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A sa'ifa, (pl: sawa'if), was a term used to describe a summertime raid or military campaign by early Muslim forces against enemy frontiers. In the east, the sawa'if usually referred to the summer raids against Byzantine Anatolia by the forces of the Umayyad and then Abbasid caliphates between c. 640 and the 9th century. In the west, the term is used to describe the raids by the forces of Islamic Spain against the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula between the mid-8th century and the 10th century.

History

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Arab Muslim armies conquered Syria and Egypt from the Byzantine Empire in the 630s–640s. A frontier zone (thughur) thereafter developed, separating Islamic Syria, including the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), from Byzantine Anatolia. On an almost annual basis, the Muslims mobilized from posts on or near the frontier zone to launch raids into Anatolia. They usually took place in the summer (sayf), from which the term sa'ifa derives, to avoid the harsh Anatolian winter.[1] The marshaling points for the campaigns were either in Tarsus or Mopsuestia (al-Massisa in Arabic), from which troops would enter Anatolia through the Cilician Gates, or Melitene (Malatiya in Arabic), from which the troops would enter through pass of al-Hadath (between Malatiya and Mar'ash).[1][2]

The Muslim governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, led the first sa'ifa in c. 640, raiding across Cilicia as far north Euchaita.[3] Four years later, he launched a sa'ifa against the Anatolian city of Amorium.[4] Mu'awiya became caliph in 661, founding the Umayyad Caliphate. Between 643 and his death in 680, summer and/or winter campaigns were launched by his order nearly every year, interrupted by the First Muslim Civil War (656–661). A number of the raids reached as far as one thousand kilometers into Anatolia, but no permanent territorial gains were achieved in Anatolia. Nonetheless, the raids boosted the prestige of the Caliph, secured considerable treasure for the Muslim troops, which helped recruit more Arab tribesmen to the Caliphate's war efforts, while keeping Muslim manpower losses minimal. The devastation of town and countryside, the serious causalities inflicted, the captives and property taken, and the disruption of trade and cultivation all kept the Byzantines from undertaking serious offensives against Islamic Syria. The sawa'if diverted Byzantine attention away from other fronts, enabling the Muslims to extend their control or influence to Armenia, Cyprus and the North African coastline.[5]

Commanders

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Leadership of the sawa'if was a prestigious command. The 9th and 10th-century Muslim historians al-Ya'qubi, Khalifa ibn Khayyat, and al-Tabari recorded the names of the commanders for each sa'ifa. At times, caliphs, most prominently Mu'awiya, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, Harun al-Rashid and al-Mu'tasim, led the campaigns in person. Most often, however, the command was held by princes of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, most prominently Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, Salih ibn Ali and Abd al-Malik ibn Salih.[1]

Umayyad commanders
Name Year Season Place Notes
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan 640 or 641 Summer Euchaita The governor of Syria under caliphs Umar (r. 634–644) and Uthman (r. 644–656). He became the first caliph and founder of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan 644 Summer Amorium Also participating as lieutenants of Mu'awiya were Ubada ibn al-Samit, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Shaddad ibn Aws and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari.[6]
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan 645 or 646 Winter Not specified [7]
Busr ibn Abi Artat 662 or 663 Summer Not specified. Busr belonged to the Quraysh tribe to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad and all the caliphs belonged. He was a leading deputy of Mu'awiya. In this raid, the Muslims decisively defeated a Byzantine army, in which several patricians were slain.[8]
Busr ibn Abi Artat 663 or 664 Winter Towards Constantinople Different reports mention that several Byzantine captives were taken or that the Byzantine troops fled to Constantinople.[8]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid 664 or 665 Winter Koloneia (Aqluniya in Arabic) Abd al-Rahman, a member of the Quraysh, was the son of the famous general Khalid ibn al-Walid. Busr ibn Abi Artat led a naval raid against the Byzantines in the same year.[8]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid 665 or 666 Winter Antioch of Pisidia or Antioch of Isauria Byzantine historians mention Abd al-Rahman gained the defection of Slav troops in the Byzantine army.[8]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid, Busr ibn Abi Artat or Malik ibn Hubayra 666 or 667 Winter Not specified The Byzantine historians cite Busr as commander, while the Muslim sources are in disagreement over whether Abd al-Rahman or the tribal chief, Malik ibn Hubayra al-Sakuni of the Kinda led the raid that year.[8]
Busr ibn Abi Artat, Fadala ibn Ubayd or Malik ibn Hubayra 667 or 668 Winter The Hexapolis Many Byzantine captives were taken. The Byzantine historians cite Busr and Fadala, the qadi of Syria under Mu'awiya, as the commander, while Muslim historians cite Malik ibn Hubayra or another tribal chief, Malik ibn Abdallah of the Khath'am. An alternative report in the Muslim histories make Antioch of Pisidia or Antioch of Isauria as the target of the raid and assigns command to Abd al-Rahman of the Balqayn tribe.[8]
Yazid I and Fadala ibn Ubayd 668 or 669 Summer Chalcedon and the Hexapolis and/or Antioch of Pisidia or Antioch of Isauria Byzantine historians assign command to Caliph Mu'awiya's son Yazid and Fadala. Muslim historians name several commanders, including Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid's son Khalid, as leading a wintertime land campaign against Antioch and/or a joint sea raid.[8]
Fadala ibn Ubayd and Yazid I 669 or 670 Winter Not specified or Constantinople Among the several commanders al-Tabari mentions as commanders for this year, Yazid I is mentioned leading a direct assault against Constantinople. Fadala ibn Ubayd is also mentioned by al-Tabari and most of the Muslim historians as either the sole commander or one of several to lead the land campaign for this year.[9]
Yazid I or Busr ibn Abi Artat and Sufyan ibn Awf 670 or 671 Winter Not specified Yazid I and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari are named commanders by Khalifa ibn Khayyat while the other Muslim historians name Busr and Sufyan ibn Awf of the Azd, one of Mu'awiya's lieutenants, as commander.[9]
Fadala ibn Ubayd and Busr ibn Abi Artat 671 or 672 Winter Cyzicus Yazid I is mentioned as a commander of the fighting around Constantinople in this year by the 10th-century Syriac historian Elias of Nisibis.[9]
Busr ibn Abi Artat and Sufyan ibn Awf 672 Winter Not specified. Byzantine historians note Busr took many captives. Muslim historians mention Sufyan ibn Awf alone or alongside Busr and note that he was slain fighting the Byzantines.[9]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umm al-Hakam or Sufyan ibn Awf 672 or 673 Winter Smyrna The Muslim historians generally credit Mu'awiya's marital relative, Abd al-Rahman ibn Umm al-Hakam of the Thaqif, but Sufyan ibn Awf is named as commander by Elias of Nisibis. The Byzantine historians note that Smyrna was raided.[9]
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umm al-Hakam, Sufyan ibn Awf or Junada ibn Abi Umayya 673 or 674 Winter Not specified. The Muslims experienced a serious defeat by the Byzantines.[9]
Abdallah ibn Qays, Sufyan ibn Awf, Fadala ibn Ubayd or Malik ibn Abdallah 674 or 675 Winter Not specified One of Mu'awiya's lieutenants, Yazid ibn Shajara, was slain.[9]
Junada ibn Abi Umayya or Yazid ibn Shajara, Mas'ud ibn Abi Mas'ud and Iyad ibn al-Harith 675 or 676 Winter Not specified [9]
Abdallah ibn Qays, 676 or 677 Winter Not specified [9]
Muhammad ibn Marwan 691 or 692 Summer Not specified Muhammad was a brother of Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) and served as his governor of the Jazira.[10]
Muhammad ibn Marwan 694 or 695 Summer Near Mar'ash [11]
Yahya ibn al-Hakam 695 or 696 Summer Area between Melitene and Mopsuestia Yahya was the uncle of Abd al-Malik.[12]
Al-Walid I 696 or 697 Summer Area between Melitene and Mopsuestia Al-Walid was the eldest son of Abd al-Malik.[12]
Yahya ibn al-Hakam and al-Walid I 697 or 698 Summer Al-Atmar north of Melitene [13]
Yahya ibn al-Hakam and al-Walid I 698 or 699 Summer Marj al-Shahm and area of Melitene Khalifa ibn Khayyat names Yahya as the commander of the raid which against the fortress of Marj al-Shahm and al-Walid as launching a raid from Melitene.[13]
Al-Walid I 699 or 700 Summer Not specified While al-Tabari names al-Walid as the commander of the raid in this year, Khalifa ibn Khayyat notes none were launched due to a severe plague in Syria. Al-Tabari claims this plague occurred in the previous year.[14]
Ubayd Allah ibn Marwan 700 or 701 Summer Qaliqala (modern Erzurum) Ubayd Allah was the brother of Abd al-Malik.[15]
Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik 703 or 704 Summer Mopsuestia Abdallah was a son of Abd al-Malik.[16]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik 705 Summer Not specified Maslama was the brother of Caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715).[17]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 706 Summer Sision and various places Maslama led the campaigning at Sision, while Hisham, another brother of al-Walid, led raids which captured Bulus, Qumqum, Akhram and Bulaq, all unidentified places.[18]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and al-Abbas ibn al-Walid 707 Summer Tyana Al-Abbas was a son of al-Walid I.[19]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and al-Abbas ibn al-Walid 708 Summer Isauria and Dorylaion or Amorium, Herakleia and Podendon Maslama and al-Abbas entered Anatolia together, then separated, the former raiding Isauria (or Amorium) and the latter attacking Dorylaion (or Herakleia and Podendon).[20]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and al-Abbas ibn al-Walid 709 Summer Isauria [21]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid 710 Summer Not specified Abd al-Aziz, one of the sons of al-Walid I, led the raid into Byzantine territory, though overall command of the frontier army was Maslama.[22]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Umar ibn al-Walid 711 Summer Sision Umar was another son of al-Walid I. The raid prompted the inhabitants of Sision to abandon the area and migrate deeper into Anatolia.[23]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, al-Abbas ibn al-Walid and Marwan ibn al-Walid 712 Summer Mistheia, Gazelon, Gangra, and Amaseia Marwan was the son of al-Walid I.[24]
Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid, Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid and al-Walid ibn Hisham al-Mu'ayti 713 Summer Antioch of Pisidia, Gazelon and Marj al-Shahm The commanders each took a different route. Al-Walid ibn Hisham was a member of the Umayyad family, descended from the collateral branch of Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt.[25]
Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid 714 Summer Herakleia and various places [26]
Bishr ibn al-Walid and Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik 715 Winter Not specified. Bishr was a son of al-Walid I.[27] Maslama captured the unidentified fortress called Hisn Awf.[28]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Dawud ibn Sulayman 716 Summer Constantinople and Melitene Maslama was a brother and Dawud was a son of Caliph Sulayman (r. 715–717). Maslama's campaign marked the beginning of the second and last Arab siege of Constantinople.[29]
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik 717–718 Summer and Winter Constantinople and Melitene Maslama besieged Constantinople, while the caliph encamped at the frontier town of Dabiq and led a raid against Byzantine territory from there. [30] After Sulayman's death, his successor Umar II (r. 717–720) ordered the withdrawal of Maslama and his troops from Byzantine territory.[31]
Al-Walid ibn Hisham al-Mu'ayti and Amr ibn Qays al-Kindi 718 or 719 Summer Not specified [32]
Al-Abbas ibn al-Walid 721 or 722 Summer Larissa Al-Abbas was a nephew of Yazid II (r. 720–724).[33]
Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik 723 or 724 Summer Not specified. The Muslim detachment sent by Sa'id, who was a brother of Yazid II, was annihilated.[34]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bosworth 1995, p. 869.
  2. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 118.
  3. ^ Kaegi 1995, pp. 67, 246.
  4. ^ Kaegi 1995, p. 245.
  5. ^ Kaegi 1995, p. 247.
  6. ^ Smith 1994, pp. 164–165.
  7. ^ Humphreys 1990, p. 13.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Jankowiak 2013, pp. 264–265.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jankowiak 2013, pp. 266–267.
  10. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 233–234.
  11. ^ Rowson 1990, p. 12.
  12. ^ a b Rowson 1990, p. 176.
  13. ^ a b Rowson 1990, p. 181.
  14. ^ Rowson 1990, pp. 181, 195.
  15. ^ Rowson 1990, p. 196.
  16. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 72.
  17. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 129.
  18. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 134.
  19. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 140.
  20. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 146.
  21. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 149.
  22. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 164.
  23. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 182.
  24. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 184.
  25. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 204.
  26. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 215.
  27. ^ Hinds 1990, p. 218.
  28. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 28.
  29. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 30.
  30. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, pp. 37–39.
  31. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 74.
  32. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 79.
  33. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 167.
  34. ^ Hillenbrand 1989, p. 192.

Bibliography

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  • Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994). The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7.
  • Bosworth, C. E. (1995). "Ṣāʾifa. 1. In the Arab–Byzantine warfare". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VIII: Ned–Sam. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 869. ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
  • Humphreys, R. Stephen, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XV: The Crisis of the Early Caliphate: The Reign of ʿUthmān, A.D. 644–656/A.H. 24–35. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0154-5.
  • Jankowiak, Marek (2013). "The First Arab Siege of Constantinople". In Zuckerman, Constantin (ed.). Travaux et mémoires, Vol. 17: Constructing the Seventh Century. Paris: Association des Amis du Centre d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance. pp. 237–320.
  • Kaegi, Walter E. (1995) [1992]. Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41172-6.
  • Smith, G. Rex, ed. (1994). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XIV: The Conquest of Iran, A.D. 641–643/A.H. 21–23. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1293-0.
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