Abbasid victory eliminated Isma'ili power in northern Syria and opened the way for the reintegration of Tulunid Egypt and Syria into the caliphate.
Key Facts
- Date
- 29 November 903
- Distance from Hama
- 24 km (15 mi)
- Victor
- Abbasid Caliphate
- Isma'ili outcome
- Leadership captured and executed
- Follow-on event
- Suppression of Iraq revolt, 906
- Strategic consequence
- Tulunid domains reincorporated into Abbasid Caliphate
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Pro-Isma'ili Bedouin groups, referred to variously as Fatimids or Qarmatians, had established a significant presence in northern Syria, posing a sectarian and military challenge to Abbasid authority in the region during the late ninth and early tenth centuries.
On 29 November 903, Abbasid forces engaged the Isma'ili Bedouin approximately 24 km from the city of Hama in Syria. The battle ended in a decisive Abbasid victory, with the Isma'ili leadership captured and subsequently executed, ending organized Isma'ili military resistance in northern Syria.
The defeat removed the Isma'ili presence from northern Syria and was followed by the suppression of a further revolt in Iraq in 906. More broadly, it cleared the path for the Abbasid campaign against the semi-autonomous Tulunid dynasty, leading to the reincorporation of southern Syria and Egypt under direct Abbasid rule.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent