Haidar ibn Kavus al-Afshin ( Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs al-Afshīn , Arabic. الأفشين بن كاوس حيدر , Tajik. Haidari Kovus) - Supreme Commander of the Arab Army of Iranian [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Billboards Ustrushany . In Arabic sources it is better known under the pseudonym "al-Afshin" ( listen ). He participated in the military campaigns of Caliph al-Mutasim . Most famous for the suppression of the rebellion of Babek ( 836 - 837 ) and the victory over the Byzantine emperor Theophilos at the Battle of Anzen ( 838 ).
| Haydar ibn Kavus al-Afshin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| الأفشين بن كاوس حيدر | |||||||
| |||||||
| Predecessor | Cavus Jun Karabugra | ||||||
| Successor | (title abolished) | ||||||
| Birth | Ustrushana , Tajikistan | ||||||
| Death | May-June 841 Samarra , Iraq | ||||||
| Father | Kavus ibn Karabugra | ||||||
| Children | Khaidar | ||||||
| Religion | Zoroastrianism, then Sunni Islam | ||||||
Biography
Name and Origin
Haydar ibn Kavus was the son and heir of Kavus, the ruler of Ustrushana in Sogd , succeeded his father on the throne around 830. In Arabic sources, he is better known under the pseudonym al-Afshin - this is an Arabized version of the title of the rulers of Ustrushana (Central Persian “Pishin”, from the Avestan name Pisin) [6] . The great-grandfather of Haidar bore the Turkic name Karabugra [7] , which is translated from Turkic as a black or large camel. [8] . "Sa dynastie prend le pouvoir en Ustrushana ... De son ancêtre, condottiere au nom parfaitement turc de Qara Bughra (" chameau noir "), à son père Qawus, s'est produit une iranisation marquée"
Early years
In 822, Caliph al-Mamun organized a campaign against Ustrushana , led by the commander Ahmad ibn Abu Khalid al-Ahwal. The success of the Arab army was facilitated by the internal turmoil between the sons of the athens Kavus, one of whom - Haidar - helped the Arabs. His brother and rival Fadl was forced to flee to the steppes of his Turkic allies. Cavus recognized himself as a vassal of the Caliph and converted to Islam. Haydar succeeded Kavusa on the throne of Ustrushana around 830 , but did not actually rule the country, but was at the disposal of the Baghdad caliphs, being governor in various provinces and commanding troops [9] .
In the years 831-833 Afshin suppressed the Coptic Christians in Egypt.
Afshin and Babek
After the death of Caliph al-Mamun, his brother al-Mutasim came to power, who in 835 appointed Haidar al-Afshin the viceroy of Azerbaijan, entrusting him with the suppression of the Hurramites uprising led by Babek . [10] . In the spring of 836, al-Afshin led the army and entered Azerbaijan. Taught by the battle of Hamadan , Babek did not dare to engage in open battle and fortified himself in the Buzz fortress, content with rare sorties. Afshin also did not hope for a successful assault on the fortress, only blocking it in the hope of somehow luring Babek out of the fortress.
At the end of winter, the caliph sent a corps of 9 thousand Turkic warriors to help Afshin. At the same time, Babek’s situation worsened. The campaign of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus , an ally of Babek, ended to no avail. After reinforcements arrived, al-Afshin launched an assault on the fortress. Wanting to gain time, Babek began negotiations with him, asking for an “aman” - pardon, and demanding written confirmation from the caliph himself. Afshin agreed and sent messengers to the capital. Meanwhile, Babek, disguised as a merchant, fled from the fortress towards Arran .
Upon learning of Babek’s flight, Afshin entered the fortress on August 26, 837 and ordered it to be destroyed to the ground.
Amory Campaign
In the spring of 838, Caliph al-Mutasim led a campaign against Byzantium . Afshin commanded the northern army, which was to invade from Melithena into the theme of Armeniak and then go to Ankira and Amoria to join the caliph's main army.
In mid-June, Afshin crossed the Antitavr Range and deployed his army in Dazimon . Theophilus, having received data on these movements, left a small detachment against the Caliph's main army and advanced east against Afshin, whose army threatened to block the Byzantine supply lines. July 21, the imperial army was located on the hill of Anzen south of Dazimon.
On the morning of the next day ( July 22, 838 ), the Byzantine army opposed the Afshin army. At first, they were successful - they managed to overturn one of the wings of the Arab army, which lost 3,000 people killed. Around noon, Theophilus decided to strengthen the other wing, and also decided to lead the army in battle. At this time, Afshin released his Turkic archers in a counterattack, during which Byzantine reinforcements led by the emperor were surrounded. Byzantine troops, having discovered the absence of the emperor, suggested his death and began to hesitate. Some units went to Constantinople, spreading rumors of the death of the emperor; another part of the troops retreated to the town of Chiliokomon .
Theophilus found himself surrounded on Anzen Hill along with 2,000 Byzantine warriors and a Kurdish contingent. Rain that began unexpectedly weakened the bowstring of horse archers, making their weapons useless. Afshin ordered the delivery of catapults. Theophilus officers, fearing betrayal by the Kurds, persuaded him to leave the battlefield. Theophilus managed, despite the many wounded, to break through the enemy fortifications and, with little escort, get to Chiliokomon.
After the battle of Anzen, the emperor retired to Doriley , and soon went from there to the capital. Afshin’s troops joined forces with the caliph at Ankira, abandoned to its fate, which was taken and plundered by the Arab army on July 27 . After this, the combined forces of the Caliphate besieged Amorius, which was taken after a two-month siege , after which the Arab army retreated to the territory of the Caliphate.
Further fate
After the campaign, Haydar al-Afshin received a reward of two million dirhams from the caliph. But Afshin’s exaltation was greatly disturbed by the vizier Abu Jafar ibn al-Zayyat and the supreme Kadi Ahmed ibn Abu Duad, who accused him of secret communications with Babek, the concealment of military production, separatism and idolatry. Afshin was sentenced to death, but he was not executed because of his great popularity among the people and the army. He was imprisoned in Samarra , where he died in Shaban (May-June) 841 .
According to some historians, al-Afshin posed as a Muslim and served himself before the Caliph in order to seize power in the Central Asian possessions of the caliphate; according to others, a prominent military leader was the victim of conspirators who slandered him before the caliph.
Ustrushana was handed over to the representative of the Samanid clan Yahya ibn Asad, who was succeeded by his son Yakub in 855 . In 893, Ustrushana as a separate possession was liquidated by the Samanids and incorporated into their state.
Notes
- ↑ Error in footnotes ? : Invalid
<ref>; noIranicaOsrushanaforIranicaOsrushanafootnotes - ↑ Lewis, Bernard. "The Political Language of Islam", Published by University of Chicago Press, 1991 . excerpt from pg 482: "Babak's Iranianizing Rebellion in Azerbaijan gave occasion for sentiments at the capital to harden against men who were sympathetic to the more explicitly Iranian tradition. Victor (837) over Babak was al-Afshin, who was the hereditary Persian ruler of a district beyond the Oxus, but also a masterful general for the caliph. "
- ↑ Clifford Edmund Bosworth (Translator with Commentary), The History of al-Tabari Vol. 33 "Storm and Stress along the Northern Frontiers of the 'Abbasid Caliphate: The Caliphate of al-Mu'tasim AD 833-842 / AH 218-227", SUNY Press, 1991 . Footenote 176 on pg 59: "Abu Dulaf's contigent of volunteers from lower Iraq would be mainly Arabs, and there seems in fact to have been hostility between him, as a representative of Arab influence at the caliphate court, and the Iranian Al-Afshin"
- ↑ PB Golden, "Khazar Turkic Ghulams in Caliphal Service", Journial Asiatique, 2004 , vol. 292. pg 292: Some of the soldiers were slaves, others, such as al-Afshin, the scion of a ruling Central Asian (Ustrushana / Ushrusana) Iranian family, clearly were not. "
- ↑ Mottahedeh, Roy, "The Abbassid Caliphate in Iran", Cambridge History of Iran, IV, ed. RN Frye, 57-89. 1975 pg 75: "Al Mu'atism chose for this task the Afshin, the Iranian king of Ushrusuna."
- ↑ V. Minorsky, “Studies in Caucasian history,” Cambridge University Press, 1957, (footnote on page 111).
- ↑ Ahmad ibn Yasya ibn Jabir al-Balazuri. The conquest of Khorasan (Extract from the composition "Futuh al-buldan"). Dushanbe. Donish. 1987
- ↑ Samarcande et Samarra. Elites d'Asie centrale dans l'empire abbasside, Peeters, Louvain, 2007
- ↑ Encyclopædia Iranica - Afšīn
- ↑ CE Bosworth, “Sectarian and national movements in Iran, Khurasan and Transoxania during Umayyad and early Abbasid times”, 1998 - ISBN 92-3-103467-7
Literature
- Bosworth, CE: “The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXII: The Reunification of the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate. The Caliphate of al-Ma'mun, AD 812-833 / AH 198-213. " Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-88706-058-7 .
- Bosworth, CE: "Sectarian and national movements in Iran, Khurasan and Transoxania during Umayyad and early Abbasid times." 1998 - ISBN 92-3-103467-7 .
- Bosworth CE: “Afšīn” , Encyclopædia Iranica, I / 6, pp. 589-591.
- Haldon, John: "The Byzantine Wars: Battles and Campaigns of the Byzantine Era." - Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus, 2001 .-- 160 p. - (Sutton Series). - ISBN 0-7524-1795-9 .
- Minorsky, V .: “Studies in Caucasian history”. Cambridge University Press, 1957.
- Treadgold, Warren T .: "A History of the Byzantine State and Society." Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 .
- Treadgold, Warren T .: "The Byzantine Revival, 780-842." - Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988 .-- 504 p. - ISBN 978-0-8047-1462-4 .
- de la Vaissière, E .: “Samarcande et Samarra. Elites d'Asie centrale dans l'empire Abbasside. " Peeters, 2007.