Thabit ibn Nasr ibn Malik al-Khuza'i (died 813/814) was an Abbasid general and governor of the Cilician frontier zone (al-thughur al-Sha'miya) with the Byzantine Empire in 808–813.
Thabit was a native of Khurasan,[1] and the grandson of Malik ibn al-Haytham al-Khuza'i, an early Abbasid follower and military leader.[2] He was appointed as governor of the Syrian thughur (essentially comprising Cilicia, with Tarsus as its capital) in the last year of the reign of Harun al-Rashid (808/809).[3][4] He organized a prisoner exchange with the Byzantines at Podandos in 808,[5][6] but also led a series of raiding expeditions (sawa'if) against them.[3] In one of these however, in August 812, he suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Leo the Armenian, losing 2,000 men.[7][8]
From ca. 810, with the outbreak of a civil war between al-Amin and his brother al-Ma'mun, Thabit, like many other provincial governors and magnates, was able to assume virtually independent control of his province.[3][9] He died or was killed shortly after the final victory of Ma'mun in 813,[3] according to some accounts poisoned by his cousin Nasr ibn Hamza ibn Malik.[10]
References[]
- ↑ Cobb (2001), p. 93
- ↑ Crone (1980), p. 181
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Crone (1980), p. 182
- ↑ Bonner (1996), p. 95
- ↑ Bonner (1996), p. 97
- ↑ Venning (2006), p. 232
- ↑ Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle, AM 6303; ed. Mango & Scott (1997), p. 680
- ↑ Venning (2006), p. 236
- ↑ Cobb (2001), pp. 93–94
- ↑ Crone (1980), p. 183
Sources[]
- Bonner, Michael David (1996). Aristocratic violence and holy war: studies in the jihad and the Arab-Byzantine frontier. American Oriental Society. ISBN 978-0-940490-11-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=NGthAAAAMAAJ.
- Cobb, Paul M. (2001). White banners: contention in ‘Abbāsid Syria, 750–880. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-4880-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=2C6KIBw4F9YC.
- Crone, Patricia (1980). Slaves on horses: the evolution of the Islamic polity. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52940-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=fOu7XGjKmkAC.
- Venning, Timothy, ed (2006). A Chronology of the Byzantine Empire. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-1774-4.
- Mango, Cyril; Scott, Roger, eds (1997). The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor. Byzantine and Near Eastern History, AD 284–813. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822568-7.
The original article can be found at Thabit ibn Nasr and the edit history here.