Sack of Aleppo (962)

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Sack of Aleppo (962)
Part of the
Emirate of Aleppo
Result Byzantine victory, sack of Aleppo
Belligerents
Hamdanid Dynasty
Byzantine EmpireCommanders and leaders Sayf al-Dawla
Naja al-Kasaki
John Tzimiskes
Theodore Parsakoutenos †

The sack of Aleppo in December 962 was carried out by the

Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla
, the Byzantines' chief antagonist at the time.

Background

In October 944, the

Renaissance Italy".[4][5]

Due to the geographical position of his realm, the Hamdanid ruler also emerged as the champion of the Muslim world against the recent advances of the Christian Byzantines in the eastern

reconquest of Crete, Sayf al-Dawla launched a major invasion of Byzantine Cappadocia, but was attacked and almost annihilated in an ambush by Leo Phokas. Sayf al-Dawla managed to escape, but most modern historians consider that his military power was broken.[13][14][15]

Nikephoros' 962 campaign and the sack of Aleppo

Asia Minor
, with the major fortresses.

In 961, Nikephoros returned and led his troops to sack the town of

Duluk and Manbij, thereby securing the western passes over the Anti-Taurus Mountains.[16][19][18] Sayf al-Dawla appears to have been oblivious to this threat: instead, he sent his generals, Qarghuyah and Naja al-Kasaki, to conduct counter-raids into Byzantine territory, while he tried to restore his authority in Cilicia and rebuild Anazarbus.[19][18] Negotiations for a truce and a prisoner exchange may have been ongoing at the same time, lulling the Hamdanids into complacency.[19][18]

This illusion was broken in November, when a Byzantine force captured Manbij, the last city north of Aleppo, capturing its governor, Sayf al-Dawla's cousin Abu Firas al-Hamdani. [19][18] Early in December, Nikephoros—likely in command of a different army than that which had captured Manbij—moved onto Aleppo itself.[19] The Arab sources dwell extensively on the following events, but provide contradictory details, so that the exact course of the campaign is uncertain.[20] They are unanimous, however, that the attack caught Sayf al-Dawla completely off guard, possibly due to the late season, as the Byzantines did not normally campaign in winter.[20] As a result, the Byzantines held a considerable numerical advantage—Arab sources speak of 70,000 Byzantines against just 4,000 Hamdanid soldiers in the city—leaving Sayf al-Dawla scrambling to bolster his forces with last-minute levies.[19]

As the Byzantines advanced on the city, the Hamdanids tried to oppose them, but their reaction appears to have been uncoordinated and confused: Sayf al-Dawla moved to Azaz to confront the Byzantine army, but then retreated without doing so, while his lieutenant Naja moved first towards Antioch and then back towards Azaz, where he was defeated by Nikephoros' lieutenant, Tzimiskes.[21] Whatever the exact course of events, the Byzantines emerged victorious from these initial skirmishes, and proceeded to attack Aleppo.[20]

Sayf al-Dawla briefly confronted the Byzantine army with the small force at his disposal before his capital, but, unable to offer any meaningful resistance, he abandoned the city. The Hamdanid ruler fled to the fortress of

Daylamite garrison, but plundered the city for eight or nine days, torching its buildings and tearing down its fortifications.[20][22][23] Yahya of Antioch reports that the citadel was attacked by a nephew of Nikephoros Phokas (possibly Theodore Parsakoutenos), but he was killed by a Daylamite soldier. When his severed head was brought to Phokas, the latter reportedly beheaded 1,200 Arab prisoners.[24]

Eventually, the Byzantines departed, taking some 10,000 inhabitants,

camels and 1,400 mules.[25] Returning to his ruined and half-deserted capital, Sayf al-Dawla repopulated it with refugees from Qinnasrin.[16]

Aftermath

Ibn Hawqal visited the city after the siege, then he wrote:

The Greeks took the city and its stone wall was of no avail to it. They ruined the Mosque, and took away captive all its women and children, and burnt the houses. Halab had a castle, but it was not a strong place and was in no way well built. All the population had fled up to it (to take refuge from the Greeks) and here most of them perished with all their goods and chattels.

— [26]

Some modern scholars have considered the sack of Aleppo as a mere setback for the Hamdanid ruler, but not ultimately critical for his realm, focusing rather on the conquest of Cilicia that followed in 963–965.[27] Garrood, on the other hand, suggests that the loss of prestige suffered by Sayf al-Dawla was an irreversible blow on his power and authority. From then on, until his death, Sayf al-Dawla's rule would be plagued by revolts and disputes between his subordinates.[28]

References

  1. ^ a b Bianquis 1997, p. 105.
  2. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 273–274.
  3. ^ Humphreys 2010, p. 537.
  4. ^ Bianquis 1997, p. 103.
  5. ^ Humphreys 2010, pp. 537–538.
  6. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 277–278.
  7. ^ Whittow 1996, pp. 317–322.
  8. ^ Bianquis 1997, pp. 106–107.
  9. ^ Whittow 1996, p. 320.
  10. ^ a b Bianquis 1997, p. 107.
  11. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 488–489, 492.
  12. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 492.
  13. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 277.
  14. ^ Bianquis 1997, pp. 107–108.
  15. ^ Garrood 2008, pp. 131–132.
  16. ^ a b c Bianquis 1997, p. 108.
  17. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 495–496.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Kaldellis 2017, p. 39.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Garrood 2008, p. 133.
  20. ^ a b c d e f PmbZ, Nikephoros II. Phokas (#25535).
  21. ^ Garrood 2008, pp. 133–134.
  22. ^ a b Garrood 2008, p. 134.
  23. ^ Kaldellis 2017, pp. 39–40.
  24. ^ PmbZ, Nikephoros II. Phokas (#25535); Theodoros Parsakutenos (#27758).
  25. ^ "December 23, 962: Christians Invade Aleppo!". History & Headlines. 23 December 2016.
  26. ^ Burns 2017, p. 93.
  27. ^ Garrood 2008, p. 128.
  28. ^ Garrood 2008, pp. 134–135.

Sources

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