"You made the round of Constantinople of the Greeks and placed your spear on her and its walls were covered with humiliation. You did not desire to take her and you contended yourself with received the tribute of her kings, while the cauldrons of war boiled."
Poem by Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa in praise of Harun al-Rashid's 782 expedition against Byzantium.[30]
The two states concluded a three-year truce in exchange for a heavy annual tribute—the Arab sources mention various amounts between 70,000 and 100,000 gold nomismata, while one also adds 10,000 pieces of silk.[29] Tabari's account records that the tribute amounted to "ninety or seventy thousand dinars", to be paid "at the beginning of April and in June every year".[31][32] In addition, the Byzantines were obliged to provide provisions and guides for Harun's army on its march home, and to hand over Tatzates's wife and property. Harun released all his captives (5,643 according to Tabari), but kept the rich plunder he had gathered, and returned to the Caliphate in September 782.[23][31][33] Tabari, in his account of the expedition, says that Harun's forces captured 194,450 dinars in gold and 21,414,800 dirhams in silver, killed 54,000 Byzantines in battle and 2,090 in captivity and took over 20,000 riding animals captive while slaughtering 100,000 cattle and sheep. Tabari also reports that the amount of plunder was such that "a work horse was sold for a dirham and a mule for less than ten dirhams, a coat of mail for less than a dirham, and twenty swords for a dirham"[31]—at a time when one to two dirhams was the usual daily salary of a labourer or soldier.[34]
Aftermath
The successful Arab invasion had important repercussions in Byzantium. The outcome represented a major blow to Empress Irene's prestige, while Tatzates, a capable and veteran leader, was lost to the Empire and became the ruler of his native Armenia for the Abbasids. On the other hand, despite the humiliating peace treaty, Byzantium's losses were not excessive, especially considering the scale of the Arab attack, and Irene used the three years of the truce to strengthen her internal position: she seems to have dismissed most of the "old guard" of Constantine V's generals, with the long-serving and fanatically iconoclast Michael Lachanodrakon being the most prominent victim of this bloodless purge. In this way, Irene secured control over the military, and was able to refocus its efforts in expanding and consolidating Byzantine control over the Slavs of the Balkans.[35][36][37]
Despite the truce, the chronicler
Notes
- ^ John was killed during the Byzantine expedition to Calabria in 788.[8]
- Umayyad predecessors, the Abbasid caliphs pursued a conservative foreign policy. In general terms, they were content with the territorial limits achieved, and whatever external campaigns they waged were retaliatory or pre-emptive, meant to preserve their frontier and impress Abbasid might upon their neighbours.[10] At the same time, the campaigns against Byzantium in particular were important for domestic consumption. The annual raids were a symbol of the continuing jihad of the early Muslim state and were the only external expeditions where the Caliph or his sons participated in person. They were closely paralleled in official propaganda by the leadership by Abbasid family members of the annual pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca, highlighting the dynasty's leading role in the religious life of the Muslim community.[11][12] Harun al-Rashid in particular actively strove to embody this duty: he was said to have alternated between leading the hajj one year and attacking Byzantium the next.[13] The hitherto unseen extent of his personal involvement in the jihad converted it into a central tenet of his conception of the caliphate, leading modern historians to consider Harun as the creator of a new type of model ruler, the "ghazi-caliph".[14][15][16]
References
- ^ Lilie 1996, pp. 147–149.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Brooks 1923, p. 123.
- ^ a b Makripoulias 2002, Chapter 1 "Great Online Encyclopaedia of Asia Minor". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ a b Treadgold 1988, p. 34.
- ^ a b c Brooks 1923, p. 124.
- ^ a b Lilie 1996, p. 148.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 92.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 66–67.
- ^ El-Hibri 2010, p. 302.
- ^ El-Hibri 2010, pp. 278–279.
- ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 105–106.
- ^ El-Cheikh 2004, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Bosworth 1989, p. xvii.
- ^ Bonner 1996, pp. 99–106.
- ^ Haug 2011, pp. 637–638.
- ^ Lilie 1996, p. 150.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 67.
- ^ a b Lilie 1996, pp. 150–151.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 67–68.
- ^ a b Treadgold 1988, p. 68.
- ^ a b Makripoulias 2002, Chapter 2.1 "Great Online Encyclopaedia of Asia Minor". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ a b c d Mango & Scott 1997, pp. 629–630.
- ^ a b Lilie 1996, p. 151.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Kennedy 1990, pp. 220–222.
- ^ a b c Treadgold 1988, p. 69.
- ^ a b c Makripoulias 2002, Chapter 2.2 "Great Online Encyclopaedia of Asia Minor". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ a b c Lilie 1996, p. 152.
- ^ Canard 1926, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b c Kennedy 1990, p. 221.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 69 interprets this to mean two annual installments, of 90,000 and of 70,000 coins on April and June respectively.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 70ff..
- ^ Lilie 1996, pp. 153, 173ff..
- ^ Makripoulias 2002, Chapter 3 "Great Online Encyclopaedia of Asia Minor". Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ Lilie 1996, pp. 153–154.
- ^ Brooks 1923, p. 125.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Brooks 1923, pp. 125–127.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 101–105, 111–113.
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- El-Cheikh, Nadia Maria (2004). Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Center of Middle Eastern Studies. ISBN 978-0-932885-30-2.
- El-Hibri, Tayeb (2010). "The empire in Iraq, 763–861". In ISBN 978-0-521-83823-8.
- Haug, Robert (2011). "Frontiers and the State in Early Islamic History: Jihād Between Caliphs and Volunteers". History Compass. 9 (8): 634–643. ISSN 1478-0542.
- ISBN 978-0-7914-0142-2.
- ISBN 978-0-203-45853-2.
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- Makripoulias, Christos (2002). "Campaign of the Arabs in Asia Minor, 781-82". Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor. Athens: Foundation of the Hellenic World. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
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