The Battle of Krasos was a battle in the
Arab–Byzantine Wars
The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun an ...
that took place in August 804, between the
Byzantines under Emperor
Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I ( gr, Νικηφόρος; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. Having served Empress Irene as '' genikos logothetēs'', he subsequently ousted her from power and took the throne himself. In r ...
(r. 802–811) and an
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
army under Ibrahim ibn Jibril. Nikephoros' accession in 802 resulted in a resumption of warfare between Byzantium and the Abbasid Caliphate. In late summer 804, the Abbasids had invaded Byzantine
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
for one of their customary raids, and Nikephoros set out to meet them. He was surprised, however, at Krasos and heavily defeated, barely escaping with his own life. A truce and
prisoner exchange
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Convent ...
were afterwards arranged. Despite his defeat, and a
massive Abbasid invasion the next year, Nikephoros persevered until troubles in the eastern provinces of the Caliphate forced the Abbasids to conclude a peace.
Background
The deposition of Empress
Irene of Athens
Irene of Athens ( el, Εἰρήνη, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaina (), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler ...
(r. 797–802) in October 802, and subsequent accession of
Nikephoros I
Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I ( gr, Νικηφόρος; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. Having served Empress Irene as '' genikos logothetēs'', he subsequently ousted her from power and took the throne himself. In r ...
, signalled a more violent phase in the long history of the
Arab–Byzantine Wars
The Arab–Byzantine wars were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun an ...
. Following a series of destructive annual raids across
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
by the Caliphate, Irene seems to have secured a truce with Harun al-Rashid in 798 in exchange for the annual payment of tribute, repeating the terms agreed for a three-year truce following Harun's
first large-scale campaign in 782.
[.][.] Nikephoros, on the other hand, was more warlike and determined to refill the imperial treasury by, among other measures, ceasing the tribute. Harun retaliated at once, launching a raid under his son
al-Qasim
The Qassim Province ( ar, منطقة القصيم ' , Najdi Arabic: ), also known as the Qassim Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia
The Provinces of Saudi Arabia, also known as Regions, and officially the Emirates of the Provin ...
. Nikephoros could not respond to this, as he faced an ultimately unsuccessful revolt of the Asian army under its commander-in-chief,
Bardanes Tourkos
Bardanes, nicknamed ''Tourkos'', "the Turk" ( gr, Βαρδάνης ὁ Τοῦρκος, Bardanēs ho Tourkos, ), was a Byzantine general of Armenian origin who launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros I () in 803. Although a ...
. After disposing of Bardanes, Nikephoros assembled his army and marched out himself to meet a second, larger invasion under the Caliph himself. After Harun raided the frontier region, the two armies confronted each other for two months in central Asia Minor, but it did not come to a battle; Nikephoros and Harun exchanged letters, until the Emperor arranged for a withdrawal and a truce for the remainder of the year in exchange for a one-off payment of tribute.
Battle
In August 804, Harun dispatched another raid under his general Ibrahim ibn Jibril. The Arabs crossed into Asia Minor through the
Cilician Gates
The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m.
The Cilician Gates hav ...
and raided freely. Nikephoros set out to meet them, but was forced to return before he could do so due to some unspecified event at his back (
Warren Treadgold
Warren T. Treadgold (born April 30, 1949, Oxford, England) is an American historian and specialist in Byzantine studies. He is the National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Byzantine Studies at Saint Louis University. His interest in the ...
surmises news of a possible
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
). On his march home, however, the Arabs launched a surprise attack at Krasos in
Phrygia
In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...
and defeated his army. The exact location of Krasos is unknown, but it was said to be a small plain along a road. According to
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
, the Byzantines lost 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, while the Emperor himself was wounded three times. The Byzantine chronicler
Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor ( el, Θεοφάνης Ὁμολογητής; c. 758/760 – 12 March 817/818) was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy who became a monk and chronicler. He served in the court of Emperor Leo IV the Khazar before taking u ...
confirms that the imperial army lost many men and that Nikephoros was almost killed himself; saved only by the bravery of his officers.
[.]
Aftermath
Preoccupied with trouble in
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
, Harun now accepted tribute and made peace. An
exchange of prisoners
A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange.
Geneva Conventions
Under the Geneva Convent ...
was also arranged and took place during the winter at the two empires' border, on the
Lamos River in
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
; some 3,700
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
were exchanged for the Byzantines taken captive in the previous years.
During Harun's absence in Khurasan, however, Nikephoros used the opportunity to rebuild the destroyed walls of the towns of Safsaf,
Thebasa
Thebasa was a fortified place in Asia Minor in Classical Antiquity that was noted by Pliny as a city of ancient Lycaonia, situated in Tauros.
Later, Thebasa survived (as "Dabasa" in Muslim accounts) to be taken from the Byzantine Empire during ...
, and
Ancyra
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the list of national capitals, capital of Turkey. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center ...
. The following summer he launched the first Byzantine raid for two decades; into the Arab frontier district (''
thughur'') in Cilicia. The Byzantine army raided and took prisoners as it went, even capturing the major Abbasid stronghold of
Tarsus. At the same time, another Byzantine force raided the
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, ...
n ''thughur'' and unsuccessfully besieged the fortress of
Melitene, while a Byzantine-instigated rebellion against the local Arab garrison began in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
.
Harun retaliated with a
massive invasion in 806, which forced Nikephoros to come to terms, but the Byzantine ruler soon violated them and prevailed over the Abbasid expeditions sent against him in 807. Following renewed trouble in Khurasan, a peace treaty was signed in 808 which left the Byzantine frontier zone intact and ended the payment of tribute to the Caliphate.
[.]
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasos, Battle Of
804
Battles involving the Abbasid Caliphate
Battles involving the Byzantine Empire
Battles in medieval Anatolia
Battles of the Arab–Byzantine wars
Harun al-Rashid
800s in the Byzantine Empire
9th century in the Abbasid Caliphate
Krasos