The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 3/Chapter 3

by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

CHAPTER III

The Fortifications of the Mesopotamian Frontier

Shimshâṭ. When ʿUthmân ibn-ʿAffân became caliph, he wrote to Muʿâwiyah conferring on him the governorship of Syria, and assigned ʿUmair ibn-Saʿd al-Anṣâri as governor of Mesopotamia. Later he dismissed the latter and combined both Syria and Mesopotamia, including their frontier fortifications [thughûr] under Muʿâwiyah, in the meantime ordering Muʿâwiyah to invade or send someone to invade Shimshâṭ,^[1] i. e., Armenia IV. Accordingly, Muʿâwiyah sent thereto Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah-l-Fihri and Ṣafwân ibn-Muʿaṭṭal as-Sulami who, after a few days of camping around it, reduced it and made terms similar to those of ar-Ruha. Ṣafwân took up his abode in Armenia until his death towards the end of Muʿâwiyah's caliphate. It is held by others that Muʿâwiyah himself led the invasion with these two in his company, that he then conferred its governorship on Ṣafwân, who lived in it until his death. After stopping in Malaṭyah in the year 133, Constantine the "tyrant" camped around Shimshâṭ with hostile intentions, but effected nothing. After making a raid on the surrounding places, he departed. Shimshâṭ was included in the kharâj-land until the time of al-Mutawakkil who changed it into a tithe-land, putting it on the same level with the other frontier fortresses.

Kamkh. After the conquest of Shimshâṭ, Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah attacked Ḥiṣn Kamkh^[2] but failed to reduce it. Ṣafwân too attacked it and failed. In the year 59—the year in which he died—Ṣafwân made another attempt on it, at which time he was accompanied by ʿUmair ibn-al-Ḥubâb^[3] as-Sulami, who climbed the wall and kept struggling single-handed until the Greeks gave way and the Moslems climbed up. Thus the reduction of Kamkh was due to ʿUmair ibn-al-Ḥubâb and was the thing in which he boasted and others boasted for him. Later, however, the Greeks succeeded in taking it; but it was recaptured by Maslamah ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik. Thus the fort passed back and forth from the hands of the Moslems to the hands of the Greeks until the year in which al-Manṣûr left Baghdâdh for Ḥadîthat al-Mauṣil from which he sent al-Ḥasan ibn-Ḳaḥṭabah and after him Muḥammad ibn-al-Ashʿath, both under the leadership of al-ʿAbbâs ibn-Muḥammad, for the invasion of Kamkh. Muḥammad ibn-al-Ashʿath died at Âmid.^[4] Al-ʿAbbâs and al-Ḥasan advanced to Malaṭyah^[5] from which they took provisions, and then camped around Kamkh. Al-ʿAbbâs ordered that mangonels be set upon the fort. The holders of the fort covered it with cypress wood to protect it against the mangonel stones, and killed by the stones they hurled two hundred Moslems. The Moslems then set their mantelets^[6] and fought severely until they captured it. Among those in the company of al-ʿAbbâs ibn-Muḥammad ibn-ʿAli in this campaign was Maṭar al-Warrâḳ. Once more the Greeks took Kamkh fort, and in the year 177 an attack against it was led by Muḥammad ibn-ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAbd-ar-Raḥmân ibn-abi-ʿAmrah-l-Anṣâri, the ʿâmil of ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Ṣâliḥ over Shimshâṭ, which resulted in its reduction. The fort was entered on the 14th of Rabiʿ II, 177, and was held by the Moslems until the time of the civil war led by Muḥammad ibn-ar-Rashîd, at which time its holders fled away and the Greeks took possession of it. Some hold that the fort was delivered to the Greeks by ʿUbaidallâh ibn-al-Aḳṭaʿ who, thereby, saved his son who was held by them as prisoner. In the caliphate of al-Maʾmûn, ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ṭâhir reduced it; and it was in the hands of the Moslems until certain Christians from Shimshâṭ, Ḳâlîḳala together with Biḳrâṭ ibn-Ashûṭ, the patrician of Khilâṭ, succeeded by subtle means in transferring it to the Greeks, and in this wise winning their favor which the Christians desired because they held crown-lands in the province of Shimshâṭ.

Malaṭyah. Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah-l-Fihri was sent by ʿIyâḍ ibn-Ghanm from Shimshâṭ to Malaṭyah^[7] whose conquest he effected. The city was later lost to the Moslems. When Muʿâwiyah became governor of Syria and Mesopotamia, he sent again Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah who took it by force and stationed in it a Moslem company of horsemen to keep post on the frontier and a ʿâmil. When Muʿâwiyah visited it on his way to the land of the Greeks, he stationed in it a garrison from Syria, Mesopotamia and other places. It became one of the headquarters for the summer expeditions. In the days of ʿAbdallâh ibn-az-Zubaîr, its inhabitants having left it, the Greeks came and devastated it; but they soon after evacuated it, and it was occupied by Armenian and Nabatean [Aramean] Christians.

Ṭurandah. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi:—After its invasion by ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik in the year 83, the Moslems settled in Ṭurandah^[8] and built their houses in it. This Ṭurandah is three days' journey from Malaṭyah and lies in the interior of the Byzantine Empire. Malaṭyah at this time was in ruins and inhabited by only a few Armenian dhimmis and others. In summer, a detachment of troops from Mesopotamia would come and stay in it until the rain and snow began to fall, at which time they would return. When ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz became caliph, he made the inhabitants of Ṭurandah, against their will, evacuate it, because he feared a raid of the enemy upon them. As they left, they carried away everything on their backs, leaving nothing behind and breaking even the jars of oil and vinegar. ʿUmar settled them in Malaṭyah and destroyed Ṭurandah, making Jaʿwanah ibn-al-Ḥârith of the banu-ʿÂmir ibn-Ṣaʿṣaʿah the governor of Malaṭyah.

The Greeks descend upon Malaṭyah. In the year 123, some 20,000 Greeks made a descent on Malaṭyah. Its inhabitants closed the gates; and the women appeared on the wall with turbans on their heads and took part in the fight. The people of Malaṭyah then sent a messenger to appeal for help. He rode on a post-mule and came to Hishâm ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik who was then at ar-Ruṣâfah. Hishâm summoned the Moslems to the help of Malaṭyah, but hearing that the Greeks had withdrawn from it, he communicated the news to the messenger and sent him with horsemen to remain at the frontier in readiness for the enemy. Hishâm led an expedition in person, after which he alighted in Malaṭyah where he lay encamped until it was built. On his way, he passed through ar-Raḳḳah which he entered with his sword at his side. This was the first time in his rule in which he carried his sword.

It is reported by al-Wâḳidi that in the year 133, Constantine the "tyrant" directed his march to Malaṭyah. Kamkh at that time was in Moslem hands; and its governor was one of the banu-Sulaim. The people of Kamkh having sent a call to the people of Malaṭyah for succor, 800 horsemen sallied forth from it to meet the Greeks. The Greek cavalry defeated them after a battle, and Constantine camped around Malaṭyah and invested it. At this time, Mesopotamia was the scene of a civil war and its ʿâmil Mûsa ibn-Kaʿb was at Ḥarrân. Therefore, when the people of Malaṭyah sent a messenger soliciting aid, nobody came. Hearing that, Constantine addressed the people of Malaṭyah saying, "O people of Malaṭyah, I would not have come to you had I not realized your state and the fact that your authorities [sulṭân] are too busy to help you. Make peace therefore with me and leave the city that I may destroy it and go my way." The people did not comply with his demand; so he set the mangonels. The siege was pressed so hard and the inhabitants were so exhausted that they asked Constantine for safe-conduct, which request he accepted. As they prepared to leave, they carried every light thing they could and threw what was too heavy into wells and hiding places. As they made their way out, all the Greeks stood in two rows from the city gates to the end of the line, with their swords unsheathed and the point of the one sword on the point of the one opposite to it, thus making an arch. The Greeks saw them off until they got to their place of safety, upon which they turned toward Mesopotamia where they settled in various places. Malaṭyah was then razed to the ground by the Greeks, who left nothing but a granary of which only one side was damaged. Ḥiṣn Ḳalûdhiyah was also destroyed by them.

Malaṭyah rebuilt. In the year 139, al-Manṣûr wrote to Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli ordering him to rebuild and fortify Malaṭyah. He then deemed it best to send ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb ibn-Ibrâhim al-Imâm as governor over Mesopotamia and its frontier fortresses. Accordingly, ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb started in the year 140 at the head of troops from Khurâsân and was accompanied by al-Ḥasan ibn-Ḳaḥṭabah. He ordered the people of Syria and Mesopotamia to furnish contingents of troops, which they did to the number of 70,000. With these, he marched to the site of Malaṭyah, gathered workmen from various places and started the construction. Al-Ḥasan ibn-Kaḥṭabah himself would sometimes carry a stone and hand it over to the mason. He would also provide the workers with dinners and suppers at his own expense, opening his kitchens to the public. ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb was displeased at this and wrote to abu-Jaʿfar stating that he [ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb] gave food to the people, but al-Ḥasan distributed many times more, his aim being to contend with him for superiority in beneficence, to spoil what he did, and to disparage him by means of extravagance and hypocrisy; and that al-Ḥasan had special heralds to go round calling people to his meals. To this, abu-Jaʿfar replied, "Boy, al-Ḥasan feeds people on his own account; and thou feedest them on mine. What thou hast written was due to thy ignominy, deficient energy and base-mindedness." In the meantime, he wrote to al-Ḥasan: "Feed the people, but do not use a herald." Al-Ḥasan used to announce to the workmen that he who, in building a wall, got first to the crown of a cornice would receive so much." This made them put forth special effort to finish the work; and thus was Malaṭyah with its mosque rebuilt in 6 months. For every group of ten to fifteen troops in the army, he built a house of two rooms below and two rooms above and a stable. At a distance of thirty miles from the city, he built a frontier castle and another on a rivulet called Ḳubâḳib that empties its water into the Euphrates. Al-Manṣûr settled in Malaṭyah 4,000 fighters from Mesopotamia, Malaṭyah being one of the Mesopotamian frontier towns, adding to each man's stipend ten dinârs, and giving to each a bounty of one hundred dinârs, in addition to the pay allotted to the different tribes. He stationed in the town the necessary garrison, assigned farms to the troops as fief and built the Ḳalûdhiyah fort.

Constantine desists from Jaiḥân. Constantine the "tyrant", at the head of an army of more than 100,000 men, came to Jaiḥân; but hearing of the great number of the Arabs, he desisted from it.

Naṣr ibn-Mâlik and Naṣr ibn-Saʿd accompany ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb. I heard it said that ʿAbd-al-Wahhâb was accompanied in the expedition mentioned above by Naṣr ibn-Mâlik al-Khuzâʿi and Naṣr ibn-Saʿd al-Kâtib, a freedman of al-Anṣâr. Hence the poet's words:

 

"Thou hadst on thy sides two Naṣrs: Naṣr ibn-Mâlik and Naṣr ibn- Saʿd,
may thy victory [Ar. naṣr] be unparallelled!"

 

Muḥammad ibn-Ibrâhîm goes against Malaṭyah. In the year 141, Muḥammad ibn-Ibrâhîm was sent to invade Malaṭyah at the head of an army from the people of Khurâsân, with al-Musaiyab ibn-Zuhair leading the choice men of the army. He posted a body of horsemen in Malaṭyah so that the enemy should not covet its possession. Those of its old inhabitants who survived returned to it.

Ar-Rashîd humiliates the Greeks. In the days of ar-Rashîd, the Greeks attempted the conquest of Malaṭyah but to no avail. Ar-Rashîd led an invasion, overcame and humiliated them.

Marʿash. When abu-ʿUbaidah ibn-al-Jarrâḥ was in Manbij, he sent Khâlid ibn-al-Walîd to the region of Marʿash^[9] whose fort Khâlid seized on the condition that its holders be allowed to emigrate to another place, after which he destroyed it. When Sufyân ibn-ʿAuf al-Ghâmidi made an expedition against the Greeks in the year 30, he started from Marʿash and made a tour in the land of the Greeks. Marʿash was built by Muʿâwiyah and populated by him with troops. After the death of Yazîd ibn-Muʿâwiyah, the Greeks reiterated their attacks on the city and so the inhabitants had to desert it. ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân, after the death of his father, Marwân ibn-al-Ḥakam, and after asserting his claim upon the caliphate, made terms with the Greeks, agreeing to pay them a certain sum. But in the year 74, Muḥammad ibn-Marwân attacked the Greeks, and thus the peace was broken.

In the year 75, Muḥammad ibn-Marwân once more led the summer campaign, and the Greeks went forth in Jumâda I from Marʿash to al-Aʿmâḳ [valleys]. The Moslems marched against them under Abân ibn-al-Walîd ibn-ʿUḳbah ibn-abi-Muʿaiṭ accompanied by Dinâr ibn-Dinâr, a freedman of ʿAbd-al-Malik ibn-Marwân and a governor of Ḳinnasrîn and its districts. The two armies met in ʿAmḳ [valley] Marʿash where a fierce battle was fought, resulting in the defeat of the Greeks. The Moslems chased them, massacring and capturing. In this same year, Dinâr came across a band of Greeks at Jisr [bridge] Yaghra about ten miles from Shimshâṭ, and routed them. Later al-ʿAbbâs ibn-al-Walîd ibn-ʿAbd-al-Malik came to Marʿash, built it, fortified it, moved people into it and erected in it a cathedral mosque. He imposed upon the people of Ḳinnasrîn a contingent of troops to be sent to Marʿash.

When Marwân ibn-Muḥammad during his caliphate was busy fighting against Ḥimṣ, the Greeks came against Marʿash and invested it until its inhabitants made terms to evacuate it. Accordingly, they together with their families left for Mesopotamia and the district of Ḳinnasrîn, upon which the Greeks destroyed the city. The ʿâmil of Marwân over the city was at that time al-Kauthar ibn-Zufar ibn-al-Ḥarith al-Kilâbi and the "tyrant" was Constantine son of Leon.^[10] When Marwân was through with Ḥimṣ and had destroyed its wall, he sent an army to rebuild Marʿash. It was rebuilt and made into a city; but the Greeks led an insurrection and destroyed it.

In the caliphate of abu-Jaʿfar al-Manṣûr, Ṣâliḥ ibn-ʿAli rebuilt Marʿash and fortified it. He invited men to settle in it, promising to increase their stipends. He was succeeded by al-Mahdi who increased its garrison and armed the people.

Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from al-Wâḳidi:—Mikhâʾîl [Michael] set out from Darb al-Ḥadath at the head of 80,000 men and came to ʿAmḳ Marʿash, killing, burning and carrying away the Moslems as captives. Thence he advanced to the gate of the city of Marʿash in which there was ʿÎsa ibn-ʿAli who in that year was on an expedition. The freedmen of ʿÎsa together with the inhabitants of the city and their troops sallied out against Michael and showered on him their lancets and arrows. Michael gave way before them and they followed him until they were outside the city range; at which he turned upon them, killing eight of ʿÎsa's freedmen and chasing the rest back to the city. Having gone in, they closed its gates and Michael, after investing the city, departed and stopped at Jaiḥân. When Thumâmah ibn-al-Walîd al-ʿAbsi, who was then in Dâbiḳ and who in the year 161 led the summer expedition, heard of that, he despatched against Michael a strong detachment of cavalry most of whom lost their lives. This aroused the anger of al-Mahdi who began preparations for sending al-Ḥasan ibn-Ḳaḥṭabah on an expedition in the following year, i. e., 162.

Ḥiṣn al-Ḥadath and Darb al-Ḥadath. Ḥiṣn al-Ḥadath was one of the places reduced in the days of ʿUmar by Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah who was sent by ʿÎyad ibn-Ghanm. After that, Muʿâwiyah used to pay frequent attention to it. Darb al-Ḥadath was ominously called by the banu-Umaiyah "as-Salâmah" [safety] because they suffered a great calamity in it, the calamity being, according to some, the occurrence implied in the term Ḥadath [which means occurrence]. Others assert that the Moslems met on the way a youth who fought against them with his companions, hence the name Darb al-Ḥadath.^[11]

At the time of the insurrection of Marwân ibn-Muḥammad, the Greeks went and destroyed the city of al-Ḥadath and drove its people out as they had done in the case of Malaṭyah.

In the year 161, Michael went out to ʿAmḳ Marʿash, and al-Mahdi directed al-Ḥasan ibn-Ḳaḥṭabah to make a tour in the Byzantine Empire. Al-Ḥasan's hand lay so heavily upon the people that they put his picture in their churches. His entrance to the land of the Greeks [Asia Minor] was through Darb al-Ḥadath where he examined the site of its city [al-Ḥadath] which he was told was evacuated by Michael. Al-Hasan chose that site for his city, and when he departed he spoke to al-Mahdi regarding the reconstruction of this city as well as that of Ṭarsûs. Al-Mahdi gave orders that al-Ḥadath be built first. Among the companions of al-Ḥasan in this campaign were Mandal al-ʿAnazi^[12]—the Kufite traditionist, and Muʿtamir ibn-Sulaimân al-Baṣri. Al-Ḥadath was rebuilt by ʿAli ibn-Sulaimân ibn-ʿAli, the governor of Mesopotamia and Ḳinnasrîn, and was called al-Muḥammadîyah. The death of al-Mahdi coincided with the completion of its building, so it is really al-Mahdîyah as well as al-Muḥammadîyah. Brick was the material used in its construction. The death of al-Mahdi fell in the year 169.

Al-Mahdi was succeeded by his son Mûsa-l-Hâdi who dismissed ʿAli ibn-Sulaimân and conferred the governorship of Mesopotamia and Ḳinnasrîn upon Muḥammad ibn-Ibrâhim ibn-Muḥammad ibn-ʿAli. Since ʿAli ibn-Sulaimân had by this time completed the building of the city of al-Ḥadath, Muḥammad assigned to it troops from Syria, Mesopotamia and Khurâsân, fixing forty dînârs as the stipend of each soldier. To these he assigned the houses as fiefs, and bestowed three hundred dirhams on every one of them. The city was completed in 169.

According to abu-l-Khaṭṭâb, ʿAli ibn-Sulaimân assigned 4,000 paid troops to al-Ḥadath and settled them in it, transferring 2,000 men into it from Malaṭyah, Shimshâṭ, Sumaisâṭ, Kaisûm, Dulûk and Raʿbân.

It was stated by al-Wâḳidi that when the building of al-Ḥadath was completed, winter set in and rain and snow fell in great quantities. The houses of the city, not being strongly built or provided with the necessary precautions, had their walls soon covered with cracks and fell to pieces. The Greeks then occupied it and the troops together with the people that were in it were scattered. Hearing that, Mûsa conscripted a contingent of troops headed by al-Musaiyab [not al-Musaiyib] ibn-Zuhair, another by Rauḥ ibn-Ḥâtim and still another by Ḥamzah ibn-Mâlik. Mûsa, however, died before they were sent out.

After that, ar-Rashîd became caliph, and he gave orders to rebuild the city, fortify it, station a garrison in it and assign to its fighters dwellings and lands as fiefs.

It was stated by others than al-Wâḳidi that when al-Ḥadath was built, one of the great patricians of the Greeks made a descent upon it with a strong host. The city was built with bricks, one placed on top of the other, without mortar intervening and which were damaged by the snow. The ʿâmil with all those in the city took to flight, and the enemy entered it, putting its mosque to flames, destroying the city and carrying away the movable possessions of the people. When ar-Rashîd became caliph, he rebuilt it.

I was informed by one from Manbij that ar-Rashîd wrote to Muḥammad ibn-Ibrâhîm confirming him in the work he was doing. Thus the erection of the city of al-Ḥadath and its peopling were carried out by him on behalf of ar-Rashîd. Later, Muḥammad was dismissed by ar-Rashîd.

Rahwat Mâlik. In the year 46, Mâlik ibn-ʿAbdallah al-Khathʿami, nicknamed Mâlik aṣ-Ṣawâʾif [summer expeditions] and who was a Palestinian, made an expedition to the Byzantine territory and returned with great booty. On his way back he stopped at a place called ar-Rahwat, fifteen miles from Darb al-Ḥadath. There he spent three days during which he sold the booty and divided its shares. Therefore the place was called Rahwat Mâlik.

Marj ʿAbd-al-Wâḥid. Marj ʿAbd-al-Wâḥid was a pasture-land devoted to the exclusive use of the Moslem cavalry, which after the erection of al-Ḥadath and Zibaṭrah was of no more use and therefore was changed into a sown land.

Zibaṭrah. Zibaṭrah was an old Greek fort that was reduced together with the old Ḥadath^[13] fort by Ḥabîb ibn-Maslamah-l-Fihri. The fort stood until it was destroyed by the Greeks in the days of al-Walîd ibn-Yazîd. It was then rebuilt, but not so strongly, therefore the Greeks made another attack on it at the time of the insurrection of Marwân ibn-Muḥammad and destroyed it. Al-Manṣûr built it again and it was once more torn into pieces by the Greeks. It was then rebuilt by ar-Rashîd under the supervision of Muḥammad ibn-Ibrâhîm who stationed a garrison in it. When al-Maʾmûn became caliph, the Greeks made another descent on it and tore it into pieces, after which they made a raid on the pasturing cattle of its holders and carried away some cattle. Al-Maʾmûn gave orders for repairing and fortifying it. In the year 210, the deputies of the Greek "tyrant" came asking for peace, which al-Maʾmûn refused. In pursuance of his orders, his ʿâmils [lieutenants] in the frontier fortresses made tours in Asia Minor where they wrought heavy slaughter, subdued the land and won many brilliant victories. One misfortune was the loss of the life of Yaḳẓân ibn-ʿAbd-al-Aʿla ibn-Aḥmad ibn-Yazîd ibn-Asîd as-Sulami.

In the days of al-Muʿtaṣim-Billâh abu-Isḥâḳ ibn-ar-Rashîd, the Greeks made a sally against Zibaṭrah^[14] in the course of which they killed the men, captured the women and destroyed the city. This greatly aroused the anger of al-Muʿtaṣim who chased them as far as ʿAmmûriyah, destroying many forts on the way. He camped against ʿAmmûriyah until he reduced it, putting its fighters to death and carrying off the women and children as prisoners. He then destroyed ʿAmmûriyah, and ordered that Zibaṭrah be rebuilt. He also fortified and garrisoned it. The Greeks after that tried to reduce it but failed.

Ḥiṣn Manṣûr. According to abu-ʿAmr al-Bâhili and others the Manṣûr fort was named after Manṣûr ibn-Jaʿwanah ibn-al-Ḥârith al-ʿÂmiri of Ḳais who had charge of building and repairing it, and who occupied it in the days of Marwân with a large host of the troops of Syria and Mesopotamia in order to repulse the enemy.

This same Manṣûr was governor of ar-Ruha when its inhabitants rebelled in the early part of the [Abbasid] dynasty and were besieged by al-Manṣûr, the ʿâmil of abu-l-ʿAbbâs over Mesopotamia and Armenia. When al-Manṣûr captured the city, Manṣûr took to flight; but when he was later given safe-conduct, he appeared on the scene. When ʿAbdallâh ibn-ʿAli dismissed abu-Jaʿfar al-Manṣûr, ʿAbdallâh made Manṣûr the chief of the guard in his district. When ʿAbdallâh fled to al-Basrah, Manṣûr disappeared but was discovered in the year 141 and brought before al-Manṣûr, who, on his way from Jerusalem, put him to death at ar-Raḳḳah. According to others, Manṣûr was given safe-conduct and appeared after the flight of [Abdallâh] ibn-ʿAli. After this there were found letters on him directed to the Greeks and betraying Islam. When al-Manṣûr, in the year 141, arrived at ar-Raḳḳah from Jerusalem, he sent someone who brought him; and he was beheaded at ar-Raḳḳah. Al-Manṣûr then departed for al-Hâshimîyah^[15] at al-Kûfah.

In the caliphate of al-Mahdi, ar-Rashîd built the Manṣûr fort and stationed a garrison in it.

Footnotes

1. Yâḳût, vol. iii, p. 319.
2. Ḥaukal, pp. 129, 130.
3. Cf. Maḥâsin, vol. i, p. 204; Duraid, p. 187.
4. Diyârbakr.
5. Yâḳût, vol. iv, pp. 633–634.
6. Ar. dabbâbah; Zaidân, vol. i, p. 143.
7. Yâḳût, vol. iv, pp. 633–634.
8. Yâḳût, vol. iii. p. 534.
9. Germanicia. Masʿûdi, vol. viii, p. 295; Ḥauḳal, p. 62.
10. Ar. Ḳusṭanṭin ibn-Alyûn. He was the successor of Heraclius; Maḥâsin, vol. i, p. 84; Athîr, vol. ii, p. 444.
11. "The pass of the youth."
12. Cf. Dhahabi, Mushtabih, p. 377.
13. Caetani. vol. iv, p. 60, note 1.
14. Yâḳût, vol. ii, p. 914.
15. Yâḳût, vol. iv, p. 946; Baghdâd under the Abbasid Caliphate, p. 5.