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Sevinç Matbaası - Ankara - 1980

1

. THE FIRST RESISTANCE OF THE TURKS AGAINST THE ARABS IN THE OXUS VALLEY ACCORDING TO

.THE NARRA:TION QF AT-TABARI

Dr. Zakaria KITAPCI Associate Prof. of Ata~k, Üniver-sity, Lecturer in Ottoman • and Isla-mic Histo:ı;y, University of Jos,

· NIGERIA

Except for a few verses dating from :tıhe pre Islaımic period of Arabic poetcy wılıich ga-ve us same ins1ght ·1nto the concepts of the Iiomadic T11rks in Araıbic Seciety. ( 1) ·and a_ nU!IIJjber of the traditions (ha

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·of qentral Asia after the smail Lslamic State of MADTNA beca:ine a powerful empire dllriınıg the reinıg of Caliph Omer. "

Apaııt from a:nany otJher sources parmcularly ·tJhe great Mus1im. histori~s At-Taberi gives us .full and arttractirve ac_:c()unt of the first challenge made by the Turkish king KHAKAN aıgainst the muslim ~b commander. Ahn'aıf b. Qa.[Y1S -in tıhe · Ox,'US valleıy. (around Marw 22/642) Before startiı;ıg a detailed stduy of this particuJar event witfu.in 11he light of at-Ta!baıri'ıs recoııds, it wiıll ihelp riO ~derSıtanding tihe suıbject -if we have an outline of tihe early rnilitary activ1ties oıf ·tihe Arabs in PerSia.

Wj.th the death of 1ıhe Holy Propilıet in (632) the Jjslamlc fa:ith becames the daaninant :rıeligion in· 1ıhe southern part · of Arabian peninsula. The period. of the first Orth:oıdo:x Caliph Aıbu-iBakr con-tinued only two years anc;I_ came to an end when fii?;hting broke out

· with the rebellioıis triıbal.dhiefs. and stronıg attempts were made by KhalM. b. aıl-waıliıd. t'o Sltop fratioirlal wars anrl apostasy ln.ovementS (3)., .

-· .. When Omer became Caliph ( 634-644) witJh ·the stronıg recom-

mendaıtion of tılıe Iate Abu4Bakr 4. iihe sources of trouble was finally · enıded amonıg tihe tribal cıhiefs, the ·s:trong autheriıty of Ma~

dina 'was _ estaıblisll:ıed anid'- the sodaıl anrl Poili•tiCal peace and· stability was again mainıtained tJhroug!hqut i:lhe Araibian peninsula as if was in tıhe time of the Holy Prophet. So there was no more reason to postpone tiJ:ıe starting of the n~w conquests in ilhe neigih-bourinıg coın:lıtri.es .like : Byzantium and. Peıısia, whioh had been en-courıged by the Holy Prephet in hiıs Hfe i:ime.

As a matter of fact the muslim Ara!b armies advance

tium (S) i'he muslims marched towarıds Irau with the permi.ssion-of uhe ıv,i:adina council. - .

The-Arabs wiclı tilıe new Isrlamic faiuh and inspirat:iJon defeated . . , Uhe mighty Persian army completely m Uhe famous battle of Kadis-

siyaih (630) and in the foilowing year at Jalula (631) and occupied the.wihole of Jran incloding tıhe straıtegic pass of Zagi'ous mouiıtains in the interior of the courutry. The last ruler of Iran Ya11dugard~I-H;_

· c~llected ario1ıher · hı.tge a:rımry to meet the terri!ble AraJbs in Niliha-weiidand to sav:e his -ııİı:rone. The baütle again.ended witih·a g1orlous victo:rıy of· t!lıe muslim. Araıbs (642) tıhat opened the doors of Iran completely· for future Ara!bic occuıpatiıon. ·

The1Ar~bs on tihe other hand advanced unıd,e~ the great com-mander Mı:naf b. Qays and conquert?d the who'le notrıthern part of Iran. For instance Rabi b. Amr say;s in a lyr.ical way that;

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as well as «a netural defence line» :(,8). between Tur.ks and Persians since tıhe early ages. of the histıory. Indeed Transexa:nia or Lowet Turkestan was always accepted the ;sfagin:g area .fior tıhe great nome· die Turlcish invansions to words tıhe middle East even before tib.e Seljuqs and the Ottoman Turks.

Now tıhe .Aribs bec~ wllı:o neiıghibour·s of :!Jlıe Tıuı:iks were pre paring themse1'ves fora new invansion beyond rthe famoı.is O:Xus River in tıhe dir-ection of the Turk·is'h Lands. ıBefore giving a critıical acoount of t!l:ıe Ara!bic invansimrs and conquest in Central Asia fulm tıhe Turkiısh p:oint of view, (9) I will try to throw .ligbıt upon the means and under which circumstanc~s 1Jlıe ea.rly contacts sıtarted between these two natiıons and tıheserelations of course changed tıhe cur.rents oıf tlıe wıhole politıica:l and social mst!oiıy of the woı.tl!d.

For '!!his it may be necessary to mention tıhe ıpolitical corres-pondence which had been cocured betweİı tıhe Oaliph Orner and hls eastern commander .A!hnef b. Qays in the eve of rtih.ese conquests.

According to· the detailed narrations of Islamk sources par-· ticularly At-Taberi, after completing his military operations in nerıtib.esn Persia Aibnef ib. Qays ısent a letter ro Maıdina and gave a full inforımation aıbout the mllitary conquest wıhich he haıd adlıieved in the nortıh-eastern part of newly founded' 'muslim empire. . In doinıg so he was inldirectly ·trying to get tıhe Maıdina Oouncil'ıs per-

. :miJs·ston to aıttemp funtıher e'Xlpan:sion towards Turkestan.

Indeed Caıliph ümer was very glad to get su:fifident informa-tion about the miliotary operation of muslim arm.y in tib.e east

· and thcir bililliant achievements. Accordirıig to t!he ıgreat historian At-Taıberl the letter of Ail:ınef gave sucılı an excitament to ümer tihaıl: he started to shout unexpectedı1y and sa:iıd :

He is Mınaf, · nic-mimed «THE MAS'FER OF TıHE PEOPLE OF ·THE EAST» (10). .

But it is .understbod that the pleasure and enjoyrnent of the Caliph was not continued so long particularly wıhen this temporacy .

(8) Show, J. S., Histoı:ıy of Uhe Ottoman Einİpire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge, 1976, p. 2.

, (9) See my work on The Social and Economic variations of the Arabic.

122

Conquest in cantral.Asia, 2 zoth anniversaı:ıy publioation of Uhe Ata. :tur:ks University, Erzurum, 1977, s. 210.

exdtei:nents passed aınd left its !Place the realisıtic juıdgm.ent of tili.e common sense. It seems iJlıeıt even he was deeplıy w:oorried 'ıibou:t the lighteninıg victoııious in the nortlıern persia and -ı:he fı.ıture prox-.iımity of 1ftıe Turks. He did not hide his griev.ances and openly told ·

. his companiıons that;

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.Nowwe will tray to.stu:d(y tıhe cxifu:er interesıtilinrg side of tis n:aa:-- · raı1ii~:m whiöh is recoroed by at-Tıalbari. There is no dıouıht that the abve mention~d Jetter of Omar remainding uıs, .ttb.e attitqeds of Holy Prophet agamst the Turks if we take ilin to_.considerartions of

· his sayings :in t.ıhe autıhantic Hadiiib: collecti:ons. ·

Most pro;baıbly Caliph ümer wrıote sudh an interesting letter. following the principle foreign. policy founıfted by rthe Holy Prophet dur.tng his life time as. conduct tö be· fulltowed towaııcls the Turks which was princiipally based on 1ıhe «non violation» and «non provo-

, cation» of tihe Tttrks. (13) As:i:de from a nuinber of his tradd.itions, in one ·of tihem tihe Prop!het of Islam a:s iıt is reoorded by Sunan of . AbU:-Dawud (.one of .1ili.e six aut

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The ·superior · duality of the Turks.>> · İndicating :the implementation of rl:ıis policy by the prominent AraJb leaıde:ts iri thejr earl~ struggle_ · aıgainst the Turks. Morever later AraıhiC -developmenıts- and rela-. tions inev.irtahly cliverted from t!his or:ginal concept particularly while they were conquering Central Asia during tıhe Umayyad period~ Qufayba b. Musılim. Yazidı b. Muhallab a!Ild many otıher Umayyed govemors .in Khomsan d:i!d noıt .d:iscri,minate 1ihe Turks from. aiıy

· other nations ( 15). . . As Al-J ah:ıZ tel1s us for instıance dur.mg his struggle wirtih tiJ:ıe

Tul1ks Yazı:d b. Qatada o:ifce recalled tıhe Ara;b sold:iers what Omar had warned that «the Tur.ks were a fierce enemy>> and he preven~ ted the Ara!bs from attack.IDg tıhe Turks (16). In anotıher narratian Al-Jahizstating, tıh.at, w'hile H?UIIZa b. Adrak was.gpvemor in aplace in Kıhurasan a Turkisil:ı cavalry troop atfaoked· then:i: un expectedly. Hamza b. Adrak bemg stronger i:ıhan tlhese Turks prohihited his sol-

. ~ers f:rıom .fightiın:g against them and said tihat;

«Dont starit f.ightlıııg if They are nıot intend:iıjııg to fiıglıt y.oıu, ibecaus'e 1t has saiıd in the trad:ition that «İeave tıh.em al one as long as tıhey lea've you a lO'ne» ( 17).

We will see towards tıhe end of .tıh.is article tıh.aıt A:bnef h. Qays «The master of the East» tthe ci:mquerer of riortıhem Ir1an, and the brilliant cominander of· Caliph Omer· followed the same non violation «and non provocatiıon» policy towards the Turks when the Turkish Kinıg KHAKAN ·sudıdenly appeared . at Marw.

(15) KITAPCI, Zakaria, Ib1d, p. 61-73. Forexaımpie, wıhen Yazi!d b. Muhal-lab the Goverİıor of Khurasan after Qutayba b. Muslim co~quered JURJAN, according the narr.ation of at-Taıbari he kelled 40,000

Turks after Plunderinıg city. , ı \.tl 1 w , .. A .. !J \ ~ }: ~-ı...J':! -LJ 1 G 1 at-Ta!bari; VII, p 129 ..

(16) al-Jahiz, Ibd, I, p. ss: (17) al-Jahii, Ibd, I, p. 58.

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It is vecy in~ereSıoog rto noıte iJhaıt; Al-Ja!hız a great Arabic Ji. teray soholar, ~nd adınirer of 1.1he Turiksh ptowess as soldiers _ had been attacked by the fanatical Amb leaders during time of Al-Mustasım (822 - 842) tılıe founder of permanent Turlcis!l:ı royal army in Baghdad la ter in Samarra, 'l.vlhile he was · defenıdinig

·1Jhe superior.iıty of the Turlcis!h military spirit ma comparative Way with otıher groups who belonıg to a d:iıfiferent nations in ·tıhe Ca1ip-Jiate aiırr:ı.Y (x) he argued \Y'İrtıh them and recalled tıhe same tni:ddtion. and said that :

«'Dhe Tradiıtion ıof Holy Prophet, is an advice to afı rtıhe Arabs. The riıght dedsi~n for us to live w.iıt!h 1Jhem in a peaceful way and abo1is!h tılıe fi.ghting. W:b:at are you. thin'kfurug aib:out a nation thart · ~ven .Mexanıder rtıhe . ·Great (iDh'l~Qarnayri) aifter' ıdefeating 1Jhe wihole wÖrld merdlessly in a f.ierce way, (illet the· Truks) and not atteched tıhem and said '«1leaıve them alone» and callinıg tılıem «TURK» (18).

Let us return 'back and ·continue to anaiyse rl:ihe narratian -of · At-Taıbarl relating to tılıe iırnpo:rıtant: Iet:ter of Omar to his comrnaıi

der Aıbnaıf.

Moreo:vıer some 1mpor;tant events ocC"..ıred la ter on whlclı clearly demenstrate;sus ihow was Caliph Omar iıs ıgreat and was a fior sighteıd ınan in the affairs of state when)ıe wrnte iihis u)jgerıt letter to Mınarf and prevenrted him from launohmg his new ci.nvasion into Turkislh lan!ds. '

(*) For funther information about the Tuı,ıkıs in the Caliphate Ariny see, · Kitapcı, Z. at-Turk. p. 96-132. Also my article «The in the Muslım Courıtries, Prof. Tayyib Okic Armağanı, Ankara, 1977, p. 195

(18) al-Jahiz Ibid, p. 58. This is the texıt of his impresive speach.

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Infact it may be recaHed that followi:nıg .his. final defeat aıt Niilı

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at 1:1heir parmament mi1itary base at Marwe. Observinıg thıeir panlc ·and retreat from Bclkıh, Klıakan cont.inued- his advance to-wards Marw. Meanwhile many 1ocal Persians Joined the Khiakan's arm:y from Balkıh ;md tıhe otfuer neilllJbourinıg oi:ties (22). The number of his ,solctiers were .not mentioneel b~ our histıorian at-Ta!bari,· bUJI:.· there is no ·douıbt ıt!hat if we compare . t!he Aral bs he was . having a huge army when he aıppeared ·sudde~ art ~arWj.

Bell's darııger ıaıgaıin starteel to 1ıo ring for the Arabs, because the wıar b~canie inevitaıble. between 1ihe he:iioic people of can:traJ Asia and the Arabs. But ;if 1ıhe Araıbs wıho already have ıbeen deporteel fmm tıheir homelands and deprived already ıfrom ·t!he local people support, were defeateıd ibiy rtıhe Turks woulıd have evacuate 1ihe who-le of Persia. H tiheir resistaınce was broke:ri by the the ~ted Turca·

· Iranian forces 1t would be impossiihre to stop the Araıbs froni retre-atmen to Arabia anrd_1ihis would a:bsoluteıly leaıd tıo t!he collaıp.se and disintegration of the castern part of tfue muslim emp.ir1e.

In t!his rapidly deteriora:Üng s~tuation, it became clear rtıhat whatever decision and actio:nıs taken by t!he Ahnaf vould have a great bcaring on the future destin:y of }'J:::ı;bs. Possibly for the first time in their history of conflict, tıhe Tuıtks and Perısia:ns now came toge1iher anıd and ·united t!heir ams aıgainst · t!he new enemy the r Arahs, whether they ~11 exp.el the Araıbs ıfrom Iran ,to the Ara7· bian deserts or Turkish ·king KHAKAN will chanıg his'ıninci with a sudiden deoision and leave Yezducard ILI, alone in the battle field wi1ih his destiny and take his army back to inner side of Turkestan. Turkish king Khakan would ohoose 1frıe second option. He- wouıld leave siege and disseppiers .from Marw very soon. .

On the. other hand, .Aılmaf b. Qays commanıder of rlıe muslim Araıbs acted prodently

. . -~ aınd to excirte their. religious senıtemen'ts as it was done by many

great coniı:İııanders before join:i:ng in war in History According to our source at-Tabari he sa:id tıhat :

«You are ısmail . in number anıd your · enemy -is greart» This :Eaot mllst not worry you, beoause «it had happened .so many times that a small army defeated · a large one by the help of Allah and Allah is with those

whp steadfastly preservere (23). Now you go from this place to the monntıa:in leaving it to cover your backs and Jet the rıi:ver be bertween y.ou and your enemy so as you tan fight tıhem whlle they are faclııg you» (24).

Meanıwhile il:ıe started ıto use his prıopa:ganda maabirres effecti-vely to rtihe effect that he does not want a war ıwiıtıh the Turkıs unless if it became inevitaıble, pod.nrtin:g oiıt that Caliph Omer had instruc-

- ted tıhem not to cross Oxus river towıard the Turkish lanıds. Art: the beginniırıg Kıhakan tlhe · · great commaınder did nıot believed it w.as not but a rumouns or a kıind . of trıick created by the Axabs to decieve or to passtfy the determinations of his soldiers. But when after several days iJhe Arabs made no move to attack inspd.te of- several challanges made by the Turks, the Tuiikis\h ·king intended to give eredence rto .1Jbis ptapaganda. However for Ahnaf,

. this .difficult and uncertain s.ituaıtiqn would nıo.t continue for ·long.

Wihile Ahnaf ·pondering over the so many proıblems and questi!ons :iın the ıbattle fitel :liortune once mo.re sm.iled on birn, at this · time more tıhan he ever ex:pected. F11om lııside Turkestan came the news of importanıt ·developmenııs inıvıo1vinıg Chines pn;>Vocations and clistı.:I!r.bances -among the Local triıbal dhlefs against the Khakan and his administration. experiences have tought the Turks that the Cbinese were more danıgerous than the present Arabs.

Cı;ısequently the ·Turkish king hel d ıan eımergency meeting wl.th his top military officers. After a realistic appraisal of the situation, ıhe said that;

(23) Quoted from the Holy Quran, s. II. 250.

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«Our st-ay has proionıged and those people (the Ara:bs) have occupried a strategic position wıhiclı_no other army has occupried before. So I believe tlıart no ibenef.it Will come out of fighting 1ıhem and therefore we . have to leave» (25).

He·dedıded to lea:ve the baıttıle.field wiıth out annor:i cing on a sui• table nigıht, and ıgo haok tıo Turkıestan to repel .the Ohineses aıttaok. · Muoh to tihe SUI'prise of the Arabs, that 1ıhey woke up one mo:ITıing and find the whole baıttle field deserted. Khakan had -deported from Marws to the direction of Ballclı. When .rlı.e news of this withcka-wal reacıh Alhnaf, his jur:ıiior aomma:nderıs were for perısuin.g tıhe Kha-kan to crush his arımy once and for all in a quıick action. However Mmaıf has a ·different view, he wisely said;

«You stay in· your rp ro per place, let them ıgo» (26). 'I1he date of :t:llris hlstorkal. event as recorded by at-Ta:baı:l

whioh may be accepted as :the puming point of tıhe Turkish hisıtory is 22A.H./622.

Indeed tıhe he:rıaic nıation of Ca:nıtral Asia tıhe Turks and the bra-ve sons of Arabian desert the Mabs met and ohallange eaoh other for tıhe first tİ!Ille in ,tJlıeir lonıg mstOry aııounıd the vailileıy of Oxus rıiver. This was the beginning of the political social and religiGus interaction ıbetween the Turks and the Aralbs_ which has ohanged tıhe currents of the whole history of the old world. ·

· (25) at.Tabari, IV, 265.

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«TABERİ'YE GÖRE· CEYHUN NEHRi HAVZASINDA İLK TÜRK ARAB· KARŞlLAŞMASI» .

(Türkçe Özet)

Assot. Prof. Zekeria KİTAPCI

Cahiliye devrine aid bir kaç şiir ve bazi hadisler müstesna, İslfu:rıiyetten önceıki Türk-Arıarp münaıselbetlerinin siyasi ve

sosyal yÖrıü "genel tarihin karanlık saıy;faları ara:smdıadır. Fakaıt · bü-yüJr tarihçi TABERI'nin Ceyhun hawasında tarihi ilk Tfuık-Arap karşılaşması hakkında oLdukça geniş ve i1gi ·çekici rivayetleri var-dır.

Hz. Ömer:iıı hilafeti zamanın4a genıişleyen fetih harekeıtleri sayesinde doğuda asırlık Sasani devletini yıkıan Araplar, Imnlılarla Türkler arasında ilk çağlardan beri t·aibii 1bir sınır oJarak kabul edilen Ceyhlin Nehrdne kadar dayanı:nış1ardı. Doğuda parlak za-ferler kazanan Ahnef b. Qays durumu Hz. ömer'e bildirımiş bunun- · la bir nevi doğu harekatma devam etmek istemiştir. Fakat 'basi-retli bir devlet adamı olan Hz. Ömer «keşke aramızda aıteşten bir deniz olsaydı» diyerek Aıbnef'in ileri harekatma katiyyen müsade etmeımiştir. ·

Hz. Ömer'in bu teenni ile hareket. e1ımesinin seıbebi Hz. Pey-gamber'in Türk~Arap siyasi münasebetlerinin esasını ortaya ko-ya:n bir •kısım hadisleri açİ,smdan araştmmaımızda değer-lendirilmiştir.

Ddğer taraıfııan taç ve taıhtım kaybeden YEDÜCERD, . Türk Hakanına sığınnnş, Türk Hakanını t.a:I:ırik ederek Ceyıhun hav-zasından İ(fc:ına girmesini ve Araplara karşı ·vaziyet a1maısmı sağlamıştır. Büyük bir. o:rıdu He Belh'e gelen Türk Hakani .A:raplann

Bl

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burasını boşalttığını ve Merv'e çeki1dıiıklerini gör.ınüştüT. Hakan ilerlemesine devam etmiş, bera!berinde Y ezdücerd de olduğu hal-de ArapLarın asıJ. askeri karargaJll olan Merv'e gelerek Ahnef'in oııdusunu kuşatrmştır. ·

. Ahı:ıef gerçekte çok :zıor güiıler yaşaırnıştw. Zira gerek insan gücü gerekşe sosyal çevre Arapların tamarrnen aleyılıinde idi. Bir çözülme olduğu takidirde Arapların !bütün iranı boşaltımalan ge- . rekecektk Bu ise İ~Slfun imparaıtorh.lğunun doğuda çökımes.i idi. Çok ince hir politika ·ve kaderin beklenmedik yardrmı -ile Ahnef bu büyük Türk telıılikesini kolaylıkla hertaraf etmesini başarmuş aynı zamandıa daha so~aki Arap fetihlerinede çok sağlaıma bir zemin hazırl:amlşrtır.

Bütün bu olaylar Tıaıberinin çok kıymetli rivayetlerinin ışığı altında araştırmamızda değerlendirilmek isternni'ştir.

Z. K.

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