Thamal al-Dulafi (; ) was an

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

military commander and longtime governor (''

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

'' or ''

amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

'') of Tarsus and the borderlands with 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 ...

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

(). A former Dulafid slave, he commanded several successful raiding expeditions, mostly by sea, against the Byzantines, but also against the

Fatimids 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 Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

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 against the

Qarmatians The Qarmatians (; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhered to a syncretic branch of Sevener Ismaili ...

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 ...

Life

Thamal was a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

, and, as his '' nisba'' of "al-Dulafi" indicates, began his career as a slave (''

ghulam Ghulam (, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in Jannah. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal e ...

'') of the

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defi ...

Dulafid dynasty of

Jibal Jibāl (), also al-Jabal (), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' ("mountain, hill"), highlight ...

, which was suppressed by the

caliph

al-Mu'tadid Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn (), 853/4 or 860/1 – 5 April 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh (), was the caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 892 until his death ...

in 896. He is first mentioned in 917/8, when he was appointed by the

caliph as commander of a naval expedition against the

. He led his fleet to a successful raid, returning with prisoners and booty, while the governor of Tarsus,

Bishr al-Afshini Bishr al-Afshini () was a military commander for the Abbasid Caliphate and the governor (''wali'') of Tarsus from 912/3 until at least 918. Life According to al-Tabari, he was a eunuch and originally a servant of Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj, who was ...

, led the year's overland raid. In 920, he led his fleet of 25 ships to

, where he participated in the repulsion of a

Fatimid 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 Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

. His arrival prevented the Fatimid ships from entering the

Rosetta Rosetta ( ) or Rashid (, ; ) is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799. Founded around the 9th century on the site of the ancient town of Bolbitine, R ...

branch of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

, and on 12 March, near Abukir, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the Fatimid fleet, whose vessels were driven to the shore by the wind. Most of the Fatimid crews were either killed or captured. In spring 921, Thamal and his fleet sailed to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, captured by the Fatimids in 919. The fleet entered the city's harbour and after a fight drove out its Fatimid garrison, while the populace was evacuated to Rosetta as a precaution. He then joined with the rest of the army under the Abbasid commander-in-chief

Mu'nis al-Muzaffar Abū'l-Ḥasan Mu'nis al-Qushuri (; 845/6–933), also commonly known by the surnames al-Muẓaffar (; ) and al-Khadim (; 'the Eunuch'), was the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid army from 908 to his death in 933 CE, and virtual dictator and king ...

to blockade the Fayyum Oasis, where the remaining Fatimid forces had withdrawn, and forced them to burn their equipment and retreat westwards over the desert. Arab-Byzantine frontier zone

In 923, while Mu'nis al-Muzaffar led the land raid against the Byzantines, Thamal once more led the seaborne expedition, which allegedly made 1,000 prisoners and took much plunder, including over 28,000 animals. By this time, he had apparently already been appointed as governor of Tarsus. In 924, according to

al-Mas'udi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

, he led his fleet, augmented by

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and Egyptian ships, to the vicinity of

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 ...

itself. There he made contact with the

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

and agreed joint action in Tsar Simeon's war against the Byzantines; some of the Bulgarians even returned with Thamal to Tarsus, although nothing further is known to have come of this. However, in 924–926 he left the borderlands and went to

, where he participated in the fighting against the

. During his absence, Tarsus was governed by his lieutenant Bushra, who along with the eunuch Muflih also supervised the

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoner of war, prisoners of war, spy, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, cadaver, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conven ...

with the Byzantines in September–October 925. Having returned to Tarsus in late 926/early 927, he led the summer raid against the Byzantines in 927. During the campaign Thamal defeated a Byzantine army, and during his return defeated the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

leader Ibn al-Dahhak, who had renounced Islam and entered Byzantine service. Thamal returned to Tarsus in December 927/January 928. In March/April 931, according to Ibn al-Athir, he embarked on a raiding expedition in March/April. The campaign was hampered by the weather—his horses reportedly sank in snow up to the breast—but Thamal defeated a Byzantine force, killing 600 and capturing 3,000 soldiers and taking much booty. Immediately after his return to Tarsus in July/August, he left for the main summer expedition, which reached as far as

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 ...

, which was abandoned by its garrison and plundered by the Muslims. Thamal then led his men up to

Ancyra Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

, before returning to Tarsus in September/October. The women and children caught during this raid reportedly fetched 136,000

gold dinar The gold dinar () is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word denarius, which was ...

s on the slave market. In the next year his raid was successful enough that letters declaring "victories on land and on sea" were read in the

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

mosques. Thamal is no longer mentioned after this, unless he can be identified with "al-Thamali" who led a raid in 941/2. The latter however is most likely one of Thamal's retainers (''

ghilman Ghilman (singular ',Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . plural ')Other standardized transliterations: '' / ''. . were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in armies throughout the Islamic world. Islamic states from the early 9th cent ...

''), who remained a powerful force in Tarsus and the ''thughur'' for some time to come: Thamal's lieutenant Bushra succeeded him as governor, followed a few years later by another of his ''ghilman'', Nasr al-Thamali; while the ''Thamaliyya'' ("men of Thamal") are mentioned as a faction in 938, when they killed their rival Tarif. Thamal's ''ghilman'' are attested in Tarsus during the subsequent

Hamdanid The Hamdanid dynasty () was a Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled modern day Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib tribe of Mesopotamia and Arabia. History Origin The Hamdanids hailed ...

period as well, as late as the mid-960s.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{s-end 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Admirals of the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid governors of Tarsus Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Eunuchs from the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid ghilman