List of Abbasid governors of Tarsus
al-Massisa) were given houses and land in the new fortress city.[4]
Tarsus was apparently recovered by the Byzantines soon after, at some point around the turn of the century. The city probably remained in Byzantine hands during the Abbasid civil war of the
Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla of Aleppo, who had become the new master of northern Syria and of the Byzantine borderlands. Facing a resurgent Byzantium, he was able to stem the Byzantine advance for a while, but in 965, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969) captured the city and the rest of Cilicia, ending Muslim rule there.[9][10]
List of governors
Name | Tenure | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|
Yazid ibn Makhlad al-Fazari | 788
|
Disliked and driven out by the Khurasani garrison, due to his excessive pride in belonging to the pro- Umayyad family of Umar ibn Hubayra
|
[6][11] |
Abu'l-Fawaris | 789/90 – ?
|
Only the date of his appointment is known. | [11][12] |
Thabit ibn Nasr ibn Malik al-Khuza'i
|
ca. 807/8
|
Titled " amir of the Syrian marches".
|
[12] |
Ahmad ibn Sa'id ibn Salm ibn Qutayba al-Bahili | 845
|
Led a prisoner exchange with the Byzantines in September, deposed after a failed winter raid into Byzantine territory. | [12][13] |
Nasr ibn Hamza al-Khuza'i | 18 Jan. 846 – ?
|
Only the date of his appointment is known. | [12] |
Ali ibn Yahya al-Armani | by 852/3 – Oct./Nov. 862
|
A prominent figure in the wars with Byzantium, led several summer raids and oversaw two prisoner exchanges, in 856 and April 860. | [12] |
Muhammad ibn Harun al-Taghlibi | 871/2 (?)
|
Appointed to the post but died before reaching Tarsus. | [12] |
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Armani | 872 – 873/4
|
Killed by the Byzantines. | [12] |
Urkhuz ibn Ulugh Tarkhan | 873/4 – ca. 876
|
Deposed for embezzling the salaries of the garrison of Loulon, leading to its surrender to the Byzantines. | [12][14] |
Abdallah ibn Rashid ibn Kawus | 877/8
|
Defeated and captured in battle by the Byzantines. | [12][15] |
Takhshi | 878
|
Appointed by Ahmad ibn Tulun after his departure from Tarsus in 878. | [12] |
Sima | ca. 879/80
|
Appointed by Ahmad ibn Tulun. | [12] |
Khalaf al-Farghani | by 881 – 882
|
Appointed by Ahmad ibn Tulun. Deposed by pro-Abbasid faction under Yazaman. | [12] |
Yazaman al-Khadim | 882 – 23 Oct. 891
|
Leader of the pro-Abbasid faction, he led several expeditions against the Byzantines. In October 890 acknowledged Tulunid suzerainty. Died from wounds on campaign against Byzantium. | [16] |
Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi | Oct. 891 – by summer 892
|
Succeeded Yazaman, initially confirmed by Khumarawayh, but soon replaced by Khumarawayh's cousin. | [17] |
Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Tulun | summer 892
|
Member of the Tulunid family, appointed by Khumarawayh, deposed and seized by the populace in August 892. | [17] |
Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi | Nov. 892 – Oct. 896
|
Restored to governorship by Khumarawayh. Oversaw the prisoner exchange of October 896, and then departed Tarsus by sea. | [17][18] |
Damian of Tarsus | Oct. 896 – Mar./Apr. 897
|
Byzantine renegade, he was left in charge of Tarsus by al-Ujayfi. Deposed and arrested by a pro-Abbasid uprising. | [17] |
Ibn al-Ikhshad | Apr. 898 – early 900
|
Appointed by Caliph al-Mu'tadid. Killed in an expedition against the Byzantines. | [19][20] |
Abu Thabit | 900
|
Ibn al-Ikhshad's deputy, he succeeded him after his death, but was captured himself by the Byzantines in March 900. | [19][21] |
Ali ibn al-Arabi | Apr. 900
|
Elected by the elders of Tarsus to succeed Abu Thabit. | [19] |
Nizar ibn Muhammad | ca. 900/1
|
Appointed by the governor of the marches, al-Hasan ibn Ali Kura. | [19] |
Muzaffar ibn al-Hajj | ca. 902/3
|
Deposed. | [19] |
Abu'l-Asha'ir Ahmad ibn Nasr | 22 Mar. 903 – 905
|
Successor of Muzaffar ibn al-Hajj. | [19] |
Rustam ibn Bardaw al-Farghani
|
20 Aug. 905 – 912/3
|
Led several raids against Byzantium and supervised the prisoner exchanges of September 905 and 908. He also helped the rebel Andronikos Doukas flee to Arab territory. | [19][22] |
Bishr al-Afshini | 912/3 – after 918
|
Led several raids against Byzantium and supervised the prisoner exchange of autumn 917. | [19][23] |
Thamal al-Dulafi | by 923 – ca. 932
|
A successful naval commander, he led several raids against Byzantium, even sacking Amorium and making contact with Simeon I of Bulgaria for a common front. He supervised a prisoner exchange in autumn 925. | [19][24] |
Bushra al-Thamali | ca. 938
|
Former lieutenant of Thamal al-Dulafi, supervised the prisoner exchange of autumn 938. | [25] |
Nasr al-Thamali | ca. 941 – 946
|
Former lieutenant of Thamal al-Dulafi, attested in the post in winter 941/2, and supervised the prisoner exchange of October 946. From July 946 under the overlordship of Sayf al-Dawla. | [25][26] |
Ibn az-Zayyat | by 956/7 – 961/2
|
Appointed by Sayf al-Dawla. In late 961 recognized once more directly the Abbasid caliph, but was defeated by the Byzantines and committed suicide. Tarsus returned to Sayf al-Dawla's allegiance. | [27] |
Rashiq al-Nasimi | early 962 – 16 Aug. 965
|
Succeeded Ibn al-Zayyat. Governor of Tarsus until the city's surrender to Nikephoros Phokas on 16 August 965. | [28] |
References
- ^ Bosworth 1992, p. 268.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, p. 269.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, pp. 269–271.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, pp. 271–273.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, pp. 273–274.
- ^ a b Stern 1960, p. 218.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, pp. 274–276.
- ^ Stern 1960, pp. 218, 219–220.
- ^ Bosworth 1992, pp. 276–278.
- ^ Stern 1960, p. 223.
- ^ a b Bosworth 1992, p. 273.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Stern 1960, p. 219.
- ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 39, 41, 43.
- ^ PmbZ, Urḫuz (#28403).
- ^ PmbZ, ʻAbdallāh b. Rāšid b. Kāwus (#20014).
- ^ Stern 1960, pp. 219–220.
- ^ a b c d Stern 1960, p. 220.
- ^ PmbZ, Aḥmad b. Tuġān al-‘Uǧayfī (#20193).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Stern 1960, p. 221.
- ^ PmbZ, Ibn al-Iḫšād (#22696).
- ^ PmbZ, Abū Ṯābit (#20080).
- ^ PmbZ, Rustam b. Baradū al-Farġānī (#26909).
- ^ PmbZ, Bišr al-Afšīnī (#21166).
- ^ PmbZ, Ṯamal ad-Dulafī (#27558).
- ^ a b Stern 1960, pp. 221, 223.
- ^ PmbZ, Naṣr aṯ-Ṯamalī (#25494).
- ^ PmbZ, Ibn az-Zayyāt (#22686).
- ^ PmbZ, Rašīq an-Nasīmī (#26804).
Sources
- JSTOR 1580607.
- Kraemer, Joel L., ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIV: Incipient Decline: The Caliphates of al-Wāthiq, al-Mutawakkil and al-Muntaṣir, A.D. 841–863/A.H. 227–248. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-874-4.
- Lilie, Ralph-Johannes; Ludwig, Claudia; Pratsch, Thomas; Zielke, Beate (2013). Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Nach Vorarbeiten F. Winkelmanns erstellt (in German). Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
- JSTOR 596170.