ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria and parts of the western Jazira.
The most prominent member of the Hamdanid dynasty, Sayf al-Dawla originally served under his elder brother, Nasir al-Dawla, in the latter's attempts to establish his control over the weak Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 940s CE. After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Lower Egypt to control the province. After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Abbasid caliph. A series of tribal rebellions plagued Sayf al-Dawla's realm until 955, but he overcame them and maintained the allegiance of the most important of the nomadic Bedouins.
Sayf al-Dawla is well known for his role in the Arab–Byzantine wars, facing a resurgent Byzantine Empire that in the early 10th century had begun to advance into the Muslim-controlled territories on its eastern border. In this struggle against a much more numerous and well-resourced enemy, Sayf al-Dawla launched raids deep into Byzantine territory and scored a few successes, for which he was widely celebrated in the Muslim world. The Hamdanid ruler generally held the upper hand until 955. After that, the new Byzantine commander, Nikephoros Phokas, and his lieutenants spearheaded a sustained offensive that broke Hamdanid power. The Byzantines annexed Cilicia, and even occupied Aleppo itself briefly in 962. Sayf al-Dawla's final years were marked by military defeats, his own growing disability as a result of disease, and a decline in his authority that led to revolts by some of his closest lieutenants. He died in early 967, leaving a much weakened realm, which by 969 had lost Antioch and the Syrian littoral to the Byzantines and had become a Byzantine tributary.
Sayf al-Dawla's court at Aleppo was the centre of a vibrant cultural life, and the literary cycle he gathered around him, including the great al-Mutanabbi, helped ensure his fame for posterity. At the same time, his domains suffered under an oppressive taxation regime to sustain the army. The Hamdanid ruler actively promoted Shi'a Islam in his domains, and under his rule, the Bedouin rose in importance, resulting in the establishment of the Mirdasid dynasty in Aleppo in 1024.
Life Origin and family
Sayf al-Dawla was born on 22 June 916 (17 Dhu al-Hijja 303 AH), although some sources give 914, as Ali ibn Abdallah, the second son of Abdallah Abu'l-Hayja ibn Hamdan (died 929), son of Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith, who gave his name to the Hamdanid dynasty. The Hamdanids were a branch of the Banu Taghlib, an Arab tribe resident in the area of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) since pre-Islamic times.
The Taghlib had long been prominent in the area of Mosul, and came to control both the city and its environs following the so-called 'Anarchy at Samarra' (861–870), a period during which the Abbasid Caliphate's metropolitan province of Iraq was engulfed in civil wars among the Abbasid elites. With the caliphal government's authority weakened, the provinces saw the rise of local strongmen, autonomous regional dynasties and anti-Abbasid rebels. As Abbasid power revived in the late 9th century, the caliphal government tried to impose firmer control over the province. Hamdan ibn Hamdun was one of the most determined Taghlibi leaders in opposing this. In his effort to fend off the Abbasids, he secured the alliance of the Kurds living in the mountains north of Mosul, which would be of considerable importance in his family's later fortunes. Family members intermarried with Kurds, who were also prominent in the Hamdanid military. Although the Hamdanids are generally regarded by modern historians as being pro-Shi'a, the division between Shi'a and Sunni Islam was not yet solidified, and historian Hugh Kennedy emphasizes that this does not appear to have affected their politics, allying with or fighting against both Shi'a and Sunni polities according to their momentary interests.
Hamdan was defeated by the Abbasids in 895 and imprisoned with his relatives, but his son Husayn ibn Hamdan secured the family's future. He raised troops for the caliph among the Taghlib in exchange for tax remissions, and established a commanding influence in the Jazira by acting as a mediator between the Abbasid authorities and the Arab and Kurdish population. This strong local base allowed the family to survive its often strained relationship with the central Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 10th century. Husayn was a successful general, distinguishing himself against Kharijite rebels in the Jazira and the Tulunids of Egypt, but was disgraced after supporting the failed usurpation of the throne by the Abbasid prince Ibn al-Mu'tazz in 908. Husayn's younger brother Ibrahim was governor of Diyar Rabi'a (the province around Nasibin) in 919 and after his death in the next year he was succeeded by another brother, Dawud. Ali's father, Abdallah, served as emir (governor) of Mosul in 905/6–913/4, and was repeatedly disgraced and rehabilitated, until re-assuming control of Mosul in 925/6. Enjoying firm relations with the powerful Abbasid commander-in-chief Mu'nis al-Muzaffar, he later played a leading role in the short-lived usurpation of al-Qahir against Caliph al-Muqtadir in 929, and was killed during its suppression.
Despite the coup's failure and his death, Abdallah had been able to consolidate his control over Mosul, becoming the virtual founder of a Hamdanid-ruled emirate there. During his long absences in Baghdad in his final years, Abdallah relegated authority over Mosul to his eldest son, al-Hasan, the future Nasir al-Dawla. After Abdallah's death, al-Hasan's position in Mosul was challenged by his uncles, and it was not until 935 that he was able to secure confirmation by Baghdad of his control over Mosul and the entire Jazira up to the Byzantine frontier.
Early career under Nasir al-Dawla
The young Ali began his career under his brother. In 936, al-Hasan invited Ali to his service, promising him the governorship of Diyar Bakr (the region around Amida) in exchange for his help against Ali ibn Ja'far, the rebellious governor of Mayyafariqin. Ali was successful in preventing Ibn Ja'far from receiving the assistance of his Armenian allies, and also secured control over the northern parts of the neighbouring province of Diyar Mudar after subduing the Bedouin (nomadic) Qaysi tribes of the region around Saruj. From this position, he also launched expeditions to aid the Muslim emirates of the Byzantine frontier zone (the ) against the advancing Byzantines, and intervened in Armenia to reverse growing Byzantine influence (see below).
In the meantime, al-Hasan became involved in the intrigues of the Abbasid court. Since the murder of al-Muqtadir in 932, the Abbasid government had all but collapsed, and in 936 the powerful governor of Wasit, Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, assumed the title of ('commander of commanders') and with it de facto control of the Abbasid government. Caliph al-Radi was reduced to a figurehead role, and the extensive old civil bureaucracy was drastically reduced both in size and power. Ibn Ra'iq's position was anything but secure, however, and soon a convoluted struggle for control of the office of , and the Caliphate with it, broke out among the local rulers and the Turkic military chiefs, which ended in 946 with the victory of the Buyids.
Al-Hasan initially supported Ibn Ra'iq, but in 942 he had him assassinated and secured for himself the post of , receiving the honorific () of ('Defender of the Dynasty'), by which he is best known to posterity. The Baridis, a local family of Basra, who also desired control over the caliph, continued to resist, and Nasir al-Dawla sent Ali against them. After scoring a victory over Abu'l-Husayn al-Baridi at al-Mada'in, Ali was named governor of Wasit and was awarded the of ('Sword of the Dynasty'), by which he became famous. This double award to the Hamdanid brothers marked the first time that a incorporating the prestigious element was granted to anyone other than the vizier, the Caliphate's chief minister.
The Hamdanids' success proved short-lived. They were politically isolated, and found little support among the Caliphate's most powerful vassals, the Samanids of Transoxiana and Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikshid of Egypt. Consequently, when in 943 a mutiny over pay issues broke out among their troops (mostly composed of Turks, Daylamites, Qarmatians and only a few Arabs), under the leadership of the Turk Tuzun, they were forced to quit Baghdad. Caliph al-Muttaqi appointed Tuzun as , but soon quarrelled with him and fled north to seek Hamdanid protection. Tuzun defeated Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla in the field, and in 944 an agreement was concluded which allowed the Hamdanids to keep the Jazira and even gave them nominal authority over northern Syria (which at the time was not under Hamdanid control), in exchange for a large tribute. Henceforth, Nasir al-Dawla would be tributary to Baghdad, but his continued attempts to control Baghdad led to repeated clashes with the Buyids. In 958/9 Nasir al-Dawla would even be forced to seek refuge in the court of his brother, before Sayf al-Dawla could negotiate his return to Mosul with the Buyid emir Mu'izz al-Dawla.
Establishment of the Emirate of Aleppo
Like other parts of the Abbasid empire, the collapse of Abbasid authority during the 'Anarchy at Samarra' led to a period of rival warlords competing for control of Syria. From 882, the region was ruled by the semi-autonomous Tulunid dynasty of Egypt, and direct Abbasid control was not restored until 903. Soon after, the region became the focal point of a series of Qarmatian revolts, supported by the Bedouin of the Syrian Desert. The Abbasids were able to retain a tenuous control over the province, until the authority of the Abbasid government collapsed in the civil wars of the 920s and 930s, where Nasir al-Dawla played a prominent role.
Syria came under the control of another Egypt-based strongman, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, in 935/6, but Ibn Ra'iq detached it from Egyptian control in 939/40. In 942, when Nasir al-Dawla replaced the assassinated Ibn Ra'iq, he attempted to impose his own rule over the region, and particularly Ibn Ra'iq's own province of Diyar Mudar. Hamdanid troops took control of the Balikh River valley, but the local magnates were still inclined towards al-Ikhshid, and Hamdanid authority was tenuous. Al-Ikhshid did not intervene directly, but supported Adl al-Bakjami, the governor of Rahba. Al-Bakjami captured Nasibin, where Sayf al-Dawla had left his treasures, but was finally defeated and captured by Sayf al-Dawla's cousin Abu Abdallah al-Husayn ibn Sa'id ibn Hamdan, and executed at Baghdad in May 943. Husayn then proceeded to occupy the entire province, from Diyar Mudar to the . Raqqa was taken by storm, but Aleppo surrendered without a fight in February 944. Al-Muttaqi now sent messages to al-Ikhshid, asking for his support against the warlords who wanted to control him. The Hamdanids confined the caliph at Raqqa, but in summer 944 al-Ikhshid arrived in Syria. Husayn abandoned Aleppo to al-Ikhshid, who then visited the exiled caliph at Raqqa. Al-Muttaqi confirmed al-Ikhshid's control over Syria, but after the caliph refused to relocate himself to Egypt, the Egyptian ruler refused to commit himself to further aid for the caliph against his enemies. Al-Ikhshid returned to Egypt, and al-Muttaqi, powerless and dejected, went back to Baghdad, only to be blinded and deposed by Tuzun.