Tha'laba ibn Salama al-Amili () was an Arab military commander al-Urdunn, al-Maghreb and the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, and briefly ruler of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

from August 742 to May 743. Thalaba ibn Salama belonged to

Banu Amilah Banu Amila (, '), also spelled Amela, was an Arab tribe that historically dwelt in the Levant (greater Syria) during the Byzantine (3rd–7th centuries CE) and early Islamic periods (7th–11th centuries). Before or during the Crusades (late 11th� ...

of the Yaman faction, like most Andalusian Arabs, rather than the usual ' Qaysid' stock of the Syrians. Thalaba ibn Salama went to North Africa with the 'Syrian' expedition of 741, led by

Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qasi Kulthum ibn Iyad al-Qushayri () was an Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya for a few months, from February to his death in October 741. Life Kulthum ibn Iyad, an Arab aristocrat of the Qaysi tribe of Qushayr (branch of the Banu Amir), was appointed by ...

and his nephew

Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri () was an Umayyad military commander in the Maghreb (North Africa) and al-Andalus (Iberia), and briefly became the ruler of al-Andalus in 742 until his death in August of the same year. Balj was a member of the Banu Qus ...

, to crush the Great Berber Revolt in the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

. Thalaba was the commander of the

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

''jund'' and, by explicit credentials of Caliph

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 ...

, was designated as second successor, should tragedy befall Kulthum or his first successor, Balj. The Syrian army was defeated and Kulthum killed by the Berber rebels at the

Battle of Bagdoura The Battle of Bagdoura or Battle of Baqdura was a decisive confrontation in the Berber Revolt in late 741 CE. It was a follow-up to the Battle of the Nobles the previous year, and resulted in a major Berber victory over the Arabs by the Sebou ...

in October 741. Balj ibn Bishr took what remained of the Syrian regiments (''junds''), some 10,000 men, to

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. After protracted negotiations with the Andalusian governor

Abd al-Malik ibn Qatn al-Fihri Abd al-Malik ibn Qatn al-Fihri () was an Umayyad Arab governor of Al-Andalus during two periods from 732 to 734 and from 740 to 742. Abd al-Malik was a very wealthy member of a noble Arab family from the Hejaz. Spurred by critics who decried his l ...

, Syrian forces were ferried over to

in early 742. After defeating the Berber rebel armies in al-Andalus in the Spring of 742, relations between the Andalusian governor and the Syrian commanders quickly broke down. The Syrian leader Balj ibn Bishr deposed and executed the old governor and declared himself the new ruler of

. But rallied by the sons of the late governor, the Andalusí Arabs (now calling themselves ''baladiyun'' or ''baladis'') took up arms against the Syrian ''junds'' (which they called the ''shamiyun''). Although the Syrians crushed the Andalusians at the Battle of Aqua Portora outside of Cordoba in August, 742, their commander Balj ibn Bishr died the next day from battlefield wounds. As his lieutenant and designated successor, Thalaba ibn Salama al-Amili was immediately acclaimed by the Syrian troops as their head, and consequently governor of

. Thalaba's authority did not extend much beyond Córdoba, where the Syrian regiments had hunkered down. Sometime in late 742 or early 743, Thalaba marched onto Mérida, an area of rebel activity, but soon found himself trapped with his small army in the citadel by the Andalusians. Calculating there was no escape, Andalusians carried the siege of Mérida in a leisurely fashion. The siege camp soon took on the character of a fair, attracting numerous onlookers and their families. But one early morning, when the besiegers were preparing for a much-anticipated festival, Thalaba launched an unexpected sally out of Mérida, and quickly overwhelmed the siege camp, taking as much as ten thousand prisoners, including many women and children. Thalaba marched his prisoners to Córdoba, where he is said to have sold many of the high-ranking Andalusian captives as discount-price slaves. But by this time, peace parties in both camps had already made appeals to

Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi Hanzala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi () was an Umayyad governor of Egypt from 721 to 724 and again 737 to 742, and subsequently governor of Ifriqiya from 742 to 745. Governor in Egypt Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi arrived in Egypt around 720, in the compa ...

, the new governor in

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 ...

, to settle the matter. In early 743, Handhala dispatched his deputy, Abu al-Khattar al-Husam ibn Darar al-Kalbi, to resolve the quarrel. Being of the same Arab tribal stock as the Andalusians but with a background in the noble circles of Damascus, Abu al-Khattar was expected to play an even-handed role in the Syrian–Andalusian dispute. Abu al-Khattar arrived in Córdoba in March 743, not long after the battle of Mérida, and took possession of the government with little opposition. According to chronicler

Ibn Abd al-Hakam Abu'l Qāsim ʿAbd ar-Raḥman bin ʿAbdullah bin ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (), generally known simply as Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam (; 801 AD – 257 AH / 871 AD) was a Sunni Muslim historian and jurist from Fustat, Egypt. He wrote a work generally known as " ...

, Tha'laba ibn Salama sailed to

shortly after and served briefly there under

in various military commands. Thalaba returned to the east, possibly with Handhala, around the time of the 745 ''coup'' of

Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Fihri ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb al-Fihrī () (died 755) was an Arab noble of the Fihrid family, and ruler of Ifriqiya (North Africa) from 745 through 755 AD. Background Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib was a great-grandson of Uqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri ...

. Thalaba ibn Salama al-Amili is reported to have subsequently served as Umayyad governor of al-Urdan (

) in the late 740s. In 750, Thalaba accompanied 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

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 ...

in his flight to Egypt to escape the

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...

Notes

{{Umayyad governors of al-Andalus 750s deaths Umayyad governors of Al-Andalus Arab generals Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Year of birth unknown 8th-century Arab people