Yazaman or Yazman, surnamed al-Khadim ("the

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 ...

") (died 23 October 891) was governor of Tarsus for 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 ...

and chief military leader in the

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

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 ...

(the ) from 882 to his death in 891. He is celebrated for his raids against the Byzantines.

Life

Yazaman appears for the first time in September/October 882. At the time he was a servant (''

mawla ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the te ...

'') of al-Fath ibn Khaqan, and was attacked and imprisoned by the governor of the

n borderlands, Khalaf al-Farghani, who had been appointed by

Ahmad ibn Tulun Ahmad ibn Tulun (; c. 20 September 835 – 10 May 884) was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt in the Middle Ages, Egypt and Bilad al-Sham, Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic peoples, Turkic slave-soldier, in 868 Ibn ...

, the autonomous ruler of

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

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 ...

. Yazaman was freed by the local people, who then rose up and rejected Tulunid rule, appointing Yazaman as their leader instead and returning to

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 ...

allegiance. Ibn Tulun then marched on Tarsus, but the inhabitants opened the sluice gates and flooded the plain around the city, forcing Ibn Tulun to return to

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 ...

without achieving anything. In 883, Yazaman faced a large Byzantine army sent against Tarsus, under the command of the

Domestic of the Schools The office of the Domestic of the Schools () was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the '' Scholai'', the senior of the elite '' tag ...

, Kesta Stypeiotes. Yazaman attacked the Byzantine camp at Bab Qalamyah, some 12 km from Tarsus, during the night of 11 September, catching the Byzantines by surprise. The Byzantine forces scattered, Stypeiotes and the ''

strategoi ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek term to mean 'military general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also used to describe a military governor. In the modern Hellenic ...

'' of

Anatolikon The Anatolic Theme (, ''Anatolikon hema'), more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics (Greek: , ''thema Anatolikōn''), was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) in central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). From its establishment, i ...

and

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

were killed, and much booty was captured. Yazaman led a major naval raid soon thereafter against the fortress of Euripos ( Chalkis), comprising 30 large ships (of the type called ' in Greek), but it was beaten off with great loss by the local governor of Hellas, Oineiates. The historian

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

records that Yazaman also led a land raid in January/February 886 up to al-Maskanin (unidentified), and returned to Tarsus with no casualties but with much booty and captives. Probably in the summer of the same year, he also led a naval raid that captured four Byzantine ships. Despite his earlier opposition to them, in 890 Yazaman swore allegiance to the Tulunids, under Ibn Tulun's son Khumarawayh. On 4 October 891, a Tulunid officer, Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi, arrived at Tarsus. Together with him, Yazaman led another raid against Byzantine territories. The Muslims laid siege to the Byzantine fortress of Salandu, but on 22 October Yazaman was wounded by a stone thrown by a

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

. This caused the Muslims to break off the siege, and he died on the next day on the way back. His troops carried him to Tarsus, and buried him at the "Gate of Jihad". He was succeeded by Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi. Tarsus remained under Tulunid control until 897, when it was recovered by the Abbasids. Yazaman's death was a keenly felt loss for the Muslims, who considered him one of their most valiant champions, alongside

Umar al-Aqta ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Marwān. or ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaydallāh ibn Marwān, surnamed al-Aqtaʾ (; , , in Greek), and found as Amer or Ambros () in Byzantine sources, was the semi-independent Arab emir of Malatya (Melitene) from the 830s until h ...

and Ali al-Armani. The Arab sources report that the mariners under his command were renowned for their boldness. According to the 10th-century account of

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 ...

(''

The Meadows of Gold ''Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems'' (, ') is a 10th century history book by an Abbasid scholar al-Masudi. Written in Arabic and encompassing the period from the beginning of the world (starting with Adam and Eve) through to the late Abbasid era ...

'', VIII, 74–75) a Greek convert to Islam reported to him that Yazaman was among the ten illustrious Muslims whose portraits were displayed in some Byzantine churches in recognition of their valour.

References

Sources

* * * * {{s-end 891 deaths Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Abbasid governors of Tarsus Eunuchs from the Abbasid Caliphate Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate Year of birth unknown Admirals of the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Tulunid governors Deaths by projectile weapons