Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik (, in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
sources , ''Masalmas''; – 24 December 738) was an
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
prince and one of the most prominent
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading several campaigns against the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and the
Khazar Khaganate
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a Nomadic empire, nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukra ...
. He achieved great fame especially for leading the
second and last Arab siege of the Byzantine capital
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
.
He launched his military career leading the annual summer raids against the Byzantines in
Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. By 709, he was governor over
Qinnasrin (northern
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
), the
Jazira
Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula".
The term may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazir ...
(Upper Mesopotamia),
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, and
Adharbayjan, giving him control over the Caliphate's northern frontier. From this position, he launched the first Arab expeditions against the Khazars across the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
. Maslama's brother, Caliph
Sulayman, appointed him to lead the campaign to capture Constantinople in 715, but it ended in disaster for the Arabs and he was ordered to withdraw by Sulayman's successor,
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...
, in 718.
After his brother
Yazid II
Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; — 26 January 724), commonly known as Yazid II, was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 720 until his death in 724. Although he lacked administrative or military experience, he derived prestige from his ...
() came to power, Maslama was sent to suppress the revolt of
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab al-Azdi (; 672/673–24 August 720) was a commander and statesman for the Umayyad Caliphate in Lower Mesopotamia, Iraq and Greater Khorasan, Khurasan in the early 8th century. In 720, he led the last of a series of wide scal ...
in Iraq. Although successful, Maslama was recalled in 721, due to the Caliph's concerns over Maslama's growing power as
governor of Iraq. Maslama was excluded from the line of succession because his mother was a
slave concubine, but he secured the accession of his other brother,
Hisham
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...
(). Under Hisham, Maslama resumed the campaigns against the Byzantines and the Khazars, with mixed results. In 732, he was replaced by his cousin, the future caliph
Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan (; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a Third Fitna, civil war, and he was the l ...
().
Maslama was granted extensive estates by his brothers, investing considerable sums to reclaim and develop agricultural lands in
Balis, the
Balikh
The Balikh River () is a perennial river that originates in the spring of Ain al-Arous near Tell Abyad in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. It flows due south and joins the Euphrates at the modern city ...
valley, and the
marshlands of southern Iraq. The estates were inherited by his descendants, but were mostly confiscated by the
Abbasid dynasty
The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids () were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Abbasid Caliphate is divid ...
after they
toppled the Umayyads in 750. Nonetheless, out of respect for Maslama's battlefield reputation, his descendants were largely spared from the Abbasids' wide-scale persecutions of the
Umayyad family.
Family background
Maslama was a son of the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
caliph
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...
() and half-brother of the caliphs
al-Walid I
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...
(),
Sulayman (),
Yazid II
Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; — 26 January 724), commonly known as Yazid II, was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 720 until his death in 724. Although he lacked administrative or military experience, he derived prestige from his ...
() and
Hisham
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743.
Early life
Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...
().
[.] Maslama himself was excluded from the line of succession as his mother was a
slave concubine. Around 691, Abd al-Malik arranged Maslama's marriage to al-Rabab, the daughter of the
Qays
Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...
i tribal chief
Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi, as part of the settlement to end Zufar's revolt against the Umayyads.
First command in the northwestern frontier
Campaigns against the Byzantines

Maslama is first mentioned as leading, along with his nephew
al-Abbas ibn al-Walid, the annual summer campaign (; pl. ) against the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
in 705. His first major expedition was the
707–708 campaign against the Byzantine city of
Tyana in southeastern
Asia Minor
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, which was launched in retaliation for the defeat and death of the distinguished general Maimun the
Mardaite
The Mardaites () or al-Jarajima (; /ALA-LC: ''al-Jarājimah'') were early Christians following Chalcedonian Christianity in the Nur Mountains. Little is known about their ethnicity, but it has been speculated that they might have been Persian pe ...
the year before. The siege lasted through winter and the Arab army faced great hardship, but after the Arabs defeated a Byzantine relief force in spring 708, the city surrendered.
A few months later, in the summer, Maslama led another expedition into Asia Minor and defeated a Byzantine army near
Amorium
Amorium, also known as Amorion (), was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Sack of Amorium, Arab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine m ...
, while in 709 he raided into the region of
Isauria
Isauria ( or ; ), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surroundings in the Konya P ...
.
In the same year, Maslama was appointed military governor of the
Jazira
Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula".
The term may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazir ...
,
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
and
Adharbayjan, succeeding his uncle
Muhammad ibn Marwan. This he added to the post of governor of
Jund Qinnasrin
''Jund Qinnasrīn'' (, "jund, military district of Qinnasrin") was one of five sub-provinces of Bilad al-Sham, Syria under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid Caliphates, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century ...
in northern
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, which he already held during his father's reign. His governorship of Qinnasrin was not as well-documented by early Arabic chroniclers as his other posts. Together, command of these provinces effectively gave him complete control of the Caliphate's entire northwestern border. From this position he launched several campaigns against the Byzantines, devastating
Galatia
Galatia (; , ''Galatía'') was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here ...
and sacking
Amaseia in 712, and taking
Melitene in 714.
War with the Khazars
Maslama was also the first to establish the Caliphate's presence north of the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, leading to the commencement of direct conflict with the
Khazars
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...
(the
Second Arab–Khazar War). Sources date the resumption of the conflict as early as 707 with a campaign by Maslama in
Adharbayjan and up to
Derbent (known in Arabic as Bab al-Abwab, 'Gate of Gates'). Further attacks on Derbent are reported by different sources in 708 by Muhammad ibn Marwan and the following year again by Maslama.
In 713/14, Maslama led an expedition which captured Derbent, reportedly after a resident showed him a secret underground passage. The Armenian historian
Łewond Łewond () or Leontius was a late 8th-century Armenians, Armenian priest and historian.
Very little is known about his life, except that he was an eyewitness to the events he describes after 774. His historical work was commissioned by Sapuh, son o ...
claims that the Arabs, realizing that they could not hold the fortress, razed its walls. Maslama then drove deeper into Khazar territory. The Khazar confronted the Arabs at the city of Tarku but, apart from a series of single combats by
champions, the two armies did not engage for several days. The imminent arrival of Khazar reinforcements under the general
Alp' forced Maslama to quickly abandon his campaign and retreat to Iberia, leaving his camp with all its equipment as a ruse.
The early Muslim sources generally credit Maslama with leading the
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
in 713, though his nephew
Abd al-Aziz ibn al-Walid is also cited as the leader that year. Leadership of the and the annual Hajj were both prestigious commands, which under the Umayyads were almost exclusively held by prominent members of the dynasty.
Siege of Constantinople

From 715 Maslama was the leading general in the plans of his brother, Caliph Sulayman, to conquer the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, as Sulayman himself was too ill to lead the campaign in person. Maslama led a huge army, which sources report to have numbered 120,000 men and 1,800 ships. In late 715, the Arab vanguard crossed the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...
into Byzantine territory, Maslama following in spring 716 with the main army and the fleet. The Arabs' plans were aided by the recurrence of civil strife, which
had plagued the Byzantines since 695; Emperor
Anastasius II was overthrown by
Theodosius III in 715, who was in turn opposed by the ''
strategos
''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...
'' of the
Anatolic Theme,
Leo the Isaurian. Maslama hoped to use the divisions among the Byzantines for his own benefit and initiated contacts with Leo, but the latter used the negotiations to outwit the Arab general and occupied for himself the strategic city of Amorium, which Maslama had intended to use as his winter base. As a result, Maslama marched further west, to the coastlands of the
Thracesian Theme
The Thracesian Theme (, ''Thrakēsion thema''), more properly known as the Theme of the Thracesians (, ''thema Thrakēsiōn'', often simply , ''Thrakēsioi''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in western Asia Minor (modern Tu ...
. There he spent the winter, while Leo marched against Theodosius in Constantinople, which he entered in March 717.
In early summer 717, Maslama with his army crossed from Asia into Europe over the
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
, and proceeded to besiege Constantinople from land and sea. His navy, however, was soon neutralized by the use of
Greek fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...
, and as his army was unable to overcome the city's
land defences, the siege continued into the winter, which was especially severe that year, with snow covering the ground for three months. Maslama had brought along many supplies, but they either soon ran out or were lost—Arab accounts make much of Leo tricking the Arab general yet again during negotiations into handing over or destroying a significant part of his hoarded supplies—and the army began to suffer from hunger and disease.
In spring, reinforcements arrived in the form of two large fleets from
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...
, but a large part of their crews, who were mostly conscripted Christians, went over to the Byzantines, and Leo's navy managed to destroy or capture the Arab fleets. The Byzantines also defeated an Arab army marching to aid the besiegers through Asia Minor, while Maslama's men had to contend with attacks by the
Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic peoples, Turkic Nomad, semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region between the 5th and 7th centu ...
as well, which cost them many men. The siege had clearly failed, and the new Caliph,
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...
(), ordered Maslama to retreat. On 15 August 718, after thirteen months of siege, the Arabs departed.
Governorship in Iraq
After his failure at Constantinople, Maslama was dispatched to
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
to quell the
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...
, an Islamic sect opposed to the Umayyads. Following Umar's death and the accession of his brother Yazid II in 720, he was tasked with suppressing the mass Iraqi revolt led by
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab al-Azdi (; 672/673–24 August 720) was a commander and statesman for the Umayyad Caliphate in Lower Mesopotamia, Iraq and Greater Khorasan, Khurasan in the early 8th century. In 720, he led the last of a series of wide scal ...
, whom he defeated and killed in August 720.
As
governor of Iraq, a major provincial office whose authority extended over the eastern half of the Caliphate, Maslama championed the Qays in their
factional conflict with the
Yaman, whose interests Ibn al-Muhallab had represented. Maslama dismissed all the Yamani sub-governors of Iraq and the eastern provinces and voided all the orders Ibn al-Muhallab had issued while in office. Maslama soon fell out of favour with the Caliph, who resented and feared his power as governor of Iraq, as well as his interference in the caliphal succession: Maslama favoured his brother Hisham over Yazid's son
al-Walid. Yazid recalled Maslama from his post, ostensibly because he had failed to deliver his provinces' tax haul to the caliphal capital,
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, and replaced him with Maslama's Qaysi protege,
Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari.
Second command in the northwestern frontier
Raids against Byzantium and the sack of Caesarea
Maslama then disappears from the sources and re-emerges in 725, shortly after Yazid's death and the accession of Hisham, who sent Maslama to replace the veteran general
al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami in the Caucasus front against the Khazars. Initially, however, Maslama was mostly active in the Byzantine front, and the war against the Khazars was delegated to
al-Harith ibn Amr al-Ta'i. In winter 725, Maslama led an expedition against Asia Minor from Melitene, which culminated in the sack of
Caesarea on 13 January 726. Along with the capture of
Gangra by
Abdallah al-Battal in 727, this was one of the major successes of Arab arms against the Byzantines in the 720s. A few months later, he also led the otherwise unremarkable northern into Byzantine territory.
Fighting the Khazars, 727–728
Maslama's attention was then diverted to the Khazar front, where 726 had seen major Khazar invasions into Albania and Adharbayjan. Both sides escalated their commitment in 727: Maslama for the first time confronted the himself. The Arabs took the offensive, probably reinforced with Syrian and Jaziran troops. Maslama recovered the Darial Pass and pushed into Khazar territory, campaigning there until the onset of winter forced him to return to Adharbayjan.
A second invasion in the following year, ended in what the historian
Khalid Yahya Blankinship calls a "near disaster". Arab sources report that the Umayyad troops fought for thirty or forty days in the mud, with continuous rain, before defeating the on 17 September 728. The impact of their victory is questionable, however; Maslama was ambushed by the Khazars upon his return, and the Arabs abandoned their baggage train and fled through the Darial Pass to safety.
After this campaign, Maslama was replaced as governor yet again by al-Jarrah. Despite his energy, Maslama's campaigns failed to produce the desired results; by 729, the Arabs had lost control of northeastern Transcaucasia and were again on the defensive, with al-Jarrah having to defend Adharbayjan against a Khazar invasion. He is then recorded by the Byzantine chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor as having been responsible for the sack of the fortress of
Charsianon
Charsianon () was the name of a Byzantine fortress and the corresponding theme (a military-civilian province) in the region of Cappadocia in eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey).
History
The fortress of Charsianon (Greek: Χαρσιανόν κάστ ...
in late 730, but Arab sources credit
Mu'awiya ibn Hisham
Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (; () was an Arab general and prince, the son of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743), who distinguished himself in the Arab–Byzantine Wars. His son, Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya, was the founder of the Emi ...
for this act.
Third command in the northwestern frontier
In the Caucasus, the situation quickly deteriorated after Maslama's departure. While al-Jarrah campaigned north of the Caucasus, the Khazars swung behind him and attacked his main base,
Ardabil
Ardabil (, ) is a city in northwestern Iran. It is in the Central District (Ardabil County), Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Ardabil province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district.
The ...
. Hastening to relieve the city, al-Jarrah was defeated and killed, and his army practically annihilated in a
battle outside the city on 9 December 730.
With Khazar detachments ranging unopposed as far as Mosul, Caliph Hisham again appointed Maslama as governor of Armenia and Adharbayjan to fight the Khazars. While Maslama was assembling his force, the veteran general
Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi
Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi (, ) was a prominent Arab general and governor of the Umayyad Caliphate, who played an important role in the Arab–Khazar wars.
Biography
Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi was a Qaysi from Qinnasrin, Syria.Crone (1980), p. 144 ...
was sent to try and halt the Khazar advance. Sa'id was able to do more than that, defeating the dispersed Khazar forces, and recovering towns and prisoners. Sa'id's unexpected success angered Maslama; Łewond writes that Sa'id had won the war and received what glory (and booty) there was to be had. Sa'id was relieved of his command in early 731 by Maslama and imprisoned at
Qabala
Qabala () is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnət, Qabala, Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic o ...
and Bardha'a, charged with endangering the army by disobeying orders, and was released only after the caliph intervened on his behalf.
At the command of a large army, Maslama took the offensive. He restored the provinces of Albania to Muslim allegiance (after punishing the inhabitants of Khaydhan who resisted him) and reached Derbent, where he found a Khazar garrison of 1,000 men and their families. Leaving al-Harith ibn Amr al-Ta'i to keep watch there, Maslama advanced north. Although details of this campaign may be conflated in the sources with his earlier 728 campaign, he apparently took Khamzin, Balanjar, and Samandar before being forced to retreat after a confrontation with the main Khazar army under the . Leaving their campfires burning, the Arabs withdrew in the middle of the night and quickly reached Derbent in a series of forced marches. The Khazars shadowed Maslama's march south and attacked him near Derbent, but the Arab army (augmented by local levies) resisted until a small, elite force attacked the s tent and wounded him. The Muslims, encouraged, then defeated the Khazars.
Re-foundation of Derbent

Taking advantage of his victory, Maslama poisoned the water supply of Derbent to drive the Khazar garrison out. He re-established the city as an Arab military colony (), restoring its fortifications and garrisoning it with 24,000 troops, mostly from Syria, divided into quarters by their district () of origin. Leaving his relative
Marwan ibn Muhammad (later the last Umayyad caliph, from 744 to 750) in command at Derbent, Maslama returned with the rest of his army south of the Caucasus for the winter.
Despite the capture of Derbent, Maslama's was apparently unsatisfactory to Hisham, who replaced his brother in March 732 with Marwan ibn Muhammad.
Retirement
Maslama thereafter retired from public life, possibly to his extensive estates in northern Syria. He backed Hisham's attempts to install his son,
Abu Shakir Maslama, as his successor, in place of the heir apparent, Yazid II's son al-Walid. Maslama died on 24 December 738. With his death, Hisham lost a major supporter for his succession plans in the Umayyad family. Al-Walid acceded after Hisham's death in 743.
Legacy
Maslama was among "the most celebrated generals of the Umayyad house", in the words of the historian
Patricia Crone. As the commander of the great assault on Constantinople and the "founder of Islamic Derbent", for over twenty years in the early 8th century, Maslama was "one of the principal props of Umayyad power and a foremost actor on the stage of the East", according to the historian
Douglas M. Dunlop. His fame spread far and wide in the
Muslim world
The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
, and his exploits and chivalry passed into legend.
Legendary traditions
In later traditions, Maslama's fortification of Derbent was parallelized with the
similar efforts by the 6th-century Sasanian monarch
Khosrow Anushirvan and even with
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
's legendary '
Wall of Alexander', meant to keep
Gog and Magog (here equated with the Khazars) at bay. His activity in the region ensured his continued presence in the traditions of North Caucasus Muslims. Thus, according to the 13th-century geographer
Zakariya al-Qazwini
Zakariyya' al-Qazwini ( , ), also known as Qazvini (), (born in Qazvin, Iran, and died 1283), was a Cosmography, cosmographer and Geography in medieval Islam, geographer.
He belonged to a family of jurists originally descended from Anas bin Mal ...
, Muslims went on pilgrimage to a mosque near Derbent where a sword reputed to have belonged to Maslama was kept in its
mihrab
''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall".
...
.
Maslama's attempt to capture Constantinople in particular became celebrated in later Muslim literature, with several surviving accounts, mostly semi-fictional, in which the historical defeat was transformed into a sort of victory: Maslama was said to have departed only after symbolically entering the Byzantine capital on his horse accompanied by thirty riders; Leo received him with honour and led him to the
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
, where the emperor paid homage to the Arab general. The tales of the siege influenced similar episodes in
Arabic epic literature, where Maslama appears associated with Abdallah al-Battal, another legendary Arab hero of the wars against Byzantium. His campaign against Constantinople continued to provide inspiration to later Muslim authors, from the ascribed to the 13th-century Andalusian mystic
Ibn Arabi
Ibn Arabi (July 1165–November 1240) was an Andalusian Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest com ...
, to the of the 17th-century Ottoman poet Nargisi.
Furthermore, Byzantine tradition, as recorded in the 10th-century ''
De Administrando Imperio
(; ) is a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII. It is a domestic and foreign policy manual for the use of Constantine's son and successor, the Emperor Romanos II. It is a prominent example of Byz ...
'', held that during the siege Maslama convinced the Byzantines to build Constantinople's first
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
, near the city's ''
praetorium
The Latin term ''praetorium'' (also and ) originally identified the tent of a general within a Roman '' castrum'' (encampment), and derived from the title praetor, which identified a Roman magistrate.Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roma ...
''.
In reality, the mosque near the ''praetorium'' was most likely erected in about 860, as a result of an Arab embassy in that year. It survived down to the
sack
A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag.
Sack may also refer to:
Bags
* Flour sack
* Gunny sack
* Hacky sack, sport
* Money sack
* Paper sack
* Sleeping bag
* Stuff sack
* Knapsack
Other uses
* Bed, a slang term
* Sack (band), ...
of the city by the
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
. Later
Ottoman tradition also ascribed the building of the
Arap Mosque (located outside Constantinople proper in
Galata
Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...
) to Maslama, although it erroneously dated this to around 686, probably confusing Maslama's attack with the
first Arab siege in the 670s.
Land development and reclamation projects
Several Umayyad princes were granted estates by the caliphs, usually land of little value, which the princes developed for profit. Abd al-Malik or al-Walid I granted Maslama an estate at
Balis and its environs, where agriculture was rain-dependent. The previous inhabitants of Balis had fled the town during the early 7th-century
Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc.
*Early Muslim conquests
**Ridda Wars
**Muslim conquest of Persia
***Muslim conq ...
and it was re-settled by Syrian Arab tribal warriors who converted to Islam. Upon his own initiative or per the inhabitants' request, Maslama revitalized the lands by digging a canal there, called Nahr Maslama after him, to irrigate its fields, and built a wall around Balis. The estate was not subject to the land tax () paid by non-Muslims; it paid the minimal
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...
() to the state. Maslama collected one third of the remaining yield, the rest going to the inhabitants, who were effectively sharecroppers.
An extensive former canal that was excavated near the site of
Dibsi Faraj (medieval Qasirin), in the 1970s, has been identified with Nahr Maslama. The canal ran parallel to the Euphrates river, corresponding with medieval accounts tracing Nahr Maslama's route from Balis through Qasirin to the site of
Siffin (
Tell Abu Hureyra). The 8th-century
Syriac ''
Chronicle of Zuqnin'' mentions that Maslama built several villages and forts along the canal. The early Muslim sources mention one fortified village he founded, Na'ura (Waterwheel), between Balis and
Aleppo
Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
, which has not been identified. It remained inhabited at least until the 10th century. Between his frequent military campaigns and his other estates in Syria and the Jazira, it is unlikely Maslama spent significant time in Balis before his retirement. In his absence, the Umayyads at Balis were led by his brother
Sa'id al-Khayr.
Maslama founded the dual site of
Hisn Maslama and
Bajadda on both sides of the
Balikh River
The Balikh River () is a perennial river that originates in the spring of Ain al-Arous near Tell Abyad in the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests ecoregion. It flows due south and joins the Euphrates at the modern cit ...
valley. There, he built a fortified compound and dug a canal, also known as Nahr Maslama, to transport water from the Balikh to a large cistern which supplied the new town, whose inhabitants were Muslim landed settlers. He granted Bajadda to one of his Qaysi lieutenants,
Asid ibn Zafir al-Sulami, who further developed it. Hisn Maslama, which Maslama probably used as one of his residences, was probably abandoned after the mid-9th century.
Another of Maslama's major land reclamation projects was in the
marshes of southern Iraq. There, frequent breaches of embankments caused mass flooding, which ruined the farmlands of the region. Al-Walid I would not fund the restoration of the farms due to the high cost, estimated to be 3,000,000
dirham
The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...
s. Instead, Maslama volunteered to pay the sum in exchange for the Caliph granting him the land. Maslama drained the marshes by digging a canal and brought farmers to cultivate the reclaimed lands, enabling his estates to prosper. According to the historian
Hugh N. Kennedy, Maslama "clearly recouped his investment, presumably from a share of the crops".
Building works
The historian
Jere L. Bacharach speculates that Maslama was the most likely founder of the
Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo, whose original construction is otherwise attributed to al-Walid I or Sulayman. Most of the present structure dates to the 12th–13th centuries. Bacharach bases his view on Maslama's governorship of Qinnasrin and his possible use of Aleppo as a base for the , for which a
congregational mosque
A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''Friday prayer, jumu'ah' ...
to serve the troops would have made sense. The Umayyad-era (castle) in Balis, a fortified residence with a canal and a wool production center, was possibly a construction by Maslama or Sa'id al-Khayr. Maslama may have been responsible for some construction works in the town of
Qinnasrin. In Damascus, he had an
iwan
An iwan (, , also as ''ivan'' or ''ivān''/''īvān'', , ) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
(enclosed hall) called after him alongside the residences of other Umayyad dynasts, including the caliphal
Khadra Palace, situated behind the
Umayyad Mosque
The Umayyad Mosque (; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, located in the old city of Damascus, the capital of Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Its religious importance stems from the eschatological reports ...
.
Descendants
Maslama's descendants inherited his estates and continued living in northern Syria after his death. In the aftermath of the
Abbasid Revolution, which toppled the Umayyads in 750, an Abbasid officer harassed Maslama's family and seized his fortified residence at Na'ura. The incident provoked the Qaysi allies of Maslama's family, led by Zufar ibn al-Harith's grandson
Abu al-Ward, to revolt against the Abbasids. The revolt was soon after quashed and Maslama's estates were confiscated and transferred to the Abbasids. Around the same time, a son of Maslama, Muhammad, raised a revolt in
Harran
Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale.
...
, but it was also suppressed.
The Abbasid caliphs were nonetheless sympathetic toward the memory of Maslama and toward his family. This was probably due to Maslama's reputation as a sober Muslim and fame as a (warrior) against the Byzantines. His descendants remained in northern Syria, where several were still recorded in the sources around a century later. His grandson,
Muhammad ibn Yazid al-Hisni, a poet, was spared by Caliph
al-Mahdi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr (; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his ...
when the latter visited Hisn Maslama in 780, despite making a slight toward the Abbasids in verse. One of Maslama's descendants,
Maslama ibn Ya'qub, seized control of Damascus with the backing of Qaysi tribesmen and proclaimed himself caliph in , during the
Great Abbasid Civil War. He was ousted shortly after and died in hiding. A 10th-century descendant of Maslama,
Abu Bakr ibn al-Azraq, was a prominent poet in the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa and West Asia, i ...
and
Umayyad Spain.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maslama Ibn Abd Malik
738 deaths
8th-century Arab people
Arab generals
Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate
Sons of Umayyad caliphs
Umayyad governors of Arminiya
Umayyad governors of Iraq
Umayyad governors of Qinnasrin
Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars
Umayyad people of the Arab–Khazar wars
Year of birth unknown