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A razzia (from French ''razzia'' "incursion", and from Algerian Arabic ''ġaziya'' (غزية),'' "algara"'' or "raid") is a term used to refer to a Raid (military), surprise attack against an enemy settlement. Although it primarily sought to obtain booty, historically the objectives of a razzia have been diverse: the capture of Slavery, slaves, Ethnic cleansing, ethnic or Religious persecution, religious cleansing, expansion of territory, and intimidation of the enemy.
One of the most representative razzias, because of its symbolic significance, was the Sack of Rome (410), sack of Rome in 410 by the Visigothic Kingdom#List of kings, Visigothic king Alaric I, whose repercussions echoed in future massive invasions in the following decades.
Over time, its meaning has also been extended to other activities that bear certain similarities to these attacks, such as police raids or certain violent incursions by organized or paramilitary groups, such as those carried out in Brazilian favelas, or in refugee camps during the Second Congo War, war in Central Africa.
Today, in the Turkish language the term means "war veteran".
In the Iberian Peninsula, the Muslim razzias received the name of ''aceifas'', from the Arabic ''al-ṣayfa'': "Saracen war expedition that takes place in summer".
The Arabic name ''ṣayfa'' is etymologically related to ''ṣayf'' (summer) and initially meant "harvest", but over time it was used as "military expedition", due to the "harvest" of goods in the plundering, and that it also used to be carried out in summer period.
The first important razzias against peninsular Christian territory began after the defeat of Bermudo I of Asturias, Bermudo I by the Al-Andalus, Andalusian Hisham I of Córdoba, Hisham I in the Battle of the Burbia River, battle of Burbia (791), even sacking the city of Oviedo in 794.
The Moorish aceifas were interrupted with the ascent to the Asturian throne of Alfonso II of Asturias, Alfonso II ''the Chaste'' and the Christian victory in the battle of Lutos, giving rise in response to a series of Christian razzias, such as the one carried out in 798 against Lisbon.
Internal strife in the Emirate of Córdoba, emirate of Cordoba interrupted the raids, at least intensively, until the accession to the throne of Abd al-Rahman II, Abderraman II. After putting an end to his uncle Abd Allah (name), Abdallah's pretensions to the throne and putting down a revolt in Murcia, he organized annual aceifas against the Christians (at their most intense, up to three were organized in the same year). Most were directed against Álava, Alava and, especially, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, which was the most vulnerable region of the Kingdom of Asturias. Despite this, there was no lack of attacks against Ausona (Vich), Barcelona, Girona and even Narbonne in the expeditions of the years 828, 840 and 850.
In the Malikí law there was a precept on how the holy war was to be carried out:
This precept was fulfilled with zeal by Almanzor. In the year 981, when Hisham II delegated his powers to the warlord, who was named ''al-Mansūr bi-l-Lah'' ("The Victorious of God"), he organized up to five expeditions in Christian lands.
At his death, after the battle of Calatañazor (1002), Almanzor left a terrible legacy: up to 52 victorious military campaigns to the Christian kingdoms, of which the best known are the aceifas organized to Barcelona (985) and Santiago de Compostela (997), where according to legend he made Christian slaves carry the bells of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, cathedral to Córdoba, Spain, Cordoba. But a large number of Christian monasteries such as Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla, San Millán de Suso, Portuguese cities, or the capitals of the Christian kingdoms of Kingdom of Navarre, Pamplona and Kingdom of León, León, which he sacked up to four times, were not spared either.
During the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravid and Almohad Caliphate, Almohad domination, aceifas were directed both to Christian and Muslim territory. The Almoravids raided all of North Africa, reaching as far as Ghana. The fanaticism of these new invaders caused some Taifa kings to ally with the Christian kings of the north, also becoming targets of the summer aceifas.
The last important aceifas in peninsular territory would take place shortly after the battle of Alarcos, in 1198 to Madrid and in 1199 to Guadalajara, Spain, Guadalajara. The battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) would definitively ruin the Almohad military power. Al-Andalus would never again go on the offensive.
The ''ghāzī'' way of life was based on plunder, so in times of peace they engaged in banditry and sedition. They were organized into guilds that attracted adventurers, zealots, and political and religious dissidents of all ethnicities. Soldiers of Iranian peoples, Turkish descent predominated, especially after the acquisition of Mamluks, Turkey, Turkish Slavery, slaves, and guard corps of the caliphs and Emir, amirs for the ''ghāzī'' ranks. Some of them would climb to control positions of military and eventually political power in various Muslim states.
In the west, Turkish ''ghāzīs'' regularly raided along the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Al-Awasim, frontier, finding in the Greece, Greek and Armenian ''Akritai, akritoi'' their nemesis. After the battle of Manzikert, these raids intensified, while the ''ghāzī'' guilds grouped together to form fraternities similar to Christian Military order (religious society), military orders. They adopted as their emblems the white cap and the club. The rise of the ''ghāzī'' organizations occurred during the Mongol Empire, Mongol conquest, as a result of which many fled to Anatolia from Iran, Persia and Turkestan.
The organization of these groups was fluid, reflecting their popular character. ''Ghāzī'' warriors could rise in the hierarchy by gaining prestige with a particular Emir, amir, similar to the Condottiero, condotiers of western mercenary bands. From the territory conquered in Anatolia during the ''ghazw'' emerged the Ottoman Empire. Tradition has it that its founder, Osman I, was a ''ghāzī'' who rose through the inspiration of Sheikh Ede Bali.
In a later period of Islamic history, the honorific title ''ghāzī'' was adopted by those Muslim leaders who showed some success in extending the frontiers of Islam, eventually this title became exclusive, similar to how the Roman Empire, Roman title Imperator became the exclusive property of the supreme leader of the Ancient Rome, Roman state and his family.
The Ottoman dynasty, Ottomans were probably the first in this practice, so the institution of ''ghazw'' dates back to the beginnings of their state:
By the beginning of Ottoman rule, it had become a title of honor and synonymous with leadership. In a 1337 inscription (concerning the construction of the Bursa mosque), Orhan, second in the Ottoman dynasty, is described as "Sultan, son of the Sultan of the Gazis, Gazi son of Gazi, martial lord of the horizons." The Ottoman poet Ahmedi, circa 1402, defines a Gazi as:
The first nine Ottoman leaders used the word "Ghazi" as part of their title, and often their successors. It never became a formal title, unlike ''Sultan ul-Muyahidin'', used by Sultan Murad II, Murad Khan II KhojāGhazi, sixth ruler of the Ottoman dynasty, House of Osman (1421-1451), whose full title was ''
When executed in the context of Islamic jihad, the function of the razzia was to weaken the enemy's defenses in preparation for his eventual conquest and Dhimmi, subjugation. Since the typical razia was not sufficiently numerous to achieve military or territorial objectives, it usually involved surprise attacks on poorly defended targets (e.g. villages) with the intention of terrorizing and demoralizing their inhabitants and destroying supplies that might supply the enemy. Islamic rules clearly defined who should go to war and who was exempted from such responsibility.
Although the rules of Islamic warfare forbade taking the lives of non-combatants such as women, Monasticism, monastics and Serfdom, serfs, it was possible to plunder or destroy their property and take them as slaves.
The only way to avoid the offensives of the ''ghāzīs'' was to submit to the Islamic state. In that case, non-Muslims enjoyed the status of ''dhimmi-s'', living under its protection. Many Christian sources confuse these two phases in the Ottoman conquests. Faced with the terrible threat of the ''ghāzīs'', the population in the Divisions of the world in Islam#Dar al-harb, confines of the Byzantine Empire, Empire often renounced the ineffective protection of the Christian states, seeking refuge by defection to the Ottoman Empire. In this way, peasants living in the open countryside gained far more than they lost.
One of the main sources that tell us about the development of a traditional razzia are the medieval Islamic jurists, whose discussions of what was and was not permitted in such actions in the course of war reveal some of the practices of this institution. One of the most important is the Al-Andalus, Andalusian Averroes, in his work ''Bida-yat al-Mujtahid wa-Niha-yat al-Muqtasid.''
RoyalArk- Ottoman Turkey
# # # # # # Averroes, ''Bida-yat al-Mujtahid wa-Niha-yat al-Muqtasid'' # # # # #
Biblioteca Gonzalo de Berceo
* :es:Dolors Bramon, Dolors Bramon, ''"La batalla de Albesa: Nuevas aportaciones"'' (in Spanish)
C.E.M.A.
* Cañada, Juste. ''"Nuevas propuestas para la identificación de topónimos e itinerarios en las campañas de Almanzor"'' (in Spanish)
Dialnet
{{Wiktionary, razzia, position=left Arabic words and phrases French words and phrases Islamic terminology Military terminology Military history Battles of Muhammad
Etymology
''Ghazw'' or ''ghazah'' (plural ''ghazawa-t'') (Arabic: غزو) is an originally Arabic term meaning "battle", generally used in the context of a battle for the cause of Allah. It comes from the triconsonantal root ''g.z.w.'' ("to attack"). It has the same connotation as the words ''ghaziya'' and ''maghazi'', which in pre-Islamic times referred to raids organized by nomadic Bedouin warriors for the purpose of plundering rival tribes or sedentary, wealthier neighbors. The plural ''ghazawat'' is used in some Islamic countries as a synonym for "judgment". * The word ''ghazwa'' was originally applied to those battles in which Muhammad personally participated. Over time it has evolved to be associated with battles related to the expansion of Islam. The term ''ghazi'' or ''"Warrior of the Faith"'' was used to identify participants in such battles and is synonymous with the roots ''ghāziya'' and ''maghāzī''. * The word ''sirya'' (plural ''saraya'' or ''sariya'') designates those battles that Muhammad arranged but in which he did not participate personally. By extension, it also applies to those mounted and reconnaissance raids that he organized but did not attend in person. * The word ''ba'atha'' differed in size from ''saraya'', and while it sometimes alluded to combat, it generally referred to expeditions or missions of a diplomatic nature (e.g. embassies or political dialogues). * In Western European literature it is known by the name ''razzia'', derived from the French language, French word ''razzier'' (''rezzou''), which entered the French vocabulary after the French Algeria, colonization of Algeria, and which is no more than a transliteration of the colloquial Arabic word ''ghazya''. * In Reconquista, Medieval Hispania, the razzias were known by the name ''aceifa'', from the Andalusi Arabic, Andalusian Arabic ''ṣáyfa'', which in turn comes from the classical Arabic ''ṣā'ifah'', with the meaning of "harvest" or "summer expedition".Related terms.
* ''akinji'': "raider," a late synonym of ''ghāzī''. * ''Al-Awasim, al-'Awāsim:'' the Syrian-Anatolian border area between the Byzantine Empire and its successive opponents. * ''Ribat, ribāt'': fortified convent used by a Military order (religious society), military order, especially in North Africa. * ''uj'': Turkish term meaning "March (territory), mark"; ''uj Bey, begi'' ("Lord of the Mark") was a title assumed by early Turkish leaders, later replaced by ''serhadd'' (border).The Aceifas
In the Iberian Peninsula, the Muslim razzias received the name of ''aceifas'', from the Arabic ''al-ṣayfa'': "Saracen war expedition that takes place in summer".
The Arabic name ''ṣayfa'' is etymologically related to ''ṣayf'' (summer) and initially meant "harvest", but over time it was used as "military expedition", due to the "harvest" of goods in the plundering, and that it also used to be carried out in summer period.
The first important razzias against peninsular Christian territory began after the defeat of Bermudo I of Asturias, Bermudo I by the Al-Andalus, Andalusian Hisham I of Córdoba, Hisham I in the Battle of the Burbia River, battle of Burbia (791), even sacking the city of Oviedo in 794.
The Moorish aceifas were interrupted with the ascent to the Asturian throne of Alfonso II of Asturias, Alfonso II ''the Chaste'' and the Christian victory in the battle of Lutos, giving rise in response to a series of Christian razzias, such as the one carried out in 798 against Lisbon.
Internal strife in the Emirate of Córdoba, emirate of Cordoba interrupted the raids, at least intensively, until the accession to the throne of Abd al-Rahman II, Abderraman II. After putting an end to his uncle Abd Allah (name), Abdallah's pretensions to the throne and putting down a revolt in Murcia, he organized annual aceifas against the Christians (at their most intense, up to three were organized in the same year). Most were directed against Álava, Alava and, especially, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, which was the most vulnerable region of the Kingdom of Asturias. Despite this, there was no lack of attacks against Ausona (Vich), Barcelona, Girona and even Narbonne in the expeditions of the years 828, 840 and 850.
In the Malikí law there was a precept on how the holy war was to be carried out:
This precept was fulfilled with zeal by Almanzor. In the year 981, when Hisham II delegated his powers to the warlord, who was named ''al-Mansūr bi-l-Lah'' ("The Victorious of God"), he organized up to five expeditions in Christian lands.
At his death, after the battle of Calatañazor (1002), Almanzor left a terrible legacy: up to 52 victorious military campaigns to the Christian kingdoms, of which the best known are the aceifas organized to Barcelona (985) and Santiago de Compostela (997), where according to legend he made Christian slaves carry the bells of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, cathedral to Córdoba, Spain, Cordoba. But a large number of Christian monasteries such as Monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla, San Millán de Suso, Portuguese cities, or the capitals of the Christian kingdoms of Kingdom of Navarre, Pamplona and Kingdom of León, León, which he sacked up to four times, were not spared either.
During the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravid and Almohad Caliphate, Almohad domination, aceifas were directed both to Christian and Muslim territory. The Almoravids raided all of North Africa, reaching as far as Ghana. The fanaticism of these new invaders caused some Taifa kings to ally with the Christian kings of the north, also becoming targets of the summer aceifas.
The last important aceifas in peninsular territory would take place shortly after the battle of Alarcos, in 1198 to Madrid and in 1199 to Guadalajara, Spain, Guadalajara. The battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) would definitively ruin the Almohad military power. Al-Andalus would never again go on the offensive.
Raiders: the "Ghazi"
Ghazi (warrior), Ghazi (Arabic: غازى) is an Arabic word in origin, derived from ''ghazā'' (contraction for ''*ghazawa'') = "raided" or "waged war", adopted into other languages such as Turkish to designate those Muslims who have sworn to fight non-believers in the Islam, Islamic religion. In this sense, it is essentially equivalent to Mujahideen, Mujahid: "one who wages jihad", commonly known as "holy war". The ''ghāzī'' warrior dates back to at least the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian period, when he appears as a mercenary and frontier fighter in Khorasan province, Khorasan and Transoxiana. Subsequently, as many as 20,000 ''ghazi'' took part in the Indian campaigns of Mahmud of Ghazni, Mahmud of Gazni.
The ''ghāzī'' way of life was based on plunder, so in times of peace they engaged in banditry and sedition. They were organized into guilds that attracted adventurers, zealots, and political and religious dissidents of all ethnicities. Soldiers of Iranian peoples, Turkish descent predominated, especially after the acquisition of Mamluks, Turkey, Turkish Slavery, slaves, and guard corps of the caliphs and Emir, amirs for the ''ghāzī'' ranks. Some of them would climb to control positions of military and eventually political power in various Muslim states.
In the west, Turkish ''ghāzīs'' regularly raided along the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Al-Awasim, frontier, finding in the Greece, Greek and Armenian ''Akritai, akritoi'' their nemesis. After the battle of Manzikert, these raids intensified, while the ''ghāzī'' guilds grouped together to form fraternities similar to Christian Military order (religious society), military orders. They adopted as their emblems the white cap and the club. The rise of the ''ghāzī'' organizations occurred during the Mongol Empire, Mongol conquest, as a result of which many fled to Anatolia from Iran, Persia and Turkestan.
The organization of these groups was fluid, reflecting their popular character. ''Ghāzī'' warriors could rise in the hierarchy by gaining prestige with a particular Emir, amir, similar to the Condottiero, condotiers of western mercenary bands. From the territory conquered in Anatolia during the ''ghazw'' emerged the Ottoman Empire. Tradition has it that its founder, Osman I, was a ''ghāzī'' who rose through the inspiration of Sheikh Ede Bali.
In a later period of Islamic history, the honorific title ''ghāzī'' was adopted by those Muslim leaders who showed some success in extending the frontiers of Islam, eventually this title became exclusive, similar to how the Roman Empire, Roman title Imperator became the exclusive property of the supreme leader of the Ancient Rome, Roman state and his family.
The Ottoman dynasty, Ottomans were probably the first in this practice, so the institution of ''ghazw'' dates back to the beginnings of their state:
By the beginning of Ottoman rule, it had become a title of honor and synonymous with leadership. In a 1337 inscription (concerning the construction of the Bursa mosque), Orhan, second in the Ottoman dynasty, is described as "Sultan, son of the Sultan of the Gazis, Gazi son of Gazi, martial lord of the horizons." The Ottoman poet Ahmedi, circa 1402, defines a Gazi as:
The first nine Ottoman leaders used the word "Ghazi" as part of their title, and often their successors. It never became a formal title, unlike ''Sultan ul-Muyahidin'', used by Sultan Murad II, Murad Khan II KhojāGhazi, sixth ruler of the Ottoman dynasty, House of Osman (1421-1451), whose full title was ''Mode of execution of the razzias
When executed in the context of Islamic jihad, the function of the razzia was to weaken the enemy's defenses in preparation for his eventual conquest and Dhimmi, subjugation. Since the typical razia was not sufficiently numerous to achieve military or territorial objectives, it usually involved surprise attacks on poorly defended targets (e.g. villages) with the intention of terrorizing and demoralizing their inhabitants and destroying supplies that might supply the enemy. Islamic rules clearly defined who should go to war and who was exempted from such responsibility.
Although the rules of Islamic warfare forbade taking the lives of non-combatants such as women, Monasticism, monastics and Serfdom, serfs, it was possible to plunder or destroy their property and take them as slaves.
The only way to avoid the offensives of the ''ghāzīs'' was to submit to the Islamic state. In that case, non-Muslims enjoyed the status of ''dhimmi-s'', living under its protection. Many Christian sources confuse these two phases in the Ottoman conquests. Faced with the terrible threat of the ''ghāzīs'', the population in the Divisions of the world in Islam#Dar al-harb, confines of the Byzantine Empire, Empire often renounced the ineffective protection of the Christian states, seeking refuge by defection to the Ottoman Empire. In this way, peasants living in the open countryside gained far more than they lost.
One of the main sources that tell us about the development of a traditional razzia are the medieval Islamic jurists, whose discussions of what was and was not permitted in such actions in the course of war reveal some of the practices of this institution. One of the most important is the Al-Andalus, Andalusian Averroes, in his work ''Bida-yat al-Mujtahid wa-Niha-yat al-Muqtasid.''
The ''Maghāzī'' razzias in literature
''Maghāzī'', literally meaning "campaigns", is a term often used in Islamic literature to represent the military campaigns conducted by the Muhammad, Prophet Muhammad following the Hijrah. The annals of these campaigns, often reflected as preemptive measures or attacks against invaders, which entailed the traditional plunder, constitute their own genre of prophetic biography within Islamic literature, distinctive of the sira. A famous example of this genre is Al-Waqidi, al-Waqidi's ''Maghāzī''.Contemporary uses
World War II
Some of these well-known razzias are the Night of the Long Knives or the Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass, carried out by the Gestapo in Germany. The Schutzstaffel, SS raid on the Yugoslavia, Yugoslav city of Žabalj (present-day Serbia) and Denmark in World War II, occupied Denmark is also known as such.Chechnya
During the Second Chechen War, Chechnya announced the ''gazawat'' against Russia, as a propaganda measure and to gain the support of the Islamic population, the majority in the country.Other examples
Other examples of current razzias are the death squad raids in the Brazilian favelas, or the paramilitary incursions during the Second Congo War, war in Central Africa. The multiple attacks by Colombian nationality law, Colombian Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla groups on Colombian army squads and vice versa could also be considered as such.See also
* MalónNotes and References
Bibliography
RoyalArk- Ottoman Turkey
# # # # # # Averroes, ''Bida-yat al-Mujtahid wa-Niha-yat al-Muqtasid'' # # # # #
External links
* F. Maillo. ''"La guerra santa según el derecho Malikí"'' (in Spanish)Biblioteca Gonzalo de Berceo
* :es:Dolors Bramon, Dolors Bramon, ''"La batalla de Albesa: Nuevas aportaciones"'' (in Spanish)
C.E.M.A.
* Cañada, Juste. ''"Nuevas propuestas para la identificación de topónimos e itinerarios en las campañas de Almanzor"'' (in Spanish)
Dialnet
{{Wiktionary, razzia, position=left Arabic words and phrases French words and phrases Islamic terminology Military terminology Military history Battles of Muhammad