The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 2/Chapter 16

by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

CHAPTER XVI

The Frontier Fortresses^[1] of Syria

Moslem razzias beyond the frontiers. I was informed by certain sheikhs from Antioch and by others that in the days of ʿUmar and ʿUthmân, and after their time, the frontier cities of Syria included Antioch and other cities called later al-ʿAwâṣim by ar-Rashîd. The Moslems used to lead their raids beyond these cities as they now raid what is beyond Ṭarsûs. Between Alexandretta and Ṭarsûs lay Greek forts and frontier garrisons, similar to those through which the Moslems now pass, and the inhabitants of which would sometimes, because of fear, leave them and flee to the Byzantine Empire, and sometimes, Byzantine fighters would be brought and stationed in them. It is said that when Heraclius left Antioch, he joined to himself the people of these towns, so that the Moslems might not be able to go between Antioch and the land of the Byzantines through a cultivated land.

Ibn-Ṭaibûn^[2] al-Baghrâsi from certain sheikhs:—The latter said, "What is known to us is that Heraclius moved the men from these forts, which he shattered. So, when the Moslems made their raids, they found them vacant. In certain cases the Greeks would make an ambush by these forts and take by surprise those of the army who were held back or cut off. Thus the leaders of the summer and winter campaigns, on entering the Greek land, would leave heavy troops in these forts until their return."

The first to pass through ad-Darb. Regarding the first one to cross ad-Darb,^[3] i. e., Darb Baghrâs^[4] there is a disagreement. Some assert that the first was Maisarah ibn-Masrûḳ al-ʿAbsi who was despatched by abu-ʿUbaidah ibn-al-Jarrâḥ and who met a host of Greeks accompanied by the "naturalized" [mustaʿribah] Arabs of the Ghassân, Tanûkh and Iyâd, trying to follow Heraclius [in Asia Minor]. Maisarah fell upon them and wrought a bloody massacre among them. He was later joined by Mâlik al-Ashtar an-Nakhaʿi sent as a reinforcement by abu-ʿUbaidah from Antioch.

According to others, the first to cross ad-Darb was ʿUmar ibn-Saʿd al-Anṣâri, when he was sent in connection with the case of Jabalah ibn-al-Aiham.

According to abu-l-Khaṭṭâb al-Azdi, abu-ʿUbaidah himself led the summer expedition passing through al-Maṣṣîṣah and then through Ṭarsûs whose people, together with those of the fortified cities lying beyond, had evacuated their places. Thus abu-ʿUbaidah entered the land of the [Greek] enemy and carried his campaign as far as Zandah. According to others, abu-ʿUbaidah did not himself go, but sent Maisarah ibn-Masrûḳ, who reached as far as Zandah.

Muʿâwiyah and the forts. Abu-Ṣâliḥ al-Farrâʾ from one supposed by him to have been ʿUbâdah ibn-Nusai:—When Muʿâwiyah in the year 25 invaded ʿAmmûriyah [Amorium], he found the forts between Antioch and Tarsûs all vacant. He therefore left in those forts some men from Syria, Mesopotamia and Ḳinnasrîn until he had finished his expedition. One or two years later, he sent Yazîd ibn-al-Ḥurr al-ʿAbsi at the head of the summer expedition and instructed him to do the same thing, which Yazîd did. All the governors used to do the same.

The same authority says, "I read in the book of Maghâzi Muʿâwiyah [Muʿâwiyah's campaigns] that Muʿâwiyah in the year 31 led an invasion setting out from near al-Maṣṣîṣah and penetrating as far as Daraulîyah. On his return, he destroyed all the fortresses [belonging to the Greeks] between the latter place and Antioch.

Al-Maṣṣîṣah. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi and others:—In the year 84, ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân led the summer campaign, entered through the Darb Anṭâkiyah and reached al-Maṣṣîṣah [Mopsuestia], where he rebuilt the fort on its old foundations. In this city, he caused troops to settle, among whom were 300 chosen from those known to be among the most valorous and strong. The Moslems had never lived in this town before. He also built a mosque in it over Tall al-Ḥiṣn [the hill of the fort], and then led his army to the invasion of Sinân fort, which he reduced. He then sent Yazîd ibn-Ḥunain aṭ-Ṭâʾi-l-Anṭâki who led an incursion and returned.

Abu-l-Khaṭṭâb al-Azdi holds that the first Moslem to build the fort of al-Maṣṣîṣah^[5] was ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân through his son ʿAbdallâh in the year 84 on its old foundation. Its building and manning were completed in the year 85. In this fortified town stood a church which was converted into a granary. The troops [Ar. ṭawâliʿ] from Antioch, numbering 1,500–2,000, used to go up to it every year and spend the winter in it, at the end of which they would leave.

When ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz came to the granary of al-Maṣṣîṣah, he wanted to destroy the town together with the forts that lay between it and Antioch saying, "I hate to see the Greeks besieging its people." When he, however, learned that the town was built to check the Greek advance on Antioch, and that, in case it was destroyed, nothing would remain to stop the enemy from taking Antioch, he desisted and erected for its people a cathedral mosque in the Kafarbaiya quarter. In the mosque, he made a cistern whereon his name was inscribed. In the caliphate of al-Muʿtaṣim-Billâh, the mosque, which was called Masjid al-Ḥiṣn [the fort mosque], fell into ruins.

Hishâm ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik built the part outside the city wall [Ar. rabaḍ]; and Marwân ibn-Muḥammad built, to the east of Jaiḥân,^[6] al-Khuṣûṣ [wood houses], around which he erected a wall with a wooden gate, and dug a moat.

When abu-l-ʿAbbâs became caliph, he assigned stipends for 400 men to be added to the garrison at al-Maṣṣîṣah, and distributed fiefs among them. When al-Manṣûr became caliph, he assigned stipends for 400 men at al-Maṣṣîṣah. In the year 139, al-Manṣûr ordered that the city of al-Maṣṣîṣah, the wall of which had become shattered by earthquakes and whose population within the walls had become few in number, be well populated. Accordingly, in the year 140, he built the wall of the city, made its inhabitants settle in it and called it al-Maʿmûrah. Moreover, al-Manṣûr erected a cathedral mosque in it on the site of a heathen temple, and made it many times the size of the mosque of ʿUmar. Al-Maʾmûn enlarged the mosque in the governorship of ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ṭâhir ibn-al-Ḥusain over al-Maghrib. Al-Manṣûr assigned stipends for 1,000 men of its inhabitants. Besides, he transplanted [into it] the inhabitants of al-Khuṣûṣ, who were Persians, Slavs and Christian Nabateans—all of whom were settled in al-Khuṣûṣ by Marwân—gave them in it lots marked for dwellings in exchange for and of the same measure as their old homes, pulled down their old dwellings and helped them to build the new ones. To these soldiers, who received stipends, al-Manṣûr gave fiefs and dwellings.

When al-Mahdi became caliph, he assigned stipends for 2,000 men at al-Maṣṣîṣah but gave them no fiefs, because the city was already manned with troops and volunteers. The periodical contingents [ṭawâliʿ] used to come from Antioch every year until the city was governed by Sâlim al-Barallusi, who assigned in their place^[7] stipends for 500 fighters, making a special rate of 10 dînârs for each. Thus the people of the city were multiplied and strengthened. This took place when al-Mahdi held the caliphate.

Muḥammad ibn-Sahm from the sheikhs of the frontier region:—In the days of the "blessed dynasty", the Greeks pressed the inhabitants of al-Maṣṣîṣah so hard that they left the city. After that Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli sent to it Jabril ibn-Yaḥya-l-Bajali who peopled it and made Moslems settle in it in the year 140. Ar-Rashîd^[8] built Kafarbaiya; but according to others it was begun in the caliphate of al-Mahdi, and ar-Rashîd changed the plan of its construction and fortified it with a moat. Its inhabitants complained to al-Maʾmûn concerning the rent^[9] paid for the houses therein, and he abolished it. The houses were like inns. By order of al-Maʾmûn, a wall was commenced around the city and raised high, but not completed before his death. Al-Muʿtaṣim-Billâh ordered that the wall be finished and raised to its proper height.

Al-Muthaḳḳab. Al-Muthaḳḳab^[10] was fortified by Hishâm ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik who entrusted the work to Ḥassân ibn-Mâhawaih al-Anṭâki. As the moat was being dug, a leg-bone of extraordinary length was found and sent to Hishâm.

Ḳaṭarghâsh, Mûrah and Baghrâs. Hishâm also had Ḳaṭarghâsh fort built by ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz ibn-Ḥaiyân al-Anṭâki. He also had Mûrah fort erected by a man from Antioch. This last fort was built because the Greeks had interfered with one of his messengers at Darb al-Lukâm near al-ʿAḳabah-l-Baiḍa. In this fort, he stationed forty men and a body of al-Jarâjimah. In Baghrâs [Pagrae]. he established a garrison of fifty men and built a fort for it. Hishâm, moreover, built the Bûḳa fort in the province of Antioch, which was recently renewed and repaired.

After the Greeks had made a raid on the littoral of the province of Antioch in the caliphate of al-Muʿtaṣim-Billâh, a fort was built on that littoral by Muḥammad ibn-Yûsuf al-Marwazi, surnamed abu-Saʿîd.

ʿUmar intends to destroy al-Maṣṣîṣah. Dâʾûd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Ḥamîd, the ḳâḍi of ar-Raḳḳah, from a grandfather of his:—ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz intended to destroy al-Maṣṣîṣah and move its inhabitants because they suffered so much from the Greeks; but he died before he could accomplish it.

ʿAḳabat an-Nisâʾ. I was informed by certain men from Antioch and Baghrâs that when Maslamah ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik invaded ʿAmmûriyah, he took his wives with him; and other men in his army did the same. The banu-Umaiyah used to do that in order to infuse enthusiasm in the army by making them jealous for their harem. As Maslamah was passing through ʿAkabat^[11] Baghrâs on a narrow road that bordered on a valley, a stretcher in which a woman was carried fell down to the foot of the mountain. This made Maslamah order that all women should go on foot. So they did; and that ʿAḳabat was, therefore, called "ʿAḳabat an-Nisâʾ" [the women's ʿAḳabat]. Previous to this, al-Muʿtaṣim had built on the edge of that road a low stone wall.

The roads of Antioch cleared of lions by means of buffaloes. It was stated by abu-an-Nuʿmân al-Anṭâki that the road between Antioch and al-Maṣṣîṣah was frequented by lions which molested the passers-by. When al-Walîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik came to rule, the complaint was made to him, and he sent 4,000 buffaloes by which the required result was attained through Allah's help.

Muḥammad ibn-al-Ḳâsim ath-Thaḳafi, the ʿâmil of al-Ḥajjâj over as-Sind, had sent from as-Sind thousands of buffaloes to al-Ḥajjâj, who gave al-Walîd 4,000 of them, and left the rest in the jungles of Kaskar.^[12] When Yazîd ibn-al-Muhallab was deposed and killed, and the possessions of the banu-l-Muhallab were confiscated by Yazîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik, the latter carried away 4,000 buffaloes, which were in the districts of Dijlah^[13] and Kaskar. These, too, Yazîd sent to al-Maṣṣîṣah together with az-Zuṭṭ sent there. Thus the buffaloes at al-Maṣṣîṣah were originally 8,000. At the time of the insurrection of Marwân ibn-Muḥammad ibn-Marwân the people of Antioch and Ḳinnasrîn brought under their control and took possession of many of these animals; but when al-Manṣûr became caliph he ordered that they be restored to al-Maṣṣîṣah. As for the buffaloes of Antioch, they were first brought by az-Zuṭṭ, and so were the first ones of Bûḳa.

Jisr al-Walîd. According to abu-l-Khaṭṭâb, the bridge on the road of Adhanah [Adana] from al-Maṣṣîṣah lay nine miles from the latter, was built in the year 125, and was called Jisr al-Walîd after al-Walîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik, who was slain.

Adhanah. According to abu-an-Nuʿmân al-Anṭâki and others, Adhanah was built in the year 141 or 142 as the Khurâsân troops under Maslamah ibn-Yaḥya-l-Bajali, and the Syrian troops under Mâlik ibn-Adham al-Bâhili (all sent by Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli) were camping in it.

Saiḥân castle. In the year 165, al-Mahdi sent his son Hârûn ar-Rashîd on an expedition to the Greek Empire. After camping at al-Khalîj, ar-Rashîd went forth and repaired al-Maṣṣîṣah and its mosque, increasing its garrison and arming its inhabitants. He also built the castle which lay by Saiḥân [Sarus river] near Adhanah bridge. Previous to this, al-Manṣûr had sent Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli on an invasion to the Greek Empire, and the latter sent Hilâl ibn-Ḍaigham, at the head of a group of men from Damascus, the Jordan and other places, who built this castle; but the structure not being firm, ar-Rashîd dismantled the castle and rebuilt it.

Abu-Sulaim rebuilds Adhanah. In the year 194^[14] abu-Sulaim Faraj al-Khâdim built Adhanah well and strong, fortified it, and chose men from Khurâsân and others to live in it, giving them an increase of stipends. All that was done by the order of Muḥammad ibn-ar-Rashîd. He also made repairs in Ḳaṣr Saiḥân. When ar-Rashîd died in the year 193, his ʿâmil for collecting tithes from the frontier fortresses was abu-Sulaim who was now confirmed in his position by Muḥammad [ibn-ar-Rashîd]. To this abu-Sulaim belonged the residence in Antioch [that bears his name].

Ṭarsûs and al-Hadath. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi:—In the year 162, al-Ḥasan ibn-Ḳaḥṭabah aṭ-Ṭâʾi invaded the land of the Greeks at the head of an army of the people of Khurâsân, Mauṣil,^[15] and Syria, reinforced by men from al-Yaman and volunteers from al-ʿIrâḳ and al-Ḥijâz. He started near Ṭarsûs and called the attention of al-Mahdi to the great troubles spared to Islâm, and the good chance it afforded to frustrate and avert the enemies' intrigues and plans by building Ṭarsûs, fortifying it and stationing a garrison in it. In that campaign, al-Ḥasan distinguished himself and subdued the land of the Greeks, and was therefore called ash-Shaiṭân [the devil]. Among his men in the invasion were Mandal al-ʿAnazi—the traditionist of the school of al-Kûfah—and Muʿtamir ibn-Sulaimân al-Baṣri.

Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from Saʿd ibn-al-Ḥasan:—When al-Ḥasan left the land of the Greeks, he camped at Marj [plain of] Ṭarsûs from which he rode to the city, which was then in ruins. After examining it, he went around it in all directions and estimated that it could be inhabited by one hundred thousand.^[16] When he appeared before al-Mahdi, he described the condition of the city and referred to the strength that Islâm and the Moslems would acquire, and to the anger and disappointment that will ensue to the enemy, if the city were rebuilt and manned with a garrison. He also told al-Mahdi something about al-Ḥadath that encouraged him to build it. Accordingly, al-Mahdi ordered him to build Ṭarsûs and start with al-Ḥadath, which was immediately built. Al-Mahdi then ordered that Ṭarsûs be built. In the year 171, ar-Rashîd heard that the Greeks had enjoined one another to set forth to Ṭarsûs in order to fortify it and station troops in it. He therefore sent in the year 171 Harthamah ibn-Aʿyan as commander of the summer campaign and ordered him to build Ṭarsûs, settle people in it and make it a fortified boundary town^[17] between the two countries. Harthamah did so, putting the work, in accordance with ar-Rashîd's orders, in charge of Faraj ibn-Sulaim al-Khâdim. Faraj put someone in charge, went to Madînat as-Salâm^[18] and sent the first garrison, numbering 3,000, whom he chose from among the people of Khurâsân. The garrison came to Ṭarsûs. He then sent the second garrison that numbered 2,000 men, 1,000 of whom were from al-Maṣṣîṣah and 1,000 from Antioch, promising each man an increment of ten dînârs on his original stipend. The second garrison camped with the first at al-Madâʾin near Bâb al-Jihâd, from the beginning of Muḥarram in the year 172, until the construction of the city of Ṭarsûs with its fortification and mosque was completed. Faraj measured the land between the two rivers and found it to be 4,000 lots, each lot being twenty dhirâ's square. These lots he gave as fiefs to the inhabitants of Ṭarsûs. In Rabîʿ II, 172, the two garrisons settled in the city.

Yazîd ibn-Makhlad governor of Ṭarsûs. ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Ṣâliḥ appointed Yazîd ibn-Makhlad al-Fazâri as âmil over Ṭarsûs. Those of the inhabitants who came from Khurâsân were afraid of him, because he belonged to the clan of al-Hubairîyah, and drove him from the city. He appointed abu-l-Fawâris to succeed him and ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Ṣâliḥ confirmed abu-l-Fawâris in his position. This took place in the year 173.

Sîsîyah. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi:—In the year 194 or 193, the inhabitants of Sîsîyah [or Sîs, later Little Armenia] evacuated their homes and went as far as the mountainous region of the Greeks.^[19] This Sîsîyah was the city of Tall ʿAin-Zarbah and was rebuilt in the caliphate of al-Mutawakkil by ʿAli ibn-Yaḥya-l-Armani [the Armenian]. It was later ruined by the Greeks.

Antioch burnt. The one who burnt Antioch—condemned as it was to burning^[20]—in the land of the Greeks was ʿAbbâs ibn-al-Walîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik.

Tall Jubair. Tall Jubair was so called after a Persian from Antioch who fought a battle in it. The Tall lies less than 10 miles from Ṭarsûs.

Dhu-l-Kilâʿ. The name of the fort known as dhu-l-Kilâʿ is really a corruption of dhu-l-Ḳilâʿ [the fort of the castles], which name was given to it because it was made up of three castles. The explanation of its name in the Greek tongue is "the fortress with the stars."

Kanîsat aṣ-Sulḥ. Kanîsat aṣ-Ṣulḥ [the church of peace] was so called because when the Greeks came to ar-Rashîd to capitulate, they made it their headquarters.

Marj Ḥusain. Marj Ḥusain was named after Ḥusain ibn-Muslim al-Anṭâki who fought a battle in it and defeated the enemy.

Ḍamâlu. In the year 163, al-Mahdi sent on a campaign his son, Hârûn ar-Rashîd, who laid siege to Ḍamâlu (colloquial Samâlu). Its people asked a promise of security for ten of their nobility including the Comes.^[21] Ar-Rashîd consented. One of their terms stipulated that they be never separated from one another. Therefore they were settled in Baghdâdh near Bâb ash-Shammâsîyah.^[22] Their quarter they called Samâlu, and it is still known as such. Others say that they surrendered to al-Mahdi who spared their lives and gathered them in that place, ordering that it be called Samâlu. According to ar-Rashîd's orders, those who were left in the fort were sold publicly.

One Abyssinian, who was heard cursing ar-Rashîd and the Moslems, was crucified on one of the towers of the fort.

ʿAin Zarbah and al-Hârûnîyah. Aḥmad ibn-al-Ḥârith al-Wâsiṭi from al-Wâḳidi:—In the year 180, ar-Rashîd ordered that the city of ʿAin Zarbah [Anazarbus] be built and fortified. He summoned to it a regiment from Khurâsân and others, to whom he gave houses as fiefs. In the year 183, he ordered al-Hârûnîyah built. It was accordingly built and manned with a garrison and with volunteers that emigrated to it. The city was named after him. Others say that Hârûn started its erection in the caliphate of al-Mahdi, but completed it in his own caliphate.

Kanîsat as-Saudâʾ. The city of Kanîsat as-Saudâʾ [black church] had been built by the Greeks of black stone since the earliest of days, and had an old fort that was destroyed in the general havoc. Ar-Rashîd ordered that this city be rebuilt and fortified. He also summoned to it troops, allowing them larger stipends. I was told by ʿAzzûn ibn-Saʿd, one of the inhabitants of the frontier region, that the Greeks once invaded it—as al-Ḳâsim ibn-ar-Rashîd was staying in Dâbiḳ—and carried away its cattle and a number of prisoners. They were pursued by the people of al-Maṣṣîṣah and its volunteers, who saved all that had been carried away and killed many of the Greeks, sending the rest of them back in distress and disorder. Then al-Ḳâsim sent some one to fortify the city, make repairs in it and increase its garrison. For this purpose some of az-Zuṭṭ, previously transplanted by al-Muʿtaṣim to ʿAin Zarbah and its environs from al-Baṭâʾiḥ, which lay between Wâsiṭ and al-Baṣrah, and which they had conquered, were available.

Abu-Isḥâḳ al-Fazâri's opinion on the land of ath-Thaghr. I was informed by abu-Ṣâliḥ al-Anṭâki that abu-Isḥâḳ al-Fazâri hated to buy land in the frontier region [ath-Ṭhaghr] because he said, "Those who first wrested this land from the Greeks did not divide it among themselves, and it later passed to others. Thus it had been transmitted to others and attached to itself a suspicion that the wise man would do well to avoid."

Tithe-exemptions annulled by al-Mutawakkil. In ath-Thaghr, so many pieces of land were exempt from the tithe that the total income of tithes was diminished to such an extent that it could not meet the expenses. By al-Mutawakwil's orders, therefore, all these exemptions were in the year 243 abolished.

Footnotes

1. Ar. thughûr; see Iṣtakhri, pp. 55–56.
2. ? Lacking in diacritical points.
3. "Gr. Derbe near the Cilician gates which were the chief mountain pass from the direction of the countries occupied by the Arabs into the territory of the Greeks"—Lane. See Caetani, vol. iii, p. 805.
4. Perhaps Bailân pass of to-day.
5. Hamadhâni, p. 112.
6. Pyramus river.
7. Read mauḍiʿaha in place of mauḍiʿahu.
8. Masʿûdi, vol. viii, p. 295.
9. Ar ghallah, i. e., rent due for houses built on the state property.
10. Iṣṭakhri, p. 63; Ḥauḳal, p. 121.
11. A place difficult of ascent.
12. Hamadhâni, Buldân, p. 196; ibn-Khurdâdhbih, p. 7.
13. Yâḳût, vol. iii. p. 745.
14. "193" in Yâḳût, vol. i, p. 179, line 19.
15. Hamadhâni, Buldân, pp. 26–27, 128.
16. Ibid., p. 113.
17. Ar. miṣr.
18. City of peace, i. e., Baghdad.
19. Yâḳût, vol. iii, p. 217, gives the date 93 or 94 and reads aʿâli ar-Rûm instead of aʿla ar-Rûm.
20. Hamadhâni, Buldân, p. 37: Said Makḥûl, "Four cities are of the cities of Paradise; Makkah, al-Madînah, Îliyâʾ [Jerusalem] and Damascus; and four of the cities of fire: Antioch, aṭ-Ṭuwânah, Constantinople and Sanʿâʾ."
21. Ar. al-Ḳûmis = a leader of two hundred: Zaidân, vol. i, p. 118; Ḳudâmah, pp. 255–256.
22. Le Strange, Baghdâd, p. 202.