Abdallah ibn Rashid ibn Kawus () was the

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 ...

governor of Tarsus and the

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 ...

n borderlands ('' ath-thughur ash-Shamiya'') between the Abbasid Caliphate and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

in ca. 878. In summer 878, he led 4,000 men in one of the customary raids (''ṣā'ifa'') against the Byzantine frontier provinces. He first marched against the forts of al-Hasin and al-Maskanin, taking much booty. As he turned back, however, he was encircled in the area of

Podandos Padyandus or Podyandos (), also Paduandus, Podandos or Podandus (Πόδανδος), and appearing corrupted in ancient sources as Opodanda, Opodandum, and Rhegepodandos (Ῥεγεποδανδός) was an ancient town in Cataonia, the southernmost ...

by the assembled forces of the Byzantine commands of

Seleucia Seleucia (; grc-gre, Σελεύκεια), also known as or , was a major Mesopotamian city of the Seleucid empire. It stood on the west bank of the Tigris River, within the present-day Baghdad Governorate in Iraq. Name Seleucia ( grc-gre, Σ ...

Pisidia Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of An ...

, Qurra ( Koron), Kawkab (unidentified) and Harshana (

Charsianon Charsianon ( el, Χαρσιανόν) was the name of a Byzantine fortress and the corresponding theme (a military-civilian province) in the region of Cappadocia in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). History The fortress of Charsianon (Greek: Χαρ ...

). The ensuing battle was a disaster for the Muslims, only 500 or 600 of whom survived it; Abdallah himself was heavily wounded and taken prisoner to Emperor

Basil I the Macedonian Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. This battle is probably to be equated with the defeat of the unnamed "Emir of Tarsus" by the

Domestic of the Schools The office of the Domestic of the Schools ( gr, δομέστικος τῶν σχολῶν, domestikos tōn scholōn) was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally ...

Andrew the Scythian Andrew the Scythian (Greek: Άνδρέας, died after 887) was a senior Byzantine military officer who distinguished himself in the Arab–Byzantine wars. He eventually held the post of Domestic of the Schools during the last years of the reign o ...

mentioned for about the same period by the Byzantine sources. At about the time of Abdallah's capture, control over the Cilician marches, as with the rest of Syria, passed from the Abbasid central government to the ambitious autonomous ruler of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Ahmad ibn Tulun Ahmad ibn Tulun ( ar, أحمد بن طولون, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn; c. 20 September 835 – 10 May 884) was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt and Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic slave-soldier, in 868 ...

, who appointed a certain Takhshi to succeed Abdallah. In the next year, Emperor Basil sent Abdallah as a gift, alongside other Muslim prisoners and several captured copies of the ''

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

'' to Ahmad ibn Tulun.

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* * {{Portal bar, Middle Ages, Byzantine Empire 9th-century births Abbasid governors of Tarsus Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Prisoners of war held by the Byzantine Empire