Alptakin: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added
→‎top: add wording for clarity
No edit summary
Line 6:
== Invasion of Syria and war with the Fatimids ==
[[File:Syria in the 9th century.svg|thumb|right|250px|Map of Early Islamic Syria and its provinces]]
After his defeat at the hands of the Buyids, along with {{circa|300}} of his followers,{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=205}} Alptakin fled to [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]], where they managed to capture [[Hims]].{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=343}} Alptakin then allied himself with the [[Qarmatians]], and in the winter of 975 invaded the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coast and laid siege to [[Fatimid]] city of [[Sidon]]. He shortly managed to capture the city, resulting in the massacre of 4,000 Fatimid troops.{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=343}} He then captured [[Tiberias]], and marched towards to [[Damascus]], which he took without much resistance. In the meantime, the Byzantine emperor [[John I Tzimiskes]] was undertaking [[Syrian campaigns of John Tzimiskes|campaigns in Syria]], which made Alptakin surrender his lands to John.{{sfn|Romane|2015|p=73}}

The Fatimid [[caliph]] [[al-Aziz Billah]] then sent an army under his general Jawhar, who managed to reconquer the Mediterranean coast and reach as far as Damascus, which laid siege to in July 976.{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=348}}
 
The Qarmatians reacted by sending an army to aid Alptakin—according to some sources, Alptakin himself appealed to the Qarmatians for aid—forcing Jawhar to lift the siege in January 977.{{sfn|Gil|1997|pp=348–349}} The allies pursued Jawhar to Ramla, where they were joined by the [[Banu Tayy]] [[Bedouin]]; Jawhar was defeated in a pitched battle at the [[Yarqon River]], and was forced to abandon Ramla and retreat to [[Ashkelon|Ascalon]]. The Qarmatians entered Ramla on 12 March 977.{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=349}} The combined army of Alptakin and the Qarmatians then besieged [[Ashkelon|Ascalon]], where the Fatimid army had fled to. After a long siege which lasted until April 978, the starving Fatimid army agreed to make a peace treaty: in addition to Damascus, Alptakin would receive [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], while the northern border of the Fatimid domain was set at [[Gaza City|Gaza]].{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=349}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=321}} To make the treaty more palatable to the Fatimids, Alptakin agreed to recognize the Fatimid caliph as his suzerain, although this was a purely nominal gesture: ALptakin would retain all revenue collected from the territories under his control.{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=349}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|p=321}}
Line 23 ⟶ 25:
* {{A History of Palestine, 634–1099}}
* {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates | edition = Second}}
* {{cite book|last=Romane|first=Julian|title=Byzantium Triumphant|date=2015|publisher=Pen and Sword Books|isbn=978-1473845701}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alptakin}}