Arapi u Španiji

[Mstislav]

Odlicna spanska serija o Granadi i padu poslednjeg muslimanskog uporista u Spaniji 1492 i cuveni epski film El Cid.

 

[NickFreakyrgios]

Kordobski kalifat je delovao totalno nezavisno od Bagdadskog kalifata.
Situacija u Hispaniji je bila mnogo bolja po hriscane i Jevreje od onoga sto je bilo pod Turcima. Mavari ili Saraceni ili Berberi su postovali verska prava ostalih zajednica verovatno je to doprinelo tako dugom opstanku na vlasti kao i cinjenica da se Spanija jako brzo oporavila nakon oslobadjanja od Mavara od hriscanske lige , brzo se vratila u evropske tokove i pistala ubrzo pomorska super sila.
Sto se ni za jednu zemlju pod turskom vlascu ne moze reci.

 

[Mstislav]

Ima i serija Izabela. Spanci prave dobre serije na ovu tematiku.

https://www.rtve.es/television/isabel-la-catolica/capitulos-completos/

 

[Khal Drogo]

Kordobski kalifat je delovao totalno nezavisno od Bagdadskog kalifata.

Да, Умајадски емират у Кордови (ПС; Кордовски калифат ће бити успостављен 929.године и трајати до 1031.године) од свог успостављања 756.године је потпуно независтан од Абасидског калифата. Заправо, за читавог свог трајања, пуних 5 вијекова били су у непријатељским односима.
Разлози непријатељства и анимозитета које би прелазило границе мржње су вишеструки. Ту је наравно преврат у арапском свијету 750.године када је династија Абасида преузела доминацију од Умајада што је праћено покољом свих припадника претходне династије осим Абд-ал-Рахмана I који ће постати првим емиром успостављеног Умајадског емирата у Хиспанији. Но постоје и други разлози, када су се Арапи ширили на сјевер, једна племена су настанила Сирију, друга Ирак, између тих племена постојали су анимозитети из старе отаџбине, Сиријци су под Умајадима из пријестолнице у Дамаску имали доминацију, након преврата центар моћи сели се на исток, у нову пријестолницу Багдад и Ирак, довољан разлог за непријатељски однос Сиријаца (арапских племена која су настанила Сирију у VII вијеку) према новој династији.
Како сам и написао у уводним постовима, управо је сиријски контигент уз Бербере (и Јемените, јужне Арапе које су такође придобили за своју сгвар и који и тако имају анимозитет према сјеверним Арапима) чинио прве колонизаторе у Хиспанији и разумљиво је што су прихватли јединог преживјелог припадника династије Умајада.

Абасидски калиф у Багдаду је покушао 761.године повратити контролу над одметнутом провинцијом, сада емиратом но тај покушај (Филип Хити Историја Арапа стр. 459)

је рђаво завршио за калифа, још рђавије за управитеља над Шпанијом којег је поставио.

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који нам описује догађаје у другој половини XIV вијека и односе краљевства Кастиље и емирата Гранаде;

 

[Khal Drogo]

Још један документарац који нас води кроз дешавања у Шпанији у другој половини XIV вијека и на прелазу у XV вијек;

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који нам описује живот Родрига Диаза де Вивара знаног и као Ел Сид, борбе са Маурима, околности и догађаје у Шпанији XI вијека;

 

[Сребрена]

Арапско освајање Хиспаније извршено је више стицајем околности, све је почело као пљачкашки поход.
Неки јебивјетар, Бербер, Тарик-ибн-Зијад по налогу управитеља сјевернe Африке Мусе ибн-Нусаира повео је експедицију, прешао 711.године тјеснац, искрцао се код једног брда које ће бити по њему именовано, данас знано као Гибралтар .

Врло брзо је дошло до одлучујеће битке код Гвадалете 19. јула 711. године.

Ту је Тарик са својих 12.000 берберских ратника до ногу потукао визиготског краља Родерика који је водио војску од 25.000 ратника.
Судбина Родерика је непозната, остао је глас да је једноставно нестао.

Извесно време замишљени лик Тариков красио је на Гибралтару новчаницу од 5 фунти

https://intelektualno.com/tarik-ibn-zijad-na-novcanici-od-pet-funti-na-gibraltaru/

а на финској википедији постоји минијатура са његовим ликом из неке, изгледа, хронике..нисам успела да одгонетнем
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarik_ibn_Zijad

 

[Khal Drogo]

Битка код Гуадалетеа (овдје)

Spojler: The Battle of Guadalete

The Battle of Guadalete

The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate, composed mainly of Berbers and a few Arabs[1] under the commander Tariq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Berber attacks and the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. In the battle Roderic lost his life, along with many members of the Visigothic nobility, opening the way for the capture of the Visigothic capital of Toledo.

Sources​

The primary source for the battle is the Mozarabic Chronicle, which was written shortly after 754 probably in the vicinity of Toledo.[2] The Latin Chronicle was written by a Mozarab Christian. The only other Latin Christian source written within a century of the battle is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon.[3] Paul was neither Visigothic nor Hispanic, but was writing probably in Montecassino between 787 and 796, where many Visigothic monks had taken refuge. The Chronicle of 741 is a near-contemporary Hispanic source, but it contains no original material pertaining to the battle. Several later Latin Christian sources contain descriptive accounts of the battle that have sometimes been trusted by historians, most notably the Chronicle of Alfonso III, written by Alfonso III of Asturias in the late ninth century. The high medieval accounts, such as that of Lucas de Tuy, are generally untrustworthy, containing much legend and invention.

Besides the Latin Christian sources there are several Arabic language sources widely used by historians, but increasingly coming under heavy criticism.[4] None of them predates the mid-ninth century, the date of the earliest, the Futūh Miṣr of Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (c.803–71), which was composed in Egypt.[5] This account, more rich in detail than the Mozarabic Chronicle, is at odds with not only the later Latin histories, but also the later Arabic ones: the anonymous compilation called the Akhbar Majmu'ah, the late tenth-century work of Ibn al-Qūṭiyya ("the son [i.e. descendant] of the Goth [i.e. Wittiza]"), the eleventh-century historian Ibn Hayyān, the thirteenth-century Complete History of Ibn al-Athir, the fourteenth-century history of Ibn Khaldūn, or the early modern work of al-Maqqarī.[6] The Akhbar Majmu'ah in particular was upheld by Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz as a genuine eighth-century work surviving only in later copies, but this view has since been refuted.[7] The French Orientalist Évariste Lévi-Provençal on the other hand advocated Ibn Hayyān as the supreme Muslim historian of the era (and the battle).[8]

Among modern Anglo-American historians, Roger Collins, R. A. Fletcher, E. A. Thompson, and Kenneth Baxter Wolf are sceptical of the Arabic sources and rely more on the Mozarabic Chronicle. Historians Thomas F. Glick and Bernard S. Bachrach are less sceptical. Collins in particular rejects a syncretistic approach incorporating information from all the available sources.

Background
Though the reign of Roderic is traditionally dated to 710–11, a literal reading of the Mozarabic Chronicle of 754 indicates 711–12. Roderic did not rule unopposed, however. The nature of his accession on the death of Wittiza from natural causes or through his assassination, is not clear from the sources. It is possible that Roderic was probably the dux (duke) of Baetica before coming to the throne.[9] Archaeological evidence and two surviving lists of kings show that one Achila II ruled in the northeast of the kingdom at this time, but his relationship to Roderic is unknown. Probably they were rivals who never actually came into open conflict, due to the shortness of Roderic's reign and his preoccupation with Muslim raids. Even with Roderic's sphere of influence (the southwest) and his capital Toledo, he was not unopposed after his "usurpation" (the Mozarabic Chronicle calls it an "invasion").[10]

The battle of Guadalete was not an isolated Berber attack but followed a series of raids across the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa which had resulted in the sack of several south Iberian towns. Berber forces had probably been harassing the peninsula by sea since the conquest of Tangiers in 705/6. Some later Arabic and Christian sources present an earlier raid by a certain Ṭārif in 710 and one, the Ad Sebastianum recension of the Chronicle of Alfonso III, refers to an Arab attack incited by Erwig during the reign of Wamba (672–80). and two reasonably large armies may have been in the south for a year before the decisive battle was fought.[11] These were led by Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad, and others, under the overall command of Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr.[12] Most of the Arabic and Berber accounts agree that Ṭāriq was a Berber military leader from northern Africa. Ignacio Olagüe, in The Islamic Revolusion in the West, argues Ṭāriq to have been a Goth and the nominal governor of Tingitania.[13] Others have argued that Ṭāriq was Jewish,[14] Persian[15] or Turk.[16]

According to all sources, the earliest being Paul the Deacon, Ṭāriq left from Ceuta (Septem) and landed at the Rock of Calpe, the later Gibraltar, which Arabic sources derive from Jebel Tariq, "Rock of Ṭāriq".[17] A legend first recorded by al-Idrīsī has it that Ṭāriq burned his boats after landing. From Gibraltar he moved to conquer the region of Algeciras and then followed the Roman road that led to Seville.[18] According to Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam writing around 860, Ṭāriq, commander of the Berber garrison of Tangiers, crossed the straits with ships from a certain Count Julian (Arabic Ilyan), lord of Ceuta and "Alchadra" (Algeciras), and landed near Cartagena, which he took and made his headquarters.[19]

According to the Mozarabic Chronicle, Mūsā crossed the Gaditanum fretum (strait of Cádiz) with a large force in 711[20] and remained in Hispania for fifteen months, but it is unclear from the sources if he came before or after the battle of Guadalete, which was fought by the forces of his subordinates. During his time in the peninsula it was racked by civil war (intestino furore confligeratur, "internal frenzy", to the Mozarabic chronicler), cities were razed and many people slaughtered in the general destruction.[21]

According to al-Maqqarī, Roderic was fighting the Basques when he was recalled to the south to deal with an invasion.[22] There is also the record of a Byzantine attack on southern Iberia that was repulsed by Theudimer some years before the fall of the Visigothic kingdom. This has led to theories that the Berber attacks may have been related to the Byzantine operation, and that perhaps the Arabs were originally useful allies in a Byzantine attempt to reconquer the lost province of Spania.[23]

The author of the late Asturian Chronica Prophetica (883) dates the first invasion of Spain to "the Ides of November in the year 752 era", that is, 11 November 714.[24] He also identified two invasions, the first by an Abu Zubra and the second, a year later, by Ṭāriq; probably he has divided the historical figure Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad into two persons.

Date and place​

The date of the battle is traditionally 711, though this is not the date given by the Mozarabic Chronicle. The Chronicle dates it to 712 and places it before the conquest of Toledo, which it attributes to Mūsā in 711. If this discrepancy is solved by preferring the chronicler's order to his dating, then the battle occurred in 712 and the fall of Toledo later that same year.[25] Later Arabic accounts give an exact date of 25 or 26 July.[26] A more rough dating is between 19 and 23 July.[27] According to David Levering Lewis, the battle took place on 19 July 711. Preceding the battle was an entire week of inconclusive skirmishes near the lake La Janda, in the plain stretching from the Río Barbate to the Río Guadalete.[28]

According to ʿAbd al-Ḥakam, Ṭāriq was marching from Cartagena to Córdoba—after defeating a Gothic army that tried to stop him—when he met Roderic in battle near Shedunya, probably modern Medina Sidonia.[19] The later Arab accounts, most of them generating from al-Ḥakam's, also place the battle near Medina Sidonia, "near the lake" or Wadilakka (river Lakka), often identified as the Guadalete river, La Janda lake,[29] stream of "Beca",[30] or the Barbate river[31] (that is, their associated valleys). The earliest Christian source, and the nearest source in time to the events, says that it took place near the unidentified "Transductine promontories" (Transductinis promonturiis).[32] Thomas Hodgkin, probably following Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, placed the battle at Jerez de la Frontera.[33] Joaquín Vallvé, studying toponymy, puts the engagement on the banks of the Guadarranque, which he says might derive from Wad al-Rinq (Roderic's river).[34]

Engagement​

The armies that met in battle on the day that decided the fate of the Gothic kingdom in Spain are not reliably described in the surviving records. Glick surmises that the Muslim army was predominantly Berber cavalry under Berber leadership.[34] The Arabic sources traditionally give Roderic 100,000 troops, gathered during his return to the south after confronting the Basques.[35] This number is outrageously high; it complements the figure of 187,000 for the Muslims provided by the Ad Sebastianum version of the Chronicle of Alfonso III. Ṭāriq is said to have landed with 7,000 horsemen and requested 5,000 more from Mūsā. There could thus have been as many as 12,000 Muslim fighters at the battle.[36] One modern estimate, disregarding the primary source claims, suggest a quarter of the 7,500 reported in one of them; this would be approximately 2,000.[37] The Visigothic forces were "probably not much larger", and the Visigothic kingdom was, unlike Francia to its north, not organised for war.[37] A small number of elite clans (perhaps around twenty five), their warrior followings, the king and his personal following, and the forces that could be raised from the royal fisc constituted the troops upon which Roderic could draw.

The defeat of the Visigothic army followed on the flight of the king's opponents, who had only accompanied the host "in rivalry", "deceitfully", and "out of ambition to rule" says the Mozarabic chronicler.[32] The story of Sisibert abandoning Roderic with the right wing of the host is a legend. Estimating Visigothic forces at 33,000, David Lewis recounts how the Muslim army engaged in a series of violent hit and run attacks, while the Visigothic lines maneuvered en masse. A cavalry wing that had secretly pledged to rebel against Roderic stood aside, giving the enemy an opening. Ṭāriq's cavalry, the mujaffafa, forming as much as a third of the total force and armored in coats of light mail and identifiable by a turban over a metal cap, exploited the opening and charged into the Visigothic infantry, soon followed by the infantry. The Christian army was routed and the king slain in the final hours of battle. The engagement was a bloodbath: Visigothic losses were extremely high, and the Muslims lost as many as 3,000 men, or a quarter of their force.[38]

It is possible that his enemies intended to abandon Roderic on the field, to be defeated and killed by the Muslims. Whatever the case, their plan failed, for they too were largely slain. By another text from the Mozarabic Chronicle the treachery can be placed at Roderic's feet. He "lost his kingdom together with his patria with the killing of his rivals".[32] This unclear passage could indicate that Roderic had killed his rivals and weakened his army, ensuring defeat, or that his rivals too died in the battle or its retreat. The chronicler may be blaming the defeat on factionalism. The Chronicle of Alfonso III, in both its versions, blames the anonymous "sons of Wittiza" for conspiring against Roderic.[39] Oppa, Wittiza's historical brother, was found in Toledo, possibly as king-elect, by Mūsā when he took the city. This Oppa may have had a part to play in the opposition to Roderic, but certainly not his nephews, who would have been too young to participate in power politics in 711. The metropolitan of Toledo, Sindered, fled the city at the coming of the Muslims, and remained for the rest of his life an exile in Rome. The author of the Mozarabic Chronicle caustically notes that he was "an hireling, and not the shepherd" (quoting Jesus, Gospel of John 10:12).[17] The Gothic nobleman Theudimer made an alliance with the conquerors to preserve his own rule of his territory.[40] Within a decade all of the peninsula save the tiny Kingdom of Asturias and the mountain-dwelling Basques was under Muslims dominion and they had advanced beyond the Pyrenees as well.

Cause of Muslim victory​

The later Arabic historians universally credit their religion for the victory.[41] Al-Maqqarī, in The Breath of Perfumes, places in the mouth of Ṭāriq a morale-boosting address to his soldiers on the eve of battle, which closes with this exhortation to kill Roderic:

Remember that I place myself in the front of this glorious charge which I exhort you to make. At the moment when the two armies meet hand to hand, you will see me, never doubt it, seeking out this Roderick, tyrant of his people, challenging him to combat, if God is willing. If I perish after this, I will have had at least the satisfaction of delivering you, and you will easily find among you an experienced hero, to whom you can confidently give the task of directing you. But should I fall before I reach to Roderick, redouble your ardor, force yourselves to the attack and achieve the conquest of this country, in depriving him of life. With him dead, his soldiers will no longer defy you.[42]

According to later traditions, indigenous Iberian Jews, progressively disenfranchised under the rule of Christian monarchs and bishops,[43] provided fighters to augment the Moorish forces. Kaula al-Yahudi distinguished himself in the battle at the head of a mixed contingent of Jews and Berbers,[44] according to the compiler of the Akhbar Majmu'ah.[45] In the aftermath of victory, the Jews reputedly took several cities and were even commissioned to garrison Seville, Córdoba, and Toledo itself.[26] Thompson remarks that "whatever the reason for the [Goths'] persecution [of the Jews], it may have contributed to the utter destruction of those who initiated and enforced it."[46] Despite all this, the participation of Jews on the side of the Muslims is not recorded in the Mozarabic Chronicle.

The traditional explanation for the rapid fall of the Visigothic kingdom has been decadence.[47] The late ninth-century Chronica Prophetica indeed blames the Goths' defeat on their lack of penance for their sins: "The city of Toledo, victor of all peoples, succumbed as a victim to the triumphant Ishmaelites, and deserved to be subjected to them. Thus Spain was ruined for its disgusting sins, in the 380th year of the Goths."[24] This is not accepted by specialists today, though it still exerts heavy influence through tertiary accounts, especially in Spanish-language historiography.

Legend​

Among the legends which have accrued to the history of the battle, the most prominent is that of Count Julian, who, in revenge for the impregnation of his daughter Florinda (the later Cava Rumía or Doña Cava) by Roderic while the young woman was being raised at the palace school, supposedly lent Ṭāriq the necessary ships for launching an invasion.[48] That the Arabs already possessed sufficient naval forces in the western Mediterranean is attested by their activities against the Balearic Islands. While the impregnation (and the name of his daughter) are universally disregarded, the Count Julian of the Arabic histories[49] has been identified with a Berber Catholic named Urban who appears in the Mozarabic Chronicle.[50] This Urban accompanied Mūsā across the straits. Urban may be the Julian of legend, but more likely Julian is the legend of Urban.[51] According to one interpretation of the Urban-Julian legend, he was a Byzantine governor of Ceuta who joined with the Arabs to raid the southern coasts of Iberia in 710 with Ṭārif.[26] Glick has suggested that Ṭārif is an invention designed to explain the etymology of Tarifa, the ancient Julia Traducta, of which "Julian" was probably the (unnamed) Gothic count (comes julianus).[52]

The "sons of Wittiza" that figure so prominently in later Christian sources, are likewise unhistorical. Wittiza, who is praised by the Mozarabic Chronicle, is almost universally vilified in subsequent works, beginning with the Chronicle of Moissac around 818. The outrageousness of the accusations is proportional to the chronological distance of the narrative. Thus, Lucas de Tuy, writing in the late thirteenth century, portrays a monster, while Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, rectifying the disparate accounts, shows Wittiza commencing his reign with promise and evolving into a tyrant.[53] The Monk of Silos around 1115 recorded that the sons of Wittiza fled from Roderic to Julian and enlisted his aid.[54]

Among the other legends surrounding the battle is that of Roderic's arrival at the field in a chariot drawn by eight white mules.[53] Concerning the conquest are the legends of the sealed chamber in Toledo ("la maison fermée de Tolède") and the table (or carpet, depending on the translation) of Solomon that ʿAbd al-Ḥakam alleges was also discovered in Toledo.[19] Roderic's golden sandal was allegedly recovered from the Guadalete river.[53] The nineteenth-century American military history writer Henry Coppée penned a history of the conquest which incorporates and retells many of the legends

Између визиготских снага које је предводио краљ Родерико и инвазивних берберских снага под заповедништвом Тарика ибн Зијада одиграла се 19.јула 711.године. Битка бјеше одлучујућа у арапско-бербеском освајачком походу по Хиспанији, у бици је краљ Родерик изгубио живот, заједно са многим припадницима визиготског племства, отварајући пут заузимању визиготске пријестонице Толеда.
Ова битка је послужила и као инспирација умјетницима за своје радове;

The battle of Guadalete, Salvador Martínez Cubells, (1845-1914)

El rey don Rodrigo arengando a los jefes de su ejército antes de dar la batalla del Guadalete, Bernardo Blanco y Pérez, 1871.

 

[Mstislav]

Epski film, jedan od svetskih klasika. El Cid iz 1961.

https://klikfilm.org/filmovi/el-cid-1961/

 

[Rogonos]

Појава на историјској сцени Арапа у VII.вијеку, њихова експанзија када су за само вијек створили огромно царство које се простирало од Индије до Атлантика је по много чему јединствена прича.
Најзападнија област докле су добацили синови пустиње је простор данашње Шпаније, који се у античка времена звао Хиспанијом.
И та њихова епизода на пиринејском полуострву, која је потрајала безмало осам вијекова је по много чему и јединствена, по мени занимљива и заслужује тему.
На жалост, када се пише и збори о Арапима на простору данашње Шпаније, а то је обавезно у комшилуку, углавном у фед.БиХ, то се обавезно уоквири у један строго религијски охвир, и један изопачен приступ гдје се све своди на афирмацију једне религије и геноцидну нарав свих других према јадним муслиманима, чиме се у коначници скрнави а богами и силује историја.

Када опет зборимо о Арапима у Шпанији, то бих по неком мом “комотном“ виђењу сврстао у 4 временка периода.
- период освајања и успостављања арапске власти 711-756.године.

Tema je vise nego zanimljiva i svaka cast za kvalitetne postove, vredi sve pazljivo procitati. Kada pricamo o prvim istorijskim pojavama na sceni tadasnjih Arapa, ne treba zanemariti, govoreci modernim terminima, geopolitickim (-religijoznim) aspektima tadasnjeg uredjenja sveta.

Njihov prorok Mohamed sebe nije video kao osnivaca nove religije, vec kao poslednjeg u nizu proroka koji su obozavali jedinog i pravog Boga, liniju koja je vodila od Adama do Abrahama pa sve do Isusa.

Po mom skromnom sudu, ovo delimicno objasnjava ambivalentni odnos izmedju islama i njegovih sestrinskih religija od samog pocetka. To sto hriscani i Jevreji nisu priznali Mohameda kao proroka izazvalo je frustraciju medju muslimanima. I pored cinjenice sto su muslimani hriscanstvo i judaizam smatrali pogresnim, smatrali su ga donekle legitimnim oblicima obozavanja jedinog Boga, Avraamovog Boga - bilo da se zvao Jahve, Kyrios, Deiuos ili Alah.

Pod islamskom vlascu ove nemuslimanske zajednice zivele su kao "subjekti" zastite sa garantovanim pravima na svoju imovinu i slobodom da se bave sopstvenim zakonima i religijom, sve dok su priznavale vladavinu muslimana.

Arapi nisu bili ujedinjen narod, ni tada a bogami ni danas. Kao sto je tipicno za nomade, individualizam i nezavisnost smatralo se kao vrlina. Nova muslimanska zajednica trebala je da ukloni stare klase, klanove i plemenske barijere, ali umesto toga razdor koji je karakterisao arapsko drustvo i porodicu samog proroka izrazen je na jeziku religije.

Da je recimo Mohamed ziveo sto godina ranije ili kasnije, islam bi se najverovatnije razvijao potpuno drugacije. Medjutim, pocetak 7. veka bio je kljucni trenutak u istoriji Mediterana i Bliskog Istoka. Rimsko carstvo, koje se raspadalo iznutra i pretilo mu spolja od invazija varvara, vec je propalo na zapadu. Na istoku su vizantijski carevi pokusali da nametnu versko i politicko jedinstvo svojim podanicima, ali je to samo izazvalo gorcinu i nezadovoljstvo. U Perziji je jedinstvo carstva bilo ugrozeno verskim i socijalnim napetostima, koje su pogorsavale otpor provincijskih guvernera centralnoj sili.

Arabija je takodje bila u krizi. Zadovoljstvo stanovnistva animistickom i paganskom tradicijom je opadalo, a neka su unutrasnja plemena trazila novi - hriscanski ili jevrejski - identitet. Tek kada su ti vladari oaza i ratnici nomadskih plemena shvatili da im islam moze pruziti moc i bogatstvo, postali su odusevljeni sledbenici nove religije. Dakle, u trenutku kada su Vizantija i Perzija bile posebno ranjive, Arapi su ojacali. Njihova vekovna borba na strani dve svetske imperije olaksala je brzo osvajanje rimskog Bliskog istoka i Sasanidskog carstva. Ali to se dogodilo tek nakon Mohamedove smrti.

Ne treba zaboraviti kada pricamo o ovoj temi, da rani muslimani nisu napustili Arabijsko poluostrvo s ciljem da osvoje severnu Afriku, a kamoli Spaniju ili Evropu. Prema islamskoj istorijskoj tradiciji, osvajanje Egipta, najmnogoljudnije i najnaprednije vizantijske provincije, odvijalo se spontano pod generalom cijeg se imena nazalost vise ne secam, sa vojskom od samo oko cetiri hiljade ljudi. Njegova kampanja bila je mesavina nasilja i prinude, a haos u regionu pomogao mu je da postigne svoj cilj. Arapi su tek osvajanjem Egipta imali priliku i obavezu da napreduju dalje na zapad. Podeljena su i berberska plemena na periferiji urbanizovanih priobalnih podrucja. Neki su se odmah prebegli kod Arapa, presli u Islam i tako ojacali muslimanske oruzane snage, što je bilo hitno potrebno.

 

[Khal Drogo]

Prema islamskoj istorijskoj tradiciji, osvajanje Egipta, najmnogoljudnije i najnaprednije vizantijske provincije, odvijalo se spontano pod generalom cijeg se imena nazalost vise ne secam, sa vojskom od samo oko cetiri hiljade ljudi. Njegova kampanja bila je mesavina nasilja i prinude, a haos u regionu pomogao mu je da postigne svoj cilj. Arapi su tek osvajanjem Egipta imali priliku i obavezu da napreduju dalje na zapad. Podeljena su i berberska plemena na periferiji urbanizovanih priobalnih podrucja. Neki su se odmah prebegli kod Arapa, presli u Islam i tako ojacali muslimanske oruzane snage, što je bilo hitno potrebno.

Амр ибн ал-Ас (овдје)

Spojler: Amr ibn al-As

Amr ibn al-As

Amr ibn al-As
Governor of Egypt
Governor of Palestine
Personal details
Military service
The Amr ibn al-As mosque in Fustat, Egypt
In office 640–646
Monarch	Uthman (r. 644–646) Umar (r. 640–644)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Abdallah ibn Sa'd
In office August/September 658 – 664
Monarch	Mu'awiya I (r. 661–664)
Preceded by	Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
Succeeded by	Abd Allah ibn Amr Utba ibn Abi Sufyan[a]
In office 634–639
Monarch	Umar (r. 634–639) Abu Bakr (r. 634–634)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Alqama ibn Mujazziz al-Kinani
Born	c. 573 Mecca, Hejaz
Died	c. 664 (aged 90–91) Egypt, Umayyad Caliphate
Spouse(s)	Rayta or Hind bint Munabbih ibn al-Hajjaj Unnamed woman from Bali tribe Umm Kulthum bint Uqba (div.)
Relations	Hisham ibn al-A'as (brother) Banu Sahm (clan)
Children	Abd Allah Muhammad
Parents	Al-As ibn Wa'il Al-Nabigha bint Harmala
Allegiance	Muhammad (629–632) Rashidun Caliphate (632–658) Muawiyah I/Umayyad Caliphate (658–664)
Years of service	657–658 629–646
Battles/wars	Campaigns of Muhammad Raid of Dhat al-Salasil (629) Muslim conquest of Syria Battle of Dathin (634) Battle of Ajnadayn (634) Battle of Fahl (635) Siege of Damascus (635) Battle of Yarmouk (636) Muslim conquest of Egypt Battle of Heliopolis (640) Siege of Babylon Fortress (640–641) Siege of Alexandria (641–642) Battle of Nikiou (646) First Fitna Battle of Siffin (657) Battle of al-Musannah (658)

Amr ibn al-As al-Sahmi (Arabic: عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ‎, romanized: ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ al-Sahmī; c. 573 – 664) was the Arab commander who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in c. 629 and was assigned important roles in the nascent Muslim community by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The first caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) appointed Amr as a commander of the conquest of Syria. He conquered most of Palestine, to which he was appointed governor, and led the Arabs to decisive victories over the Byzantines at the battles of Ajnadayn and Yarmouk in 634 and 636.
Amr launched the conquest of Egypt on his own initiative in late 639, defeating the Byzantines in a string of victories ending with the surrender of Alexandria in 641 or 642. It was the swiftest of the early Muslim conquests. This was followed by westward advances by Amr as far as Tripoli in present-day Libya. In a treaty signed with the Byzantine governor Cyrus, Amr guaranteed the security of Egypt's population and imposed a poll tax on non-Muslim adult males. He maintained the Coptic-dominated bureaucracy and cordial ties with the Coptic patriarch Benjamin. He founded Fustat as the provincial capital with the mosque later called after him at its center. Amr ruled relatively independently, acquired significant wealth, and upheld the interests of the Arab conquerors who formed Fustat's garrison in relation to the central authorities in Medina. After gradually diluting Amr's authority, Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656) dismissed him in 646 after accusations of incompetency from his successor Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh.
After mutineers from Egypt assassinated Uthman, Amr distanced himself from their cause, despite previously instigating opposition against Uthman. In the ensuing First Muslim Civil War, Amr joined Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, against Caliph Ali (r. 656–661) due to promises of the governorship of Egypt and its taxes. Amr served as Mu'awiya's representative in the abortive arbitration talks to end the war. Afterward, he wrested control of Egypt from Ali's loyalists, killing its governor Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, and assumed the governorship instead. Mu'awiya kept him in his post after establishing the Umayyad Caliphate in 661 and Amr ruled the province until his death.

Early life and military career​

Amr ibn al-As was born in c. 573.[2] His father, al-As ibn Wa'il, was a wealthy landowner from the Banu Sahm clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca.[3] Following the death of al-As in c. 622, Amr inherited from him the lucrative al-Waht estate and vineyards near Ta'if.[4] Amr's mother was al-Nabigha bint Harmala from the Banu Jallan clan of the Anaza tribe.[5][6] She had been taken captive and sold, in succession, to several members of the Quraysh, one of whom was Amr's father.[7] As such, Amr had two maternal half-brothers, Amr ibn Atatha of the Banu Adi and Uqba ibn Nafi of the Banu Fihr, and a half-sister from the Banu Abd Shams.[6][7] Amr is physically described in the traditional sources as being short with broad shoulders, having a large head with a wide forehead and wide mouth, long arms and a long beard.[6]

There are conflicting reports about when Amr embraced Islam, with the most credible version placing it in 629/630, not long before the conquest of Mecca by Muhammad.[2][8] According to this account, he converted alongside the Qurayshites Khalid ibn al-Walid and Uthman ibn Talha.[8] According to Amr's own testimony, transmitted by his fourth-generation descendant Amr ibn Shu'ayb, he converted in Axum in the presence of King Armah (Najashi) and met Muhammad in Medina upon the latter's return from the Battle of Khaybar in 628.[9] Amr conditioned his conversion on the forgiveness of his past sins and an "active part in affairs", according to a report cited by the historian Ibn Asakir (d. 1176).[10]

Indeed, in October 629, Amr was tasked by Muhammad with leading the raid on Dhat al-Salasil, likely located in the northern Hejaz (western Arabia), a lucrative opportunity for Amr in view of the potential war spoils.[11] The purpose of the raid is unclear, though the modern historian Fred Donner speculates that it was to "break up a gathering of hostile tribal groups" possibly backed by the Byzantine Empire.[12] The historian Ibn Hisham (d. 833) holds that Amr rallied the nomadic Arabs in the region "to make war on [Byzantine] Syria".[12] The tribal groups targeted in the raid included the Quda'a in general and the Bali specifically.[13] Amr's paternal grandmother hailed from the Bali,[14] and this may have motivated his appointment to the command by Muhammad as Amr was instructed to recruit tribesmen from the Bali and the other Quda'a tribes of Balqayn and Banu Udhra.[13] Following the raid, a delegation of the Bali embraced Islam.[13] Amr further consecrated ties with the tribe by marrying a Bali woman, with whom he had his son Muhammad.[15]

Muhammad appointed Amr the governor of Oman and he remained there until being informed of Muhammad's death in 632.[16] The death of Muhammad prompted several Arab tribes to defect from the nascent Medina-based Muslim polity in the Ridda wars. Muhammad's successor Caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) appointed Amr to rein in the apostate Quda'a tribes, and among those targeted were the Hejazi branches of the Bali.[17] Amr's campaigns, which were supported by the commander Shurahbil ibn Hasana, succeeded in restoring Medina's authority as far as the northern frontier with Syria.[18]

Governor of Palestine and role in the Syrian conquest​

Amr was one of four commanders dispatched by Abu Bakr to conquer Syria in 633.[19] The focus of Amr's campaign was Palestine, to which he had been appointed governor by Abu Bakr before his departure.[14] As a Qurayshite merchant Amr was likely already well-acquainted with the routes to Gaza, a principle terminal for Meccan caravans.[20] He took the coastal route of the Hejaz, reaching Ayla,[21] a Muslim possession since 630,[22] before breaking west into the Negev desert or possibly the Sinai.[21] He arrived near the villages of Dathin and Badan in Gaza's environs where he entered into talks with Gaza's Byzantine commander.[21] After the negotiations broke down, Amr's men bested the Byzantines at the Battle of Dathin on 4 February 634 and set up headquarters at Ghamr al-Arabat in the middle of the Wadi Araba.[21][23] Most accounts hold that Amr's army was 3,000-strong; the Muhajirun (emigrants from Mecca to Medina) and the Ansar (natives of Medina), who together formed the core of the earliest Muslim converts, dominated his forces according to al-Waqidi (d. 823), while the 9th-century historian Ibn A'tham holds that Amr's army consisted of 3,300 Qurayshite and allied horsemen, 1,700 horsemen from the Banu Sulaym and 200 from the Yemenite tribe of Madh'hij.[24] The historian Philip Mayerson considers the troop figures to be "unquestionably exaggerated" but still representing the largest Arab fighting force to have ever been assembled in southern Palestine and the Sinai until then.[25]

Amr conquered the area around Gaza by February or March 634 and proceeded to besiege Caesarea, the capital of Byzantine Palestine, in July.[26] He soon after abandoned the siege upon the approach of a large Byzantine army.[26] After being reinforced by the remainder of the Muslim armies in Syria, including the new arrivals commanded by Khalid ibn al-Walid, Amr, with overall command of the 20,000-strong Muslim forces, routed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Ajnadayn, the first major confrontation between the Muslims and Byzantium, in July–August 634.[26][27] Amr occupied numerous towns in Palestine, including Bayt Jibrin, Yibna, Amwas, Lydda, Jaffa, Nablus and Sebastia.[28] Most of these localities surrendered after little resistance due to the flight of Byzantine troops; consequently, there is scant information about them in the traditional accounts of the conquest.[29] Abu Bakr's successor Umar (r. 634–644) appointed or confirmed Amr as the commander of the military district of Palestine.[30]




The Muslims pursued the Byzantine army northward and besieged them at Pella for four months.[31] Amr may have retained overall command of the Muslim armies until this point, though other accounts assign command to Khalid or Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah.[31] In any case, the Muslims landed a heavy blow against the Byzantines in the ensuing Battle of Fahl in December 634 or January 635.[31] Afterward, Amr and Shurahbil may have been sent to besiege Beisan, which capitulated after minor resistance.[32] The Muslims proceeded to besiege Damascus, where the remnants of the Byzantine army from the battles of Ajnadayn and Fahl had gathered. Amr was positioned at the Bab Tuma gate, the Muslim commanders having each been assigned to block one of the city's entrances.[33] By August–September 635, Damascus surrendered to the Muslims.[34] Amr acquired several residences within the city.[35]

In response to the series of defeats, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) led a large army in person to confront the Muslims; its rout at the Battle of Yarmouk, in which Amr played a key role by confining the Byzantines between the banks of the Yarmouk River and the Yarmouk's ravine, in August–September 636, paved the way for the rest of Syria's conquest by the Muslims.[36] Following Yarmouk, the Muslims attempted to capture Jerusalem, where Amr had previously sent an advance force.[37][38] Abu Ubayda led the siege of Jerusalem, in which Amr participated, but the city only surrendered after Caliph Umar arrived in person to conclude a treaty with its defenders.[37][38] Amr was one of the witnesses of the Treaty of Umar.[39] From Jerusalem,[40] Amr proceeded to besiege and capture the city of Gaza.[41]

First governorship of Egypt​

Conquest of Egypt​

From his base in southern Palestine, Amr launched the conquest of Byzantine Egypt, where he had established trading interests before his conversion to Islam, making him aware of its importance in international trade.[42][43] The traditional Muslim sources generally hold that Amr undertook the campaign with Caliph Umar's reluctant approval, though a number of accounts hold that he entered the province without Umar's authorization.[2][42] At the head of 4,000 cavalries and with no siege engines, Amr arrived at the frontier town of al-Arish along the northern Sinai coastline on 12 December 639.[42] He captured the strategic Mediterranean port city of Pelusium (al-Farama) following a month-long siege and moved against Bilbeis, which also fell after a month-long siege.[42]

Amr halted his campaign before the fortified Byzantine stronghold of Babylon, at the head of the Nile Delta, and requested reinforcements from Umar.[42] The latter dispatched al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, a leading Qurayshite companion of Muhammad, with a 4,000-strong force, which joined Amr's camp in June 640.[42] Amr retained the supreme command of Arab forces in Egypt.[44] In the following month, his army decisively defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Heliopolis.[42] He captured Memphis soon after and besieged Babylon.[42] During the siege, Amr entered truce negotiations with the Alexandria-based Byzantine governor Cyrus; Emperor Heraclius opposed the talks and recalled Cyrus to Constantinople.[45] Though strong resistance was put up by Babylon's defenders, their morale was sapped after news of Heraclius' death in February 641.[42] Amr made an agreement with the Byzantine garrison, allowing their peaceful withdrawal toward the provincial capital Alexandria on 9 April 641.[46] Amr then sent his lieutenants to conquer different parts of the country.[47] One of them, Kharija ibn Hudhafa, captured the Fayyum oasis, Oxyrhynchus (Bahnasa), Hermopolis (el-Ashmunein) and Akhmim, all in Middle Egypt, and an unspecified number of villages in Upper Egypt.[45][47]

In late 641, Amr besieged Alexandria. It fell virtually without resistance after Cyrus, who had since been restored to office, and Amr finalized a treaty in Babylon guaranteeing the security of Egypt's inhabitants and imposing a poll tax on adult males.[48] The date of the city's surrender was likely November 642.[49] Taking advantage of the uncertain political situation in the wake of Umar's death in 644 and the meager Arab military presence in Alexandria, Emperor Constans II (r. 641–668) dispatched a naval expedition led by a certain Manuel which occupied the city and killed most of its Arab garrison in 645.[50] Alexandria's elite and most of the inhabitants assisted the Byzantines; medieval Byzantine, Coptic and, to a lesser extent, Muslim sources indicate the city was not firmly in Arab hands during the preceding three years.[51] Byzantine forces pushed deeper into the Nile Delta, but Amr forced them back at the Battle of Nikiou. He besieged and captured Alexandria in the summer of 646; most of the Byzantines, including Manuel, were slain, many of its inhabitants were killed and the city was burned until Amr ordered an end to the onslaught.[52] Afterward, Muslim rule in Alexandria was gradually solidified.[53]

In contrast to the disarray of the Byzantine defense, the Muslim forces under Amr's command were unified and organized; Amr frequently coordinated with Caliph Umar and his own troops for all major military decisions.[54] According to the historian Vassilios Christides, Amr "cautiously counterbalanced the superiority in numbers and equipment of the Byzantine army by applying skillful military tactics" and despite the lack of "definite, prepared, long-term plans ... the Arab army moved with great flexibility as the occasion arose".[55] In the absence of siege engines, Amr oversaw long sieges of heavily fortified Byzantine positions, most prominently Babylon, cut supply lines and engaged in long wars of attrition.[55] He made advantageous use out of the nomads in his ranks, who were seasoned in hit-and-run tactics, and his settled troops, who were generally more acquainted with siege warfare.[55] His cavalry-dominated army moved through Egypt's deserts and oases with relative ease.[55] Moreover, political circumstances became more favorable to Amr with the death of the hawkish Heraclius and his short-term replacement with the more pacifist Heraklonas and Martina.[55]

Expeditions in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania​

After the surrender of Alexandria in 642, Amr marched his army westward, bypassing the fortified Byzantine coastal strongholds of Paraetonium (Marsa Matruh), Appolonia Sozusa (Marsa Soussa) and Ptolemais (Tolmeita), capturing Barca and reaching Torca in Cyrenaica.[56] Toward the end of the year, Amr launched a second cavalry assault targeting Tripoli. The city was heavily fortified by the Byzantines and contained several naval vessels in its harbor.[56] Due to his lack of siege engines, he employed the lengthy siege tactic used in the Egyptian conquest.[56] After about a month, his troops entered Tripoli through a vulnerable point in its walls and sacked the city.[56] Its fall, which entailed the evacuation by sea of the Byzantine garrison and most of the population, is dated to 642 or 643/44. Though the Arab hold over Cyrenaica and Zawila to the far south remained firm for decades except for a short-lived Byzantine occupation in 690, Tripoli was recaptured by the Byzantines a few years after Amr's entry.[56] The region was definitively conquered by the Arabs during the reign of Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705).

Administration​

Amr "regulated the government of the country [Egypt], administration of justice and the imposition of taxes", according to the historian A. J. Wensinck.[2] During his siege of Babylon, Amr had erected an encampment near the fortress.[57] He originally intended for Alexandria to serve as the Arabs' capital in Egypt, but Umar rejected this on the basis that no body of water, i.e. the Nile, should separate the caliph from his army.[58][59][60]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amr_ibn_al-As#cite_note-63 Instead, following Alexandria's surrender, in 641 or 642,[62] Amr made his encampment near Babylon the permanent garrison town (miṣr) of Fustat, the first town founded by the Arabs in Egypt.[63][64][65] Its location along the eastern bank of the Nile River and at the head of the Nile Delta and edge of the Eastern Desert strategically positioned it to dominate the Upper and Lower halves of Egypt.[57] Fustat's proximity to Babylon, where Amr also established an Arab garrison, afforded the Arab settlers a convenient means to employ and oversee the Coptic bureaucratic officials who inhabited Babylon and proved critical to running the day-to-day affairs of the Arab government.[66][59]

Amr had the original tents of Fustat replaced with mud brick and baked brick dwellings.[63] Documents found in Hermopolis (el-Ashmunein) dating from the 640s confirm official orders to forward building materials to Babylon to construct the new city.[67] The city was organized into allotments over an area stretching 5–6 kilometers (3.1–3.7 mi) along the Nile and 1–2 kilometers (0.62–1.24 mi) inland to the east.[59] The allotments were distributed among the components of Amr's army, with priority given to the Quraysh, the Ansar and Amr's personal guard, the 'Ahl al-Rāya' (People of the Banner),[59] which included several Bali tribesmen as a result of their kinship and marital ties to Amr.[15] An opposing theory holds that Amr did not assign the plots; rather, the tribes staked their own claims and Amr established a commission to resolve the ensuing land disputes.[68] At the center of the new capital Amr built a congregational mosque, later known as the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As; the original structure was frequently redesigned and expanded between its foundation and its final form in 827.[66] Amr had his own dwelling built immediately east of the mosque and it most likely served as his government headquarters.[67]

In the northwestern part of Alexandria, Amr built a hilltop congregational mosque, later called after him,[69] before the Byzantine occupation of 645/46, after which he built a second called the Mosque of Mercy;[70] neither mosque has been presently identified.[71] Adjacent to the congregational mosque, Amr took personal ownership of a fort, which he later donated for government use.[72] This part of the city became the administrative and social core of Arab settlement in Alexandria.[73] Accounts vary as to the number of troops Amr garrisoned in the city, ranging from 1,000 soldiers from the Azd and Banu Fahm tribes to a quarter of the army which was replaced on a rotational basis every six months.[74]

As per the 641 treaty with Cyrus, Amr imposed a poll tax of two gold dinars on non-Muslim adult males.[75] He imposed other measures, sanctioned by Umar, that entailed the inhabitants' regular provision of wheat, honey, oil and vinegar as a subsistence allowance for the Arab troops.[76] He had these goods stored in a distribution warehouse called dār al-rizq.[75] After taking a census of the Muslims, he further ordered that each Muslim be annually supplied by the inhabitants a highly embroidered wool robe (Egyptian robes were prized by the Arabs), a burnous, a turban, a sirwal (trousers) and shoes.[76] In a Greek papyrus dated to 8 January 643 and containing Amr's seal (a fighting bull), Amr (transliterated as "Ambros") requests fodder for his army's animals and bread for his soldiers from an Egyptian village.[77] According to the historian Martin Hinds, there is "no evidence" that Amr "did anything to streamline the cumbersome fiscal system taken over from the Byzantines; rather, the upheavals of conquest can only have made the system more open to abuse than ever".[78]

After entering Alexandria, Amr invited the Coptic patriarch Benjamin to return to the city after his years of exile under Cyrus.[79] The patriarch maintained close ties with Amr and restored the monasteries of Wadi el-Natrun, including the Saint Macarius Monastery, which functions until the present-day.[79] According to the historian Hugh N. Kennedy, "Benjamin played a major role in the survival of the Coptic Church through the transition to Arab rule".[80]

Dismissal and aftermath​

Amr acted relatively independent as governor and retained much of the surplus tax revenue of the province for the benefit of its troops despite pressure from Umar to forward proceeds to Medina.[81] He also amassed significant personal wealth in Egypt, part of which was confiscated by Muhammad ibn Maslama on Umar's orders.[82] At a certain point, the Caliph separated Upper Egypt from Amr's administration and appointed Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh over the region.[78]

Umar's successor Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656) initially kept Amr in his governorship and forged marital links with him by wedding to him his maternal half-sister Umm Kulthum bint Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt.[83] Uthman diluted Amr's power in 645/46 by transferring fiscal responsibilities to Ibn Abi Sarh, his own relative, leaving Amr in charge of military affairs.[84] Amr and Ibn Abi Sarh lodged complaints to Uthman each alleging the other of incompetence, prompting Uthman to dismiss Amr entirely and replace him in his duties with Ibn Abi Sarh.[84] Uthman's appointee established an effective fiscal system that largely preserved its Byzantine predecessor.[78] Ibn Abi Sarh reduced the fiscal privileges of Egypt's original Arab military settlers, who had been shown favor by Amr, and secured the remittance of the surplus to Medina.[85] This led to the consternation of the Arab garrisons and the native officials and elite, all of whom were "deprived of the opportunities for self-enrichment which they had hitherto enjoyed", according to Hinds.[86] Open opposition to Ibn Abi Sarh and Uthman began under the leadership of the Qurayshite Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa in 654/55.[87]

Opposition to Uthman​

Upon his return to Medina, Amr divorced Umm Kulthum and openly criticized Uthman.[88] The Caliph and Amr engaged in a number of heated public exchanges and, according to a report in the Islamic traditional sources, Amr incited Muhammad's senior companions Ali, al-Zubayr and Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, as well as the Hajj pilgrims in Mecca, against Uthman.[89] He lobbied Muhammad's wife A'isha for support and the latter pressed Uthman to reappoint Amr to Egypt citing its garrisons' satisfaction with his rule. In a sermon at the mosque in Medina in June 656 and a letter penned to the Muslim leaders in Syria, Uthman mentioned that he had intended to reappoint Amr but did not follow through as a result of the latter's excessive insult. According to the historian Wilferd Madelung, the insult Uthman cited was likely Amr's public reaction to the Caliph's statement that the mutinous Egyptian troops who had arrived in Medina to protest the Caliph's policies had withdrawn because they were misinformed: "Fear God, Uthman, for you have ridden over abysses and we have ridden over them with you. So repent to God, that we may repent".[90]

After his last exchange with Uthman, Amr retired to his estate in southern Palestine.[91] The estate was called "Ajlan" after one of his mawālī (non-Arab, Muslim freedmen) and was located in the vicinity of "al-Sab'", which had conventionally been identified with modern Beersheba, but more likely corresponds with Bayt Jibrin, according to the historian Michael Lecker;[92] the medieval historians al-Baladhuri (d. 892) and Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1226) also suggest that Ajlan was located in the area of Bayt Jibrin.[93][c] Amr had likely become owner of the estate through a caliphal grant, though he possibly could have taken possession of it in the course of his conquest of Palestine and his ownership had been confirmed by the caliphs.[97] He lived on the estate, where he derived agricultural revenue, with his sons Muhammad and Abd Allah.[98][d]

At his estate Amr received news of the Siege of Uthman and the Caliph's subsequent assassination by Amr's Egyptian partisans.[102][103] The roughly 400–600 Egyptian mutineers had protested Uthman's fiscal centralization policies in Medina and accused him of favoring his relatives over the early Muslim converts.[85] The Caliph persuaded them to withdraw, but after they intercepted a letter on their departure ordering Ibn Abi Sarh to punish them, they turned back and assaulted Uthman in his home.[85] In an anecdote cited by al-Baladhuri, Amr is quoted taking partial credit for Uthman's killing.[104] Ali succeeded Uthman, but did not reappoint Amr to his post in Egypt.[105] Amr was one of a number of figures held culpable for Uthman's death by the slain caliph's clan, the Banu Umayya (Umayyads), most prominently by Uthman's uterine brother and Amr's former brother-in-law al-Walid ibn Uqba.[106] Nonetheless, the governor of Syria—which included Palestine—the Umayyad Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, had left Amr on his estate undisturbed.[104] As pressure from the Umayyads increased against him, Amr distanced himself from any role in Uthman's death and wrote Mu'awiya to execute or banish the participating Egyptian troops who had been apprehended when they passed through Mu'awiya's jurisdiction on their way back to Egypt.[107]

Alliance with Mu'awiya​

After Ali's victory over the Qurayshites led by al-Zubayr, Talha and A'isha at the Battle of the Camel in Iraq, Mu'awiya, who maintained his opposition to Ali, became the focus of the Caliph's attention. Mu'awiya summoned Amr to discuss an alliance against Ali.[108] In the ensuing negotiations, Amr pressed Mu'awiya for lifetime possession of Egypt, to which Mu'awiya ultimately acceded after being persuaded by his brother Utba ibn Abi Sufyan.[108] The public agreement,[108] composed by Amr's mawlā Wardan and made in Jerusalem,[40] secured Amr's allegiance to Mu'awiya in return for the latter's assistance in gaining control of Egypt from Ali's governor.[108] According to Madelung, the "alliance between Mu'awiya and Amr b. al-As constituted a formidable political force"; in forging the alliance, Mu'awiya sought to benefit from Amr's political acumen, "practical battle experience and sure judgement of military strategy and tactics", as well as his "expertise" and support base in Egypt.[109] Amr became Mu'awiya's chief adviser.[110] To secure the defense of his Syrian realm from Ali's loyalists in Egypt, Amr counseled Mu'awiya to secure the support of the Judhamite chief in Palestine, Natil ibn Qays, by ignoring his seizure of the district treasury; Natil subsequently joined Mu'awiya's cause.[111] Amr then advised Mu'awiya to lead the Syrian army in person against Ali, who began his march toward Syria in late May 657.[111]

When Ali's army set up camp around Siffin, south of the Euphrates town of Raqqa, in early June, Mu'awiya's advance guard led by Abu'l-A'war refused them access to the watering places under their control.[112] After Ali protested, Amr advised Mu'awiya to accept their request as preventing access to water might rally the hitherto demotivated Iraqis to a determined fight against the Syrians.[113] Mu'awiya refused and the Iraqis subsequently defeated the Syrians led by Amr and Abu'l-A'war in a skirmish known as the "Day of the Euphrates".[114] As head of the Syrian cavalry,[2] Amr held the overall field command for Mu'awiya's forces in the ensuing weeks-long Battle of Siffin and on occasion personally participated in direct combat, though without particular distinction.[115] At one point in the battle, he raised a black fabric given to him by Muhammad at the tip of his spear, symbolizing the command role given to him by Muhammad.[116]

As the Iraqis gained the battlefield advantage, Amr proposed to Mu'awiya that their men tie leaves from the Qur'an at the tips of their lances in an appeal to Ali's men to settle the conflict peacefully.[2][117] It served as a successful ruse which ended the fighting as the battle turned in Ali's favor and sowed uncertainty in Ali's ranks.[117] The Caliph heeded the majority will in his army to settle the matter diplomatically; an arbitration was agreed with Amr representing Mu'awiya and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari representing Ali.[110] Amr met with Ali once and the two exchanged insults, but Ali ultimately agreed to Amr's condition that he omit his caliphal title, amīr al-muʾminīn (commander of the faithful), from the preliminary arbitration document drafted on 2 August.[118] The omission effectively placed Ali and Mu'awiya on an equal political footing and thereby weakened Ali's leadership position over the Muslim polity.[119]

Amr and Abu Musa likely met twice, at Dumat al-Jandal and then Adhruh, to forge an agreement.[120] At Dumat al-Jandal, Amr succeeded in gaining Abu Musa's recognition that Uthman was wrongfully killed, a verdict opposed by Ali and which strengthened Syrian support for Mu'awiya, who had taken up the cause of revenge for the death of his kinsman Uthman.[121] At the last meeting in Adhruh, the office of the caliphate was discussed, but the meeting ended in violence and without agreement; during the brawl, Amr was physically assaulted by a Kufan partisan of Ali, but the latter was fended off by one of Amr's sons. Abu Musa retired to Mecca, while Amr and the Syrians returned to Mu'awiya and recognized him as amīr al-muʾminīn before formally pledging allegiance to him in April/May 658.[122] As a result, Amr was among those invoked in a ritual curse issued by Ali during the morning prayers and became the subject of derision among the Kufan core of Ali's supporters.[123]

Reestablishment in Egypt​

As early as 656/57, Amr and Mu'awiya persuaded Ibn Abi Hudhayfa, who had seized control of Egypt after Uthman's assassination, to meet them in al-Arish, where they took him captive in a ruse. Amr and Mu'awiya did not advance further than this point and Ibn Abi Hudhayfa was executed.[124] Ali's second governor in Egypt, Qays ibn Sa'd al-Ansari, was dismissed in late 657 due to concerns that he would defect to Mu'awiya and his next appointee, Malik al-Ashtar, died in Qulzum (Suez) on his way to the province.[125][126] Al-Ashtar's replacement was Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, son of the first caliph and a foster son of Ali. Ibn Abi Bakr burned the homes and arrested the families of pro-Uthman mutineers from the Fustat garrison led by Mu'awiya ibn Hudayj al-Kindi and Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari.[127] The latter two requested intervention by Mu'awiya, who dispatched Amr to Egypt with a 4,000–6,000-strong army.[127][128] Despite his thirteen-year absence from Egypt, Amr nonetheless mustered the support of Egypt's original Arab military settlers and their sons.[80] In July/August 658, his forces defeated Ali's troops at the Battle of al-Musannah between Heliopolis (Ain Shams) and Fustat. He subsequently captured Fustat.[127] Ibn Hudayj pursued and captured Ibn Abi Bakr and had him executed over the objections of Amr, who had been lobbied by Ibn Abi Bakr's brother Abd al-Rahman to spare his life.[129]

As per his agreement with Mu'awiya, Amr was installed as governor of Egypt for life and ruled as a virtual partner rather than a subordinate of Mu'awiya, who had become caliph after Ali's assassination and his son al-Hasan's abdication in 661.[127][130] On 22 January of that year, Amr escaped an assassination attempt by the Kharijite Zadawayh or Amr ibn Bakr, who killed Amr's stand-in for the Friday prayers, Kharija ibn Hudhafa, mistaking the latter for Amr.[2][131] When the Kharijite was apprehended and brought before him, Amr proclaimed "You wanted me, but God wanted Kharija!" and he personally executed him.[131]

Amr was permitted by the Caliph to retain personally the surplus revenues of the province after the payment of the troops' stipends and other government expenses.[127] He increased the original garrison at Fustat, numbering some 15,000 soldiers, with the Syrian troops he brought with him.[59] According to the historian Clive Foss "Amr ruled the country successfully, and with considerable independence and privilege, until his death".[1]

Death and legacy​

A map depicting growth of the Caliphate. The red-lined areas indicate the territories annexed by the Caliphate—namely most of Palestine, Egypt, Cyrenaica and Tripolitania—as a result of Amr's conquests

Amr died of natural causes over the age of 90.[2] Accounts vary regarding the date of his death, though the most credible versions place it in 43 AH (663–664 CE).[132][e] He was buried at the foot of the Mokattam hills to the east of Fustat.[133] Due to the early Muslims' reticence to mark the graves of their dead, Amr's burial place has not been identified.[133] In a testament to the personal wealth that he accrued, at the time of his death he left seventy sacks of gold dinars. His sons Abd Allah and Muhammad refused inheritance of the sums, which were then confiscated by Mu'awiya.[1] Abd Allah succeeded his father as governor for a few weeks until Mu'awiya replaced him with his own brother Utba.[1]

The traditional Egypt-based Arabic and Coptic sources regard Amr positively.[133] The major source of information about the Muslim conquest of Egypt and the province's early Arab military generations, Ibn Abd al-Hakam (d. 871),[134] commends Amr for his leadership of the Egyptian conquest and as the upholder of the interests of Egypt's troops and their families against the central authorities in Medina and later Damascus.[133] The Egyptian Arab tradition holds that Amr was personally praised by Muhammad and was a man of wisdom and piety on his deathbed.[133] The nearly contemporary Coptic historian John of Nikiu (fl. 680–690), who was generally critical of Arab rule, said of Amr that he "had no mercy on the Egyptians, and did not observe the covenant they had made with him",[135] but also says of him that: "He exacted the taxes which had been determined upon but he took none of the property of the churches, and he committed no act of spoliation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days."[133] In the words of Kennedy, "Of his [Amr's] competence as a military commander and politician there can be no doubt—the results speak for themselves—but he also has a reputation for straight dealing and justice."[133] Amr's roughly two-year conquest of Egypt was the quickest in the history of the early Muslim conquests.[133] Though demographically Egypt remained largely non-Arab and non-Muslim for centuries after the conquest, the country has been continuously ruled by Muslims until the present-day.[133]

Descendants​

Amr's estates in Palestine remained in the possession of his descendants as late as the 10th or 11th centuries.[136] His granddaughter Umm Abd Allah bint Abd Allah married the Umayyad viceroy of Egypt Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (d. 705) and bore his sons Suhayl and Sahl and daughters Sahla and Umm al-Hakam.[137][138][139] The estates in Medina that Amr's descendants inherited from him were confiscated by the Abbasids after they took over the Caliphate from the Umayyads in 750.[140] The estates were restored to Amr's family after the intercession of his great-granddaughter Abida al-Hasna bint Shu'ayb ibn Abd Allah, who married the Abbasid prince al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Abbas (d. 758)

Одлична запажања у посту.

 

[Mstislav]

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који описује крах посљедњег арапског емирата у Хиспанији и пад Гранаде;

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који обрађује арапско освајање Хиспаније

 

[Khal Drogo]

 

[Mstislav]

Druga sezona El Cida.

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који обрађује битку код Поатјеа 732.године гдхе су Арапи доживјелипораз од Франака. Арапска војска је већ продирала све до Бургундије и Бордоа, овом битком је заустављен даљи продор арапске војске у Европу.

 

[Khal Drogo]

 

[Khal Drogo]

Документарац који описује околности и догађаје током арапске доминације и реконквисте, те нам даје приказ једне од одлучујућих битака код Лас Навас де Толоса која се одиграла 1212.године

 

[White Guar]

Zna li se išta o sudbini slovenskih najamnika u Španiji tog doba? Pretpostavljam da su se rastopili u lokalno stanovništvo...?

 

[Mstislav]

Saqaliba,utopili se u vecinsku populaciju razumljivo.

 

[Khal Drogo]

Zna li se išta o sudbini slovenskih najamnika u Španiji tog doba? Pretpostavljam da su se rastopili u lokalno stanovništvo...?

Можда израз "најамници" није најбољи избор. Како пише Филип Хити (овдје) на стр.474

У питању је лична гарда која је у Х вијеку бројала 3,750 људи, елитна калифова формација вишеструке намјене, за најтеже задатке у борби, заштита калифа, сузбијање разбојништва или пак издаје, по уређењу слична каснијим Мамелуцима у Египту и јањичарима код Оманлија.
Њихова обука је подразумјевала арабизацију и преобраћање на ислам, временом би се стопили са арапским становништвом.

 

[White Guar]

Možda nešto slično Varjazima u Istočnom rimskom carstvu? Da li se zna odakle su tačno bili ti Sloveni, bilo li je među njima i Srba?

 

[Khal Drogo]