Muslim Military Adventurism in Europe
Following the wars with Aquitaine and Neustria, and the subsequent Abbasid intervention which led to the creation of the
wilaya of Ruma al-Gharbiya, the government of al-Andalus was in no position to do anything apart from waiting for their province to recover. This did not suit
wali al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri however, who was ever restless and on the search for his next great conquest. With the resources of his province denied to him, the governor handed temporary control of government to his brothers, gathered his personal retinue and, along with
Muhammad Qarulamun ibn Baban al-Qarula and his retinue, travelled east to Ruma al-Gharbiya. When word of
al-Qasim’s arrival in late 776 CE reached
wali Harthama ibn A’yan, he immediately dispatched a moderately-sized force to intercept the intruders.
Al-Qasim reluctantly submitted to questioning and answered that he and his companions intended to engage in a
ghazwa (raid) against the Slavs and Avars to the east.
Harthama ibn A’yan’s soldiers accepted the explanation but insisted on accompanying the
ghuzat (plural of
ghazi) to the frontier territory governed by
Abdallah Butrus ibn Muniq al-Rumi. A messenger rode ahead to inform the governor in Rabina of the situation;
Harthama ibn A’yan was still concerned, but the story was plausible given what he knew of
al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri. After all, back when
Butrus ibn Muniq was still
Duke Peter of Friuli, he was responsible for prosecuting raids against the Slavs and Avars and otherwise guarding the frontier.
The Slavs immediately bordering Ruma al-Gharbiya were the Carantanians. Even though the majority of their population were still polytheistic, their rulers had converted to Christianity under the direction of the Bavarians in exchange for protection from Avar raids.
Duke Tassilo of Bavaria had since proclaimed himself a king, and was eager to establish his suzerainty over the Carantanians. Further to the east were the Avars. Originally a nomadic power of diverse ethnic origins on the western Eurasian steppe, the Avars migrated west into the Pannonian basin where they subjugated the resident Slavs, Germans, Romans, and Bulgars. Their authority in the southern Balkans was eventually contested and overtaken by a new Bulgar migration. The Avars remained mostly nomadic and decentralised into a loose confederation of tribes, though still under the authority of their
khagan. The Slavs, and the Germans to a lesser extent, occupied a peculiar place in the Avar Khaganate’s social structure: officially they were subject to the nomadic Avars. Over time however, partly due to their greater population size, the Slavs and Germans integrated more into the elite culture of the state, so much so that the elite became multi-ethnic and multi-lingual to the point that it was unclear just who the Avars were. This was the society that
al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri and his compatriots encountered during their excursions.
Al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri arrived in al-Thughur al-Sharqiya [Friuli] and informed
wali Abdallah Butrus ibn Muniq al-Rumi of his intent to go on a
ghazwa.
Butrus ibn Muniq expressed his desire to join the
ghuzat on their expedition, to which the Andalusian governor gladly agreed. The marcher lord raised an army, of whom many were still Christian, and they all marched off to the east.
Harthama ibn A’yan was angered by the news; though it was their right, and some would argue their duty, to engage in
jihad,
al-Qasim ibn Yusuf was interfering in the affairs of another
wilaya by distracting
Harthama’s subordinates from their duties. He ordered
Butrus ibn Muniq’s brother
Abd al-Rahman Dubb,[1] who had recently converted to Islam, to replenish the garrisons of the frontier forts with men from Badwa [Padua] and the surrounding areas. The
ghuzat encountered no serious resistance to their initial incursion and many villages and towns had poor defences; as such the loot they gained was considerable. Though there wasn’t much in the way of material wealth, the number of captives acquired was impressive. The region neighbouring al-Thughur al-Sharqiya was ravaged and the populace who weren’t captured, mostly fled further east. The adventurers returned to Qaysariyya [Cividale del Friuli][2] to partition the loot; many Christian soldiers converted to Islam in order to secure a larger share for themselves.
Al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri and his retinue escorted their share of the loot back to al-Andalus.
The Andalusian governor, along with
Muhammad Qarulamun ibn Baban al-Qarula, returned to Qaysariyya in the spring of 778 CE and once again joined with
Abdallah Butrus ibn Muniq al-Rumi on a
ghazwa to the east. This time they marched north to the Carantanian capital of Krnski Grad [Maria Saal], plundering villages along the way. The Carantanians, under their ruler
Prince Valhun, put up more of a fight than they had during the last raid but the Muslims were once again victorious.
Prince Valhun and his family fled north to request the aid of the Bavarians, while the
ghuzat sacked Krnski Grad. The church of the local Christian missionaries, many of whom were Irish, was sacked while a three-headed pagan idol was destroyed.[3]
King Tassilo of Bavaria was at that time at war with the Alemannians over Thuringia, but he spared some manpower to protect the southern border of his realm against Islamic raids. The Muslim army returned to Qaysariyya to deposit their substantial spoils and then marched off again. This time they ventured further east, into territory that was subject to the rule of the Avars though still populated by Slavs. Even though plundering the villages of the region was a simple enough endeavour, the Avar armies the
ghuzat faced were comprised entirely of cavalry. The Muslims however were few in cavalry and so had trouble fighting the Avars; rather than engage in pitched battles, the Avars would retreat after ambushes and skirmishes. Consequently the
ghuzat returned to Qaysariyya with their loot.
The Andalusian contingent returned to al-Andalus and offloaded their loot. After a period of rest,
al-Qasim ibn Yusuf and
Qarulamun ibn Baban mustered an army mostly of Berber cavalry and marched north from Nur al-Faranj [Lyon][4]. They refrained from raiding for the time being however as their ultimate destination was Alemannia; additionally the Andalusian
wali had been advised to maintain the tenuous peace with Neustria, who ruled over the territory around the Saone River. The
ghuzat informed intervening Neustrian forces of their peaceful intentions; it is doubtful that the Muslims were believed, but miraculously conflict was avoided. Once the
ghuzat reached the vicinity of Stratisburgum [Strasbourg] they began their plunder; the town of Colmar was stormed by Berber horsemen before its garrison could react, while the villages around Stratisburgum were razed. The city itself was left untouched, as the adventurers aimed to avoid any lengthy sieges. From there the
ghuzat marched eastward to the region north of Lake Potamicus [Lake Constance] where they continued their pillaging. Even though the city of Constantia [Constance] and its enticing cathedral were protected by old Roman fortifications, the Muslims spotted an island in the lake and learned from their captives that it was home to a famous monastery [Reichenau Abbey]. Ironically the monastery was founded by a monk named
Pirmin who had fled Arbuna before its Islamic conquest.
Al-Qasim ibn Yusuf ordered his men to commandeer boats from the nearby villages so they could traverse along the eastern spur of the island. A group of soldiers remained with the horses and the previously captured loot, while the rest sacked the monastery and enslaved most of the monks and local villagers. Laden with their plunder, the
ghuzat travelled back to Nur al-Faranj.
While it may initially appear that
al-Qasim ibn Yusuf al-Fihri shirked his responsibilities in governing while he embarked on his military adventures, the captured loot was a much-needed boost to al-Andalus’ economy. After the partition among the
ghuzat, the
wali’s portion of the stolen material wealth was sent straight to the Andalusian treasury, either directly or after being exchanged for currency. Many of the captives were transferred to what can be called palatine slavery: eunuchs, concubines, scribes and bureaucrats, bodyguards and soldiers, and other palace servants directly in the service of the varying tiers of government. Other captives were utilised as labour in public works projects or, less commonly in al-Andalus, agricultural labour. The rest of the slaves were sold to private owners. From there they entered either into similar roles as those in palatine slavery or into domestic servitude. Alternatively they were exported to other regions of the
Dar al-Islam; provinces such as Iraq and Misr had high demand for slaves and therefore the sale value was considerably higher. Economic growth in coastal cities such as Balansiyya, Arbuna, and the constituents of the Nicaean League was driven by participation in this increased slave trade. Similarly in Ruma al-Gharbiya, where slavery was less prevalent in the province itself, the slave trade was also being embraced by the mercantile classes in cities such as Anquna [Ancona], Bayza [Pisa], and Babiyya [Pavia].
Depiction of a slave market in al-Andalus
[1] His Christian name is Ursus, which is Latin for
bear, which in Arabic is
dubb.
[2] Cividale del Friuli’s name at the time was Forum Iulii (forum of Julius Caesar) so arguably the Arabs would rename it to Qaysariyya like they did with many other overtly Roman-sounding settlements.
[3] The three-headed stone of Magdalensberg.
[4] The new Islamic/Arabic name derives from Lugdunum and a popular belief at the time that “Lug” was a corruption of
lux (light). The city’s name therefore is “light of the Franks”.