Al-Harith ibn Surayj

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Al-Harith ibn Surayj
الحارث بن سريج
DiedMarch 746
Marw
Years active729–746
Known forLeader of anti-
Khurasan and Transoxiana

Abu Hatim al-Harith ibn Surayj ibn Yazid (

Marw in 745. Soon however he raised a sizeable armed force and challenged Nasr's authority, until he was killed in a clash with his ally Juday al-Kirmani in 746. His revolt weakened Arab power in Central Asia and facilitated the beginning of the Abbasid Revolution
that would overthrow the Umayyads.

Biography

Early life and start of the rebellion

Harith was from the

Junayd ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Murri. Junayd had Harith flogged, but after Junayd died in early 734, the discontent erupted into an open rebellion, with Harith at its head.[4]

Map of Khurasan and Transoxiana in the 8th century.

The motives and nature of Harith's rebellion are debated. His public demands were phrased in religious terms, demanding the end of injustice through the "application of the

Kharijite agitation directed against the Umayyad regime, including the use of black flags hearkening back to the banner of the Prophet and even the demand for theocratic rule by a member of the Prophet's family. Harith's movement was marked by an unusual idealism, however, and it is recorded that his adherents tried to persuade their opponents to join them through moral and religious invocations even during battles.[2][6]

Harith advocated various reforms, the most prominent being the full legal equality of the native non-Arab converts (

Iraqi troops into the province in the aftermath of the Defile, and the parallel order of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 723–743) to disperse the older Arab settlers from Marw to other settlements so as to improve their defence against the Türgesh.[11]

Thus it was that when the news of Junayd's death reached the small town of

Talaqan also seized the opportunity to join the revolt with their forces, hoping to re-establish their independence and perhaps reduce the Arab power in Khurasan to a dependent principality around Marw.[15]

Harith now turned his sights on Marw and set out for the capital, where he also had sympathizers. However, Asim managed to cement the loyalty of the wavering Khurasanis by threatening to abandon the city for

Naysabur on the western fringes of Khurasan. There he would rely on the Qaysi tribesmen whose loyalty to the Umayyad regime was known, and ask for reinforcements from Syria. Coupled with the presence of the numerous natives in Harith's army, which lent it the appearance of a foreign army, the local Arab elites chose to rally behind Asim.[16][17] As it neared Marw, Harith's army had swelled to some 60,000 men, as the mawali flocked to his banner, according to the report of al-Tabari. Asim's force was considerably smaller, and less eager: he had to pay them extra money in order to induce them to fight. Nevertheless, he marched out of Marw and took up positions behind a canal at Zarq, destroying its bridges. As Harith's army approached and repaired the bridges, more than 2,000 Arabs from his ranks deserted to Asim, evidently mistrusting the intentions of the native troops of Harith's army. In the subsequent battle, Asim gained a major victory, as many of Harith's troops drowned in the canal.[17][18] As a result of this failure, most of the mawali and native princes abandoned Harith, whose army was reduced to a loyal core of some 3,000 men. This forced Harith to accept a peace offer from Asim—who likewise could not count on the continued support of the Khurasani Arabs now that the danger from the natives had passed—and retired to Andkhuy. However, in the next year Harith renewed his revolt and marched again on Marw. Asim could not persuade the Khurasanis to fight for him, and was left with only some 1,000 Syrians and Jazirans from his personal guard. Harith's forces were not much larger either, being reduced to the garrison of Marw al-Rudh. In the ensuing battle at the village of al-Dandanqan near Marw, Asim again emerged victorious, forcing Harith to flee to Marw al-Rudh.[18][19]

Despite his victories, Asim's position was still perilous. He was essentially reduced to Marw and the western, Qaysi regions of Khurasan around Naysabur. In addition, as he explained in a letter to the Caliph, as a Syrian, he faced difficulty in persuading the Khurasanis and even the Iraqi troops to fight under him against one of their own.

Khalid ibn Abdallah al-Qasri, and that Syrian troops be dispatched into the province. In response, Khalid's brother Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri, who had already served before as governor of Khurasan, was sent to replace him. News of this, combined probably with pressure from the Khurasanis of Marw, led Asim to again conclude a truce with Harith. According to some accounts, he even agreed to join Harith in demanding from the Caliph the "application of the Book and the Sunna", and join him in revolt should the Caliph refuse. Shaban rejects this story altogether, but Blankinship regards it as reliable, although he too considers it a mere tactical ploy to gain time by Asim.[2][20][22]

End of the rebellion, the Türgesh intervention and exile

Asad arrived in Khurasan with 20,000 Syrian troops, and immediately took the offensive against Harith. Asad's campaign was costly, but after his first successes the Khurasani Arabs began to flock to him. Asad's success was aided by his long-standing personal relations with the local Arab tribal leaders, as well as by the continuing

Samarqand, which had been lost in the aftermath of the Defile.[23][24][25]

In the next year, 736, Asad's forces cleared the mountains of Upper Tokharistan from the remnants of Harith's supporters. The fortress of Tabushkhan, where many of Harith's followers and relatives had found refuge, was besieged by Juday al-Kirmani. After they surrendered, most of the men were executed, while the rest were sold into slavery. Harith himself on the other hand continued to escape capture.[2][26] In 737, Asad led his troops again north of the Oxus in a retaliatory campaign against Khuttal, whose ruler had allied himself with both Harith and the Türgesh. While the Arab troops were dispersed ravaging the countryside, the Türgesh qaghan, Suluk, responding to the pleas for help by the Khuttalan king, launched an attack that precipitated a headlong flight back by Asad's army across the Oxus. The Türgesh followed after them and attacked and captured the Arab baggage train on 1 October, before both sides settled for winter quarters. Harith now emerged from hiding and joined the qaghan.[27][28][29]

Harith now counselled the qaghan to take advantage of the dispersal of the Arab army to its winter quarters, and resume his advance. Following Harith's advice, in early December the qaghan led the Türgesh army, 30,000 strong and comprising contingents from virtually every native ruler of Transoxiana and Upper Tokharistan, south, bypassing Balkh, into Guzgan, hoping to raise the Hephthalite princes of Lower Tokharistan in revolt as well. In this he failed, as the king of Guzgan joined Asad, who was approaching with what forces he could muster. Asad's advance caught the qaghan and Harith off guard: Asad came upon them near Kharistan when they were accompanied by only 4,000 men, the rest having scattered to plunder and forage. In the ensuing

Kursul assassinated Suluk, whereupon the Türgesh realm collapsed in civil war. Asad too died soon after, and was succeeded by Nasr ibn Sayyar in July 738.[2][34][35]

Nothing is known of Harith's activities during the next two years, but he evidently remained in northern Transoxiana, based at al-Shash (

Farab.[2][36][37][38]

Return to Khurasan, second rebellion and death

Nasr's campaigns and reforms consolidated Muslim rule over Khurasan and much of Transoxiana, but his success was fragile: the native princes resented their loss of autonomy and the increasing assimilation of their people by their Arab conquerors and sent embassies to the Chinese court for aid, while the rivalry between the Mudari and Yamani tribal groups, evident across the Muslim world, still divided the Arabs themselves.[39][40] On the accession of the pro-Yemenite caliph Yazid III in 744, the Khurasani Yemenites supported Juday al-Kirmani's candidature as governor, and when this did not come about, they rebelled. Consequently, Nasr felt it necessary to bring Harith and his adherents back, to both strengthen his own position—Harith and his followers had a long history of enmity towards al-Kirmani—and remove a potential source for another foreign invasion. Nasr secured a full pardon for Harith and his supporters from Yazid. Their confiscated property was returned, and the Caliph even promised to rule "according to the Book and the Sunnah".[2][41][42][43]

When Harith arrived at Marw in early July 745, however, the situation had changed: Yazid was dead, a

Abbasids under Abu Muslim launched their own anti-Umayyad revolt in Khurasan. Nasr ibn Sayyar tried to conclude an alliance with al-Kirmani, but failed when the latter was murdered by one of Harith's sons in revenge. Abu Muslim managed to exploit the situation to his advantage, and in early 748, his men entered Marw, the first step in a war that would lead to the fall of the Umayyad dynasty and its replacement with the Abbasids two years later.[49][50][51]

References

  1. ^ a b Hawting 2000, p. 86.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kister 1971, pp. 223–224.
  3. ^ Gibb 1923, p. 70.
  4. ^ a b Gibb 1923, p. 76.
  5. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 176.
  6. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 28–31.
  7. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 177, 332 (note 57).
  8. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 80, 85–86.
  9. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 27–28.
  10. ^ Sharon 1990, p. 31.
  11. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 114–118.
  12. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 177.
  13. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 76–77.
  14. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 118.
  15. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 118–119.
  16. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 177–178.
  17. ^ a b Shaban 1979, p. 119.
  18. ^ a b Blankinship 1994, p. 178.
  19. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 119–121.
  20. ^ a b Blankinship 1994, pp. 178–179.
  21. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 120.
  22. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 120–121.
  23. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 179–180.
  24. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 77–78.
  25. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 121–122.
  26. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 180.
  27. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 180–181.
  28. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 81–83.
  29. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 124.
  30. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 181–182.
  31. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 83–84.
  32. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 125–126.
  33. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 87.
  34. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 84–85.
  35. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 182.
  36. ^ Blankinship 1994, pp. 183–184.
  37. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 90–91.
  38. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 130.
  39. ^ Gibb 1923, pp. 92–93.
  40. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 107.
  41. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 107–108.
  42. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 134–136.
  43. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 42–45.
  44. ^ Shaban 1979, p. 136.
  45. ^ a b Sharon 1990, p. 45.
  46. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 108.
  47. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 136–137.
  48. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 45–46.
  49. ^ Hawting 2000, pp. 108–109, 116–118.
  50. ^ Shaban 1979, pp. 137ff..
  51. ^ Sharon 1990, pp. 49ff..

Sources

  • ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7
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  • OCLC 499987512
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  • ISBN 0-415-24072-7
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  • OCLC 495469525
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  • Shaban, M. A. (1979). The ʿAbbāsid Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 0-521-29534-3
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  • Sharon, Moshe (1990). Black Banners from the East, Volume II. Revolt: The Social and Military Aspects of the ʿAbbāsid Revolution. Jerusalem: Graph Press Ltd.
    ISBN 965-223-388-9
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