In 944, Sayf al-Dawla established himself as the head of the independent Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo. Sayf’s rule over his emirate and his entire reputation rested on jihad against the infidels. In his case, the Byzantine Empire with whom he shared a border. He quickly became the most prominent antagonist of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century by launching devastating raids year after year across the Taurus mountains into Byzantine lands.
Who Was Sayf al-Dawla?
Alī ibn ʾAbū’l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī, better known by his honorific title of Sayf al-Dawla or “Sword of the Dynasty” was the most prominent member of the Hamdanid dynasty. His reputation grew due to his successful large-scale raids and by beating Byzantine armies on their home ground. Serious attempts by the Byzantines to put a stop to Sayf’s military actions saw the Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief of the Byzantine armies), Bardas Phokas, leading several in-person campaigns against Sayf. Despite having a numerical advantage, the Byzantines were successively defeated in 953, 954, and again in 955. Sayf’s successes were celebrated across the Muslim world who regarded him as the sword of Islam, and the defender of the faith. He attracted many volunteers who joined his cause and under his rule, his capital of Aleppo became the center of a vibrant culture attracting the likes of the famed poet Al-Mutanabbi and the philosopher al-Farabi, which further enhanced Sayf’s reputation and that of his Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo.
Sayf’s strength lay very much in his fast-moving Bedouin and Arab cavalry whose speed allowed him to strike unexpectedly and withdraw before a proper defense could be mustered. But as mentioned, Sayf’s forces were more than able to hold their own against Byzantine field armies during pitched battles.
The Pale Death of the Saracens
After failing to beat Sayf, Bardas was replaced by his eldest son, Nikephoros Phokas. A brilliant commander and strategist, Nikephoros drilled and equipped his army to the highest standards. He reintroduced the use of cataphracts, super heavy cavalry with horse and rider armored from head to toe. His future successes against the Muslim forces eventually ascended him to the Byzantine throne and earned him the epithet “the pale death of the Saracens,” referring to the Arabs turning pale with fear upon his arrival on the battlefield.
In 956, Sayf once again raided Byzantine lands but on his return, he found his path through the mountain pass blocked by John Tzimizkes, one of Nikephoros’ most able lieutenants. A grueling rain-drenched battle ensued for possession of the pass, but Sayf’s superior numbers won the day. At the same time, a separate Byzantine army under Leo Phokas, the brother of Nikephoros, attacked Sayf’s cousin, Abu’l-‘Asha’ir, who was rebuilding a Hamdanid fort. Leo caught Sayf’s cousin completely off guard and won a decisive victory, capturing Abu’l-‘Asha’ir in the process. Sayf retaliated by invading Byzantine lands for a second time in the same year, causing great devastation, capturing large amounts of booty, and taking many prisoners of war, among them several Byzantine military officers.
The impact of Sayf’s raid was blunted as the Byzantines used his absence to launch a naval attack on Tarsus, one of Sayf’s most important allies. The Tarsian fleet was destroyed, and the Byzantine marines burned the suburbs around the harbor. Sayf rushed his army to Tarsus to assist his allies and ensure they remained loyal to his cause. However, on his march to Tarsus, the Byzantines outflanked him and launched yet another invasion of his lands. They pillaged and raided his territory around Martyropolis (Mayyafariqin).
The Beginning of the End
In 957, Nikephoros himself led a large Byzantine army supplemented with numerous Rus, Bulgar, Armenians, Slavs, and Khazar mercenaries into Sayf’s territory. He attacked and destroyed the important fortress town of Adata (Hadath). The now homeless population was expelled to Sayf’s capital of Aleppo. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the emir to protect his emirate. To make matters worse for Sayf, Nikephoros had made contact with the emir’s Turkish mercenaries and offered them huge sums of money to betray him. Sayf, however, caught wind of this and ordered his elite Daylami infantry and Arab soldiers to surround the Turkish mercenaries. What followed was a massacre of 180 Turkish warriors and the mutilation of 200 more. The numerical superiority of Byzantium, the empire’s deep coffers of gold, and a new Domestic of the Schools who was a capable strategist and brilliant commander, all became too much for Sayf to deal with. Now he could no longer put full trust in his mercenaries and as a commander was reduced to killing his own men. Sayf must have realized that the days of his emirate were numbered. The emir’s frustration and anger were shown when he marched his army back to his capital of Aleppo and executed a number of his Byzantine prisoners who were held captive there.
The Writing on the Wall
The following year in 958, Tzimiskes once again launched an invasion of Sayf’s emirate. Sayf was unable to respond as he was either away supporting his brother who was the governor of Mosul or was struck down with an illness. Tzimiskes raided around Adada (Hadath) and Martyropolis (Mayyafariqin) and captured the old Roman city of Dara. Sayf responded by sending his most capable general, the Circassian Nadja, marching at the head of a massive army of 10,000 soldiers. Nadja and Tzimiskes met in a pitched battle but the well-drilled and equipped Byzantine army, spearheaded by the heavy cataphracts, broke through the Hamdanid forces under Nadja and put them to flight. The Hamdanids suffered 5,000 casualties, half their entire army, and another 3,000 soldiers were captured, along with the entire baggage train. A devastating defeat at best.
A second Byzantine army under the leadership of the court chamberlain, the eunuch named Basil Lekapenos, was sent to reinforce Tzimiskes’ victorious troops. Upon arrival, the combined armies of Basil and Tzimiskes besieged the fortified city of Samosata which quickly capitulated. Samosata was a wealthy Muslim city on the Euphrates which served as an important base for jihad. Its fall forced Sayf to take immediate action.
The Battle of Raban
Every Byzantine success chipped away at Sayf’s reputation as the leader of jihad. He was no longer able to defend the lands and cities of his allies or even his territories. People were losing faith in him as the “sword of Islam.” Sayf understood that he needed to win a decisive victory over the Byzantines to retain his legitimacy. The emir rallied his forces and marched to confront the Byzantines who were besieging Raban in northern Syria, yet another one of Sayf’s fortress towns.
Somewhere between October 8 and November 15 of 958, the two armies formed up for a pitched battle near the fortress of Raban. The battle that ensued was hard-fought, and Abu Firas, Sayf’s cousin and court poet, is said to have broken two lances in the first charge against the Byzantines. Sayf, however, was outnumbered and outclassed. Once again, the elite iron-clad horsemen of the Byzantines, formed up in their wedge formation, punched through the Hamdanid lines and a rout ensued. It was a devastating defeat for the emir, one that blunted the Sword of the Dynasty. Many of Sayf’s court companions, officers, guardsmen, and ghilman (elite slave soldiers) died in the fighting and the rout. More than 1,700 of his elite cavalry, the Muslim world’s equivalent of knights, were captured and suffered the humiliating fate of being paraded through the streets of Constantinople.
The Aftermath of the Battle of Raban
The Battle of Raban was Sayf’s first real defeat in a pitched battle against the Byzantines since he took control of Aleppo. Tzimiskes had shown that Sayf could be beaten in a head-on confrontation. Sayf’s reputation took a heavy blow, and his people were losing faith in his ability to protect them and their lands. More importantly, the Byzantines had captured and occupied Samosata. They had broken through the Jazira thughur, the fortified mountain frontier protecting northern Syria. The city now served as a base for the Byzantines to launch their raids into Muslim lands.
John Tzimiskes and Basil Lekapenos were both awarded a triumph back in Constantinople for their victory over Sayf. Tzimizkes would continue to enjoy an illustrious military career and would eventually succeed his uncle Nikephoros as Domestic of the Schools when the latter became emperor. He would later once again succeed him, this time as emperor of Byzantium, albeit under much more sinister circumstances, having stabbed his uncle to death in an assassination plot.
The following year after Raban, the Byzantines launched yet another raiding campaign into Syria and Mesopotamia. Sayf led an army to defend against the Byzantines but suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Leo Phokas, Nikephoros’ brother.
Ever dedicated to jihad and enmity towards Byzantium, Sayf would conduct another large-scale raid into Byzantine lands in 960 while most of the Byzantine army was occupied with recapturing Crete. Sayf’s expedition was however met with disaster when his army, encumbered with loot, was ambushed by Leo Phokas on his way back through the mountain pass of Andrassos.
Sayf’s power had been broken. A mere two years later in 962, Nikephoros Phokas, led an army against Aleppo itself. Sayf, powerless to stop him, was forced to abandon his city. The Byzantines stormed Aleppo and sacked the very capital of the once formidable Hamdanid emir.
