Thumāma ibn al-Walīd ibn Qa‘qā al-‘Absi‘ () was an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

general of noble lineage from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, who served the

Abbasid Caliphate 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 ...

. He belonged to a family of the

Banu Abs ) , type = Ghatafan, Qays, Adnanite , image = Antarah ibn Shaddad & Abla.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = , nisba = Al-ʿAbsī , location = Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Eritrea, Kuwait, Jordan, United Arab ...

, part of the old Arab tribal nobility (''

ashraf Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, fr ...

''), which became affiliated with the

Umayyad dynasty Umayyad dynasty ( ar, بَنُو أُمَيَّةَ, Banū Umayya, Sons of Umayya) or Umayyads ( ar, الأمويون, al-Umawiyyūn) were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of Al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the ...

when Caliph

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, عبد الملك ابن مروان ابن الحكم, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 ...

(r. 685–705) married a cousin of Thumama's grandfather Qa'qa' ibn Khulayd al-'Absi. His father al-Walid served the Umayyads as general and governor of

Qinnasrin Qinnasrin ( ar, قنسرين; syr, ܩܢܫܪܝܢ, ''Qinnašrīn'', lit=Nest of Eagles), also known by numerous other romanizations and originally known as ( la, Chalcis ad Belum; grc-gre, Χαλκὶς, ''Khalkìs''), was a historical town in ...

, but was tortured to death along with Thumama's uncle Abd al-Malik and other family members when the two brothers opposed the accession of al-Walid II (r. 743–744). Thumama survived the purge and served the

Abbasids 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 ...

, who overthrew the Umayyads, as general against 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 ...

.Crone (1980), p. 106 He led the annual summer raids into 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 ...

in 777 and in 778, when he was defeated by the Byzantine general

Michael Lachanodrakon Michael Lachanodrakon ( el, Μιχαήλ Λαχανοδράκων; died 20 July 792) was a distinguished Byzantine general and fanatical supporter of Byzantine Iconoclasm under Emperor Constantine V (). As a result of his iconoclast zeal, in 766 h ...

. He was also placed in charge of the expedition in 779, but 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 ...

he failed to carry it out, and was replaced by

al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba Al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i () was a senior military leader in the early Abbasid Caliphate. Biography He was the son of Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i, who along with Abu Muslim led the Abbasid Revolution that toppled the Umayyad Caliphat ...

.Kennedy (1990), p. 206 Nothing more is known about Thumama, but his son Uthman was one of the local leaders of

who used the turmoil of the

Fourth Fitna The Fourth Fitna or Great Abbasid Civil War resulted from the conflict between the brothers al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the succession to the throne of the Abbasid Caliphate. Their father, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, had named al-Amin as the first suc ...

in the 810s to become virtually autonomous rulers of their localities.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thumama ibn al-Walid 8th-century births Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Year of death unknown 8th-century Arabs Ghatafan Arab generals