Hasan ibn al-Nu'man

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Hasan ibn an-Nu`uman al-Ghasani (Arabic : حسان بن النعمان الغساني‎Hasān ibn an-Nu‘umān al-Ghasānī) (d. c. 700), amir (general) of the Umayyad army in North Africa. The nisba indicates he either came from Ghassān [1] in Yemen or was part of an Arab tribe originally from that area.

Umayyad Caliphate Second caliphate

The Umayyad Caliphate, also spelt Omayyad, was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, hailing from Mecca. The third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, was a member of the Umayyad clan. The family established dynastic, hereditary rule with Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, long-time governor of Syria, who became the sixth Caliph after the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661. After Mu'awiyah's death in 680, conflicts over the succession resulted in a Second Civil War and power eventually fell into the hands of Marwan I from another branch of the clan. Syria remained the Umayyads' main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital.

Yemen Republic in Western Asia

Yemen , officially known as the Republic of Yemen, is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. Yemen is the second-largest Arab sovereign state in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 square kilometres. The coastline stretches for about 2,000 kilometres. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel to the south, and the Arabian Sea and Oman to the east. Yemen's territory includes more than 200 islands.

Contents

Biography

Dates in this section are according to Ibn Abd al-Hakam (work cited below), other medieval sources give a range of 4 years before and after.

He was appointed governor of the Maghreb about the year 692. At this time, the Arab forces had still not managed to entirely defeat the Byzantine Greeks in North Africa. He captured the Byzantine city of Carthage after defeating Ioannes the Patrician and Tiberios III at the Battle of Carthage in 698. After a defeat by the Berber warrior queen al-Kahina, he retired to Libya for several years, then returned to Ifriqiya and killed al-Kahina in battle. [2] This effectively brought Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria) under Arab control.

Maghreb region of Northwest Africa

The Maghreb, also known as Northwest Africa or Northern Africa, Greater Arab Maghreb, Arab Maghreb or Greater Maghreb, or by some sources the Berber world, Barbary and Berbery, is a major region of North Africa that consists primarily of the countries Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. It additionally includes the disputed territories of Western Sahara and the cities of Melilla and Ceuta. As of 2018, the region has a population of over 100 million people.

Carthage archaeological site in Tunisia

Carthage was the center or capital city of the ancient Carthaginian civilization, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now the Tunis Governorate in Tunisia.

He appointed Abu Salih as emir over Ifriqiya while keeping the emirates of Cyrenaica and other parts of Libya for himself. He returned to Kairouan and re-established it as the capital of Ifriqiya, building (or re-building) the mosque, establishing official registers and levying land taxes (against Muslims) and poll taxes (against Christians).

Ifriqiya historic country in Northern Africa

Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah or el-Maghrib el-Adna was the area during medieval history comprising what is today Tunisia, Tripolitania and the Constantinois — all part of what was previously included in the Africa Province of the Roman Empire.

Cyrenaica Place

Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya. Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it formed part of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica, later divided into Libya Pentapolis and Libya Sicca. During the Islamic period, the area came to be known as Barqa, after the city of Barca.

Libya Country in north Africa

Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest. The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometres (700,000 sq mi), Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the world. Libya has the 10th-largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world. The largest city and capital, Tripoli, is located in western Libya and contains over one million of Libya's six million people. The second-largest city is Benghazi, which is located in eastern Libya.

Having completed this task, he returned to Damascus in about 695-698 to report to the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik, having left a deputy in charge of Cyrenaica. As he passed through Egypt, he was "relieved" of his captives [3] by the caliph's brother Abd al-Aziz,

Damascus City in Syria

Damascus is the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic; it is also the country's largest city, following the decline in population of Aleppo due to the battle for the city. It is colloquially known in Syria as aš-Šām (الشام) and titled the "City of Jasmine". In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 as of 2009.

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan 5th Umayyad caliph

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 685 until his death. At the time of his accession, Umayyad authority had disintegrated throughout the caliphate and had begun to be reconstituted in Syria and Egypt during the short reign of his father, Caliph Marwan I. Abd al-Malik's early focus was to consolidate Syria before attempting to reconquer the remainder of the caliphate from his principal rival, the Mecca-based caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. To that end, he concluded an unfavorable truce with a reinvigorated Byzantine Empire in 689, fended off a coup attempt in Damascus by his kinsman the following year and reconciled with the disaffected Qaysi tribes of Upper Mesopotamia in 691. He subsequently conquered Zubayrid Iraq and dispatched one of his generals, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, to Mecca where he killed Ibn al-Zubayr and restored Umayyad rule in Arabia by late 692. Al-Hajjaj ultimately became the caliph's viceroy in the east and firmly established Abd al-Malik's authority in Iraq and Khurasan, having stamped out opposition by the Kharijites and the Arab tribal nobility by 702. In the west, Abd al-Malik's brother, Abd al-Aziz, maintained peace and stability in Egypt while his troops retook Qayrawan, which served as the launchpad for the conquests of western North Africa and Hispania under the caliph's sons and successors.

In his absence, a Byzantine naval raiding force attacked Cyrenaica and occupied it for upwards of a month. Hasan's deputy fled to Egypt, and his trusted lieutenant Zuhayr was killed while attempting to repel the Greeks. Eventually a scratch force of Arabs drove the intruders out, after which Abd al-Aziz put one of his freed slaves in charge of Cyrenaica.

When Hasan attempted to return to North Africa, he asked Abd al-Aziz to remove his slave from Libya, but the Egyptian governor refused. Hasan then threatened to go to the caliph, whereupon Abd al-Aziz told him "Go". Hasan returned to Damascus, where he and Abd al-Malik learned that Abd al-Aziz had made Musa bin Nusair emir over Ifriqiya, deposing Abu Salih. Abd al-Malik disliked Musa, and prepared to use this as a pretext to do something about Abd al-Aziz. Unfortunately Hasan, who had been ill since leaving Egypt, died suddenly. This was in about 698 (according to some sources, up to 10 years after this!).

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References

  1. ↑ according to al-Baladhuri, ref. cited below
  2. ↑ Modéran (ref cited below) has recently found an early Christian Syriac source giving the dates for the two encounters with al-Kahina as 698 and 702-3.
  3. ↑ i.e. prisoners of war and civilians, taken as slaves after battle

Bibliography

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