Arabs
Arabic-speaking ethnic and national groups, originally from the Arabian Peninsula
22 dated entries naming Arabs, drawn from 21 separate years between 642 CE and 1052 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.
JSONWikipedia articleWikidata Q35323
7th century
- 642Battle of Nahāvand: The Rashidun army (30,000 men) under Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas defeats the Persians at Nahāvand (modern Iran). The Persian cavalry, full of confidence, mounts an ill-prepared attack. The Arabs retreat to a safe area, where they outmanoeuvre and destroy the Persians in a narrow mountain valley.source
- 678Autumn – Siege of Constantinople: Emperor Constantine IV confronts the Arab besiegers in a head-on engagement. The Byzantine fleet, equipped with Greek fire, destroys the Muslim fleet at Sillyon, ending the Arab threat to Europe, and forcing Yazid (a son of caliph Muawiyah I) to lift the siege on land and sea. The victory also frees up forces that are sent to raise the two-year siege of Thessalonica by the local Slavic tribes.source
- 679Emperor Constantine IV signs a peace treaty, of a nominal 30-year duration, with Caliph Mu'awiya I of the Umayyad Caliphate. Constantine pays an annual tribute of 3,000 (nomismata) pounds of gold, 50 horses and 50 slaves. The Arab garrisons are withdrawn from their bases on the Byzantine coastlands, including Crete & Cyzicus.source
- 687Emperor Justinian II negotiates a peace treaty with the Umayyad Caliphate (resulting in caliph Abd al-Malik paying tribute). He removes 12,000 Christian Maronites, who continually resist the Arabs, from Lebanon. Justinian reinforces the Byzantine navy on Cyprus, and transfers cavalry troops from the Thracesian Theme in Anatolia to the Theme of Thrace in the Balkan Peninsula.source
8th century
- 712Umayyad conquest of Hispania: From North Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr lands in Iberia (Al-Andalus), with an army of 18,000 Arabs and Berbers. He joins the Islamic conquest and captures the city of Seville (Andalusia), where he meets stiff resistance after 3-months of siege.source
- 740Battle of the Nobles: The Berber rebels under chieftain Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati defeat and overwhelm the Umayyad forces of Khalid ibn Abi Habib al-Fihri, near Tangier (Northern Morocco), undermining Arab domination in Islamic North Africa. The rebellion spreads in Al-Andalus (Spain), causing governor Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab to withdraw Moorish troops from many garrisons north of the Pyrenees.source
- 740Sicily, Sardinia, Provence, and Greece are raided by a fleet of Arab Muslim ships sent by the governor of Ifriqya, the ones raiding South Western Europe are led by Habīb Ibn Abi ‘Ubayda Al-Fihrī, while the fleet raiding Greece is led by Mu’awiya ibn Hishām. All of them are successful, submitting the Islands and returning with much wealth from the spoils of war.source
- 741June 18 – Emperor Leo III ("the Isaurian") dies of dropsy at Constantinople, after a 24-year reign that has saved the Byzantine Empire and delivered Eastern Europe from the threat of an Arab conquest. He is succeeded by his son Constantine V.source
- 743February 6 – Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik dies after a 19-year reign, in which the Arab expansion in Europe has been stopped and the Umayyad Caliphate has come under pressure from the Turks in Central Asia and Berbers in North Africa. He is succeeded by his nephew Al-Walid II, who has Khalid al-Qasri, former governor of Iraq, imprisoned and tortured.source
9th century
- 805Siege of Patras: Local Slavic tribes of the Peloponnese lay siege to the city of Patras (modern Greece), with aid from an Arab fleet. A Byzantine relief army under Skleros, military governor (strategos) from Corinth, is sent and retakes the city. The captured Slavs in Patras are made slaves, and a church is dedicated to St. Andrew.source
- 818Al-Andalus: A grave rebellion breaks out in the suburbs of Cordoba, against the Emirate of Córdoba. Andalucian Arab refugees arrive in Fez (modern Morocco).source
- 827June 14 – Euphemius, exiled Byzantine admiral, asks for the help of North African Arabs, to retake Sicily and Malta from the Byzantines. Emir Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya promises to return the islands to Euphemius, in exchange for a yearly tribute, and sends an Arab Muslim expeditionary force of 10,000 men under the 70-year-old Asad ibn al-Furat, which lands at Mazara del Vallo in Sicily.source
- 841Venice sends a fleet of 60 galleys (each carrying 200 men) to assist the Byzantines in driving the Arabs from Crotone, but the attack fails. Muslim troops conquer the city of Brindisi (approximate date).source
- 872May 18 – After his successful campaign against the Saracens, Louis II is crowned as Roman Emperor ("Emperor of the Franks") for the second time and converts the Muwalladun, and the Arab elite.source
- 883September 11 – Yazaman al-Khadim, Abbasid governor of Tarsus, routs a Byzantine army under general Kesta Styppiotes, in a night attack. According to Arab chroniclers, 70,000 out of 100,000 Byzantine troops are killed.source
- 884Fall – The Arabs sack the abbey of Monte Cassino in two raids (September and November). The bulk of the monastic community flee to Teano (Campania).source
- 892May – Ibrahim II, Aghlabid emir of Ifriqiya, sends a large army to Palermo, to impose Arab authority from Kairouan. After an uprising, the Sicilians make a bid for independence.source
- 900Spring – Atenulf I, Lombard prince of Capua, conquers the Duchy of Benevento. He deposes Duke Radelchis II and unites the two southern Lombard duchies in Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). The Byzantines offer a strategic alliance to Atenulf who directs a campaign against the Saracens. They establish themselves on the banks of the Garigliano River. From here, Arab warbands launch frequent raids in Campania.source
10th century
- 929Summer – The Slavic-Arab leader Sabir defeats a small Byzantine fleet and seizes Termoli (in Molise, on the Adriatic coast). He returns to Africa laden with booty and slaves.source
- 957957 Caspian Sea earthquake. It took place in the Caspian Sea and its vicinity. The earthquake is mentioned by several Arab and Syriac chronicle writers, who claimed that it mainly affected the region of Persian Iraq. The initial shocks lasted 40 days, but ceased for a while. The main earthquake then occurred, damaging the cities of Ray, Talikan, and Hulwan. A reported number of 150 villages were supposedly destroyed by the earthquake.source
- 973July: Melias moves against Amida (modern Turkey). He defeats the Arabs outside the walls, and begins to lay siege to the city. After a few days, a violent wind and a thick dust spreads over the Byzantine camp. Covered by the dust, the Arabs attack and rout the Byzantines. Many of them are slaughtered and some, including Melias, are taken prisoner. Previous Byzantine gains in the area are lost. The wounded Melias dies later in captivity.source
11th century
Named in the same entries
- Byzantine Empire (6)
- Umayyad Caliphate (3)
- North Africa (3)
- Al-Andalus (3)
- Constantine IV (2)
- Greece (2)
- Campania (2)
- Saracens (2)
- Morocco (2)
- Sicily (2)
- Ifriqiya (2)
- Berbers (2)