Battle of Hama

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Not to be confused with the Battle of Hamath between the Egyptians and the Babylonians.

Battle of Hama
Date29 November 903
Location
near Hama, Syria
Result

Decisive

Abbasid
victory

  • Elimination of the "Fatimid" Bedouin from the western Syrian Desert
  • Opening of the way for the reconquest of
    Tulunid
    Egypt
Belligerents
Abbasid Caliphate
Banu Shayban
Banu Tamim		 "Fatimid" pro-Isma'ili rebels
Commanders and leaders
al-Husayn ibn Hamdan
 Several
Strength
Unknown 4,900 cavalry
3,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
Unknown Very heavy; many killed
Over 1,100 horses captured

The Battle of Hama was fought some 24 km (15 mi) from the city of

Egypt
into the Abbasid Caliphate.

Background

Geophysical map of the Levant, with major cities and boundaries of the early Islamic provinces marked
Map of Syria with its provinces and its major settlements in the 9th/10th centuries

In the second half of the 9th century, the

Muhammad ibn Isma'il, as had been hitherto assumed, caused a split in the movement in 899. Hamdan denounced the leadership in Salamiya, gathered the Iraqi missionaries and ordered them to cease the missionary effort. Shortly after he disappeared from his headquarters, and Abdan was assassinated at the instigation of Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh, who had remained loyal to Salamiya.[5][6] These events caused a major split in the Isma'ili movement, between those who recognized Sa'id's claims to the imamate and those who rejected them. The latter are generally known by the term "Qarmatians", although this name was also applied by non-Isma'ilis in a pejorative sense to the supporters of the Fatimids.[7]

After his role in the murder of Abdan, Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh escaped Iraq and resumed his missionary efforts among the Bedouin tribes of the eastern Syrian Desert, but with little success.

Euphrates River.[10][9] Many Bedouin from the Banu'l-Ullays and Banu'l-Asbagh flocked to them,[11] thus acquiring a potent military force, albeit one with limitations: the Bedouin were more concerned with extracting booty from the settled communities, and were ill-suited to campaigns of conquering and holding territories.[12] Buoyed by their success, the brothers and their followers adopted the name al-Fatimiyyun ("Fatimids") and rose in revolt in 902.[13][14] The motivations of al-Husayn, Yahya, and their father, who remained in Iraq, have been variously interpreted by modern scholars.[14] Traditionally this movement has been regarded as wholly "Qarmatian" in character,[15] and was called that by the Abbasid government.[16] In recent years, however, the consensus follows the analysis of Heinz Halm, which has shown that Zakarawayh and his sons remained loyal to Sa'id, and that their actions aimed at securing possession of Syria and triggering a general rebellion against the Abbasids.[17] Nevertheless, this uprising was apparently without the knowledge or authorization of Sa'id, and would end up placing him in mortal danger, as it alerted the authorities to the whereabouts of the Isma'ili movement's true leader, who had to flee to Ramla.[18][14]

From their base in the region around Palmyra, the Fatimid Bedouin began launching raids against the Abbasid and

Friday sermon the name of the Abbasid caliph was dropped in favour of the—as yet unnamed—"Successor, the rightly-guided Heir, the Lord of the Age, the Commander of the Faithful, the Mahdi".[21][17] Encamped at Salamiya, the Bedouin waited for Sa'id's arrival in vain, from August to November 903. Despite al-Husayn's repeated entreaties in his correspondence with his master, however, Sa'id refused to leave the safety of Ramla.[17][22]

Battle

In view of the apparent impotence of the Tulunid regime to stop the Bedouin raids, the Syrians called upon the Abbasid government to intervene directly, and on 30 July 903, Caliph

al-Husayn ibn Hamdan to pursue them.[25] While al-Muktafi remained at Raqqa, command of the army in the field was given to the head of the department of the army (diwan al-jund), Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib. On Tuesday, 29 November 903, the Abbasid army under Muhammad met the Fatimids at a location some 24 km from Hama.[26] The course of the battle is described in a victory dispatch sent by Muhammad to the caliph afterwards and included in the History of the Prophets and Kings of al-Tabari.[27]

According to the latter, on the morning of 29 November, the Abbasid army set out from al-Qarwanah towards al-Alyanah—both unidentified locations—deployed in full battle order. During the march, Muhammad ibn Sulayman received a report that a part of the Fatimid army, comprising 3,000 horse and many foot under one of the Isma'ili chief missionaries, al-Nu'man, had encamped at a locality some 12 Arabic miles (about 24 kilometres (15 mi)) from Hama, and that the other detachments of the Bedouin army had joined him there.[27] Muhammad led his army towards the Bedouin encampment, and found them deployed in battle array.[27] According to the report of Muhammad, the Bedouin left wing was led by Masrur al-Ulaymi and others, in charge of 1,500 horsemen. Behind the left wing was placed a reserve force of 400 cavalry. The Bedouin centre was commanded by al-Nu'man al-Ullaysi and other officers, and comprised 1,400 cavalry and 3,000 infantry, while the right wing was commanded by Kulayb al-Ullaysi and others and numbered 1,400 horsemen, with a reserve force of 200 horsemen more.[28]

As the two armies advanced on each other, the Bedouin left thrust forward against the Abbasid right, which was commanded by

al-Husayn ibn Hamdan. The troops of Ibn Hamdan repulsed the first Bedouin attack, and then the second, killing 600 horsemen. The Bedouin on the left broke and fled; Ibn Hamdan and his men pursued them and in a series of engagements killed all but 200 of them. Ibn Hamdan's troops reportedly captured 500 horses and 400 silver necklaces as well.[29] The Bedouin right wing likewise attacked the Abbasid left, held by al-Qasim ibn Sima, Yumn al-Khadim, and the tribal allies of Banu Shayban and Banu Tamim. While the two wings were grappling with each other, an Abbasid detachment under Khalifah ibn al-Mubarak and Lu'lu' attacked the Bedouin on their flank and broke their lines. Here too the Bedouin fled pursued by the government forces, who took some 600 horses and 200 necklaces as booty.[30] Several Fatimid commanders, including the missionary al-Nu'man, were killed at the battle.[30]

Muhammad himself confronted the Bedouin centre along with several other officers: Khaqan, Nasr al-Qushuri, and Muhammad ibn Kumushjur led forces from the right flank, Wasf Mushgir,

Isa ibn Muhammad al-Nushari—exposed to a Bedouin attack, halted the pursuit of his own detachment after half a mile. He set up camp there for the night, and with the Caliph's spear as a rallying point, began regrouping the various squadrons. Despite the overwhelming victory, Muhammad and his officers remained on guard during the night, concerned of a possible Bedouin attack.[31]

Aftermath

The Sahib al-Shama did not take part in the battle, having remained behind at Salamiya along with the treasure he had hoarded there on behalf of his master.[16] Enraged about the apparent abandonment by the supposed divinely-guided imam, the Sahib al-Shama turned against him: his residence at Salamiya was destroyed, and all family members and servants encountered there executed.[17][32] This atrocity, along with the failure of the uprising, led later Fatimid historians to try and excise Sa'id's relationship with the sons of Zakarawayh in what Halm calls an act of damnatio memoriae.[33] The Sahib al-Shama tried to rouse the chiefs of the Banu'l-Ullays to resistance, but they refused.[34] Left with no other recourse, the Sahib al-Shama, along with his cousin al-Muddathir, his associate al-Muttawaq and a Greek page fled through the desert.[35][36] By the time they reached the locality of al-Daliyah on the Euphrates Road near al-Rahba, they had run out of supplies. When a servant was sent to buy provisions in the settlement, he aroused the suspicions of the villagers with his strange dress and manner, so that they notified a local official, Abu Khubzah. The latter rode out with an escort, and after interrogating the servant went to the Qarmatians' camp and took them prisoner. They captured the Sahib al-Shama and his companions who were then escorted by Abu Khubzah and the local governor, Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kushmard, to Caliph al-Muktafi in Raqqa, which they entered on 19 December.[37]

Al-Muktafi returned to Baghdad with the senior captives, who were thrown into prison. Muhammad ibn Sulayman remained at Raqqa to scour the countryside and round up the remaining rebels. He too then returned to Baghdad, which he entered in triumph on 2 February 904. Eleven days later, on 13 February, Muhammad and the

sahib al-shurta of the capital, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Wathiqi, presided over the public execution of the Fatimid leaders and Isma'ili sympathizers rounded up from Kufa and Baghdad.[38]

The Abbasid victory near Hama did not yet fully eradicate the Isma'ili threat. In 906, the Banu Kalb, under Abu Ghanim Nasr, rose up in rebellion, raided the

al-Qadisiyya. With these defeats, the Isma'ili movement virtually ceased to exist in the Syrian Desert, although their counterparts in Bahrayn remained an active threat for several decades to come.[39][40][41]

More importantly, the defeat of the Fatimid Bedouin at Hama opened the way for the Abbasids to recover the provinces of southern Syria and Egypt, held by the Tulunids. The Tulunid regime had become enfeebled due to internal strife, rivalries and the defection of senior officers, and the recent failures against the Bedouin. In 904, Muhammad ibn Sulayman led an army into Syria. The campaign met with little opposition; the Tulunid emir Harun ibn Khumarawayh was even assassinated by his uncles, whereupon several senior commanders switched sides. The Abbasids entered the Egyptian capital Fustat in January 905 without a fight, completing the reconquest of the province.[41][42]

References

  1. ^ Brett 2017, p. 17.
  2. ^ Daftary 2007, p. 108.
  3. ^ Halm 1991, p. 47.
  4. ^ Daftary 2007, pp. 108–110.
  5. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 64–66, 68.
  6. ^ Daftary 2007, pp. 116–117.
  7. ^ Daftary 2007, p. 120.
  8. ^ Halm 1991, p. 68.
  9. ^ a b Daftary 2007, p. 122.
  10. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 68, 70.
  11. ^ Halm 1991, p. 70.
  12. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 286–287.
  13. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 70–71.
  14. ^ a b c Daftary 2007, pp. 122–123.
  15. ^ a b c d e Kennedy 2004, p. 286.
  16. ^ a b Halm 1991, p. 83.
  17. ^ a b c d Daftary 2007, p. 123.
  18. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 68, 73–76.
  19. ^ a b c d Bianquis 1998, p. 107.
  20. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 78–79.
  21. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 78–82.
  22. ^ Halm 1991, p. 82.
  23. ^ Rosenthal 1985, p. 127.
  24. ^ a b Rosenthal 1985, pp. 127–128.
  25. ^ Rosenthal 1985, p. 128.
  26. ^ Rosenthal 1985, p. 134.
  27. ^ a b c Rosenthal 1985, p. 136.
  28. ^ Rosenthal 1985, p. 137.
  29. ^ Rosenthal 1985, pp. 137–138.
  30. ^ a b Rosenthal 1985, p. 138.
  31. ^ Rosenthal 1985, pp. 138–140.
  32. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 83–84.
  33. ^ Halm 1991, pp. 72, 84.
  34. ^ Halm 1991, p. 84.
  35. ^ Rosenthal 1985, p. 135.
  36. ^ Halm 1991, p. 85.
  37. ^ Rosenthal 1985, pp. 135, 141.
  38. ^ Rosenthal 1985, pp. 141–144.
  39. ^ Rosenthal 1985, pp. 158–168, 172–179.
  40. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 185, 286.
  41. ^ a b Bianquis 1998, p. 108.
  42. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 184–185.

Sources

  • ISBN 0-521-47137-0
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  • Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-7486-4076-8
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  • ISBN 978-0-521-61636-2
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  • ISBN 978-3-406-35497-7
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  • ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7
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  • ISBN 978-0-87395-876-9
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