Battle of Krasos
| Battle of Krasos | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab–Byzantine Wars | |||||||
 Anatolia and the Byzantine-Arab frontier ca. 780 AD | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Abbasid Caliphate | Byzantine Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ibrahim ibn Jibril | Nikephoros I (WIA) | ||||||
The Battle of Krasos took place during the
Asia Minor for one of their customary raids, and Nikephoros set out to meet them. He was surprised, however, at Krasos and heavily defeated, barely escaping with his own life. A truce and prisoner exchange were afterwards arranged. Despite his defeat, and a massive Abbasid invasion
the next year, Nikephoros persevered until troubles in the eastern provinces of the Caliphate forced the Abbasids to conclude a peace.
Background
The deposition of Empress
Asia Minor by the Caliphate, Irene seems to have secured a truce with Harun al-Rashid in 798 in exchange for the annual payment of tribute, repeating the terms agreed for a three-year truce following Harun's first large-scale campaign in 782.[1][2] Nikephoros, on the other hand, was more warlike and determined to refill the imperial treasury by, among other measures, ceasing the tribute.[3] Harun retaliated at once, launching a raid under his son al-Qasim. Nikephoros could not respond to this, as he faced an ultimately unsuccessful revolt of the Asian army under its commander-in-chief, Bardanes Tourkos. After disposing of Bardanes, Nikephoros assembled his army and marched out himself to meet a second, larger invasion under the Caliph himself. After Harun raided the frontier region, the two armies confronted each other for two months in central Asia Minor, but it did not come to a battle; Nikephoros and Harun exchanged letters, until the Emperor arranged for a withdrawal and a truce for the remainder of the year in exchange for a one-off payment of tribute.[1][4]
Battle
In August 804, Harun dispatched another raid under his general Ibrahim ibn Jibril. The Arabs crossed into Asia Minor through the
conspiracy). On his march home, however, the Arabs launched a surprise attack at Krasos in Phrygia and defeated his army. The exact location of Krasos is unknown, but it was said to be a small plain along a road. According to al-Tabari, the Byzantines lost 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, while the Emperor himself was wounded three times. The Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor confirms that the imperial army lost many men and that Nikephoros was almost killed himself; saved only by the bravery of his officers.[5][6]
Aftermath
Preoccupied with trouble in
Melitene, while a Byzantine-instigated rebellion against the local Arab garrison began in Cyprus.[1][7] Harun retaliated with a massive invasion in 806, which forced Nikephoros to come to terms,[8] but the Byzantine ruler soon violated them and prevailed over the Abbasid expeditions sent against him in 807.[9] Following renewed trouble in Khurasan, a peace treaty was signed in 808 which left the Byzantine frontier zone intact and ended the payment of tribute to the Caliphate.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d Brooks 1923, p. 126.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 113.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 127, 130.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 131–133.
- ^ Bosworth 1989, p. 248; Mango & Scott 1997, p. 660.
- ^ a b Treadgold 1988, p. 135.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 135, 138–139; Bosworth 1989, pp. 261–262.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, pp. 144–146.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 148.
- ^ Treadgold 1988, p. 155.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
- Brooks, E. W. (1923). "Chapter V. (A) The Struggle with the Saracens (717–867)". The Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. IV: The Eastern Roman Empire (717–1453). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–138.
- ISBN 0-19-822568-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-1462-4.