triplets
sequence
passage
stringlengths
0
32.9k
label
stringlengths
4
48
label_id
int64
0
1k
synonyms
sequence
__index_level_1__
int64
312
64.1k
__index_level_0__
int64
0
2.4k
[ "First Council of Constantinople", "participant", "Maruthas" ]
null
null
null
null
16
[ "First Council of Constantinople", "participant", "Peter of Sebaste" ]
null
null
null
null
17
[ "Bar Kokhba revolt", "topic's main category", "Category:Bar Kokhba revolt" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Roman–Parthian War of 161–166", "participant", "Ancient Rome" ]
The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 (also called the Parthian War of Lucius Verus) was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopotamia and Media and sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Roman–Parthian War of 161–166", "participant", "Parthian Empire" ]
The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 (also called the Parthian War of Lucius Verus) was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopotamia and Media and sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital.Origins to Lucius' dispatch, 161–162 On his deathbed in the spring of 161, Emperor Antoninus Pius had spoken of nothing but the state and the foreign kings who had wronged him. One of those kings, Vologases IV of Parthia, made his move in late summer or early autumn 161. Vologases entered the Kingdom of Armenia (then a Roman client state), expelled its king and installed his own—Pacorus, an Arsacid like himself. At the time of the invasion, the governor of Syria was Lucius Attidius Cornelianus. Attidius had been retained as governor even though his term had ended in 161, presumably to avoid giving the Parthians the chance to wrong-foot his replacement. The governor of Cappadocia, the front-line in all Armenian conflicts, was Marcus Sedatius Severianus, a Gaul with much experience in military matters. But living in the east had a deleterious effect on his character.Alexander of Abonutichus, a prophet who carried a snake named Glycon around with him, had enraptured Severianus, as he had many others. Father-in-law to the respected senator Publius Mummius Sisenna Rutilianus, then-proconsul of Asia, Abonutichus was friends with many members of the east Roman elite. Alexander convinced Severianus that he could defeat the Parthians easily, and win glory for himself. Severianus led a legion (perhaps the IX Hispana) into Armenia, but was trapped by the great Parthian general Chosrhoes at Elegeia, a town just beyond the Cappadocian frontiers, past the headwaters of the Euphrates. Severianus made some attempt to fight Chosrhoes, but soon realized the futility of his campaign, and committed suicide. His legion was massacred. The campaign had only lasted three days. There was threat of war on other frontiers as well—in Britain, and in Raetia and Upper Germany, where the Chatti of the Taunus mountains had recently crossed over the limes. Marcus Aurelius, who had become emperor on Pius' death on 7 March 161, was unprepared. Pius seems to have given him no military experience; the biographer writes that Marcus spent the whole of Pius' twenty-three-year reign at the emperor's side—and not in the provinces, where most previous emperors had spent their early careers. Marcus made the necessary appointments: Marcus Statius Priscus, the governor of Britain, was sent to replace Severianus as governor of Cappadocia, and was in turn replaced by Sextus Calpurnius Agricola.More bad news arrived: Attidius Cornelianus' army had been defeated in battle against the Parthians, and retreated in disarray. Reinforcements were dispatched for the Parthian frontier. Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus, an African senator commanding X Gemina at Vindobona (Vienna), left for Cappadocia with vexillations from the Danubian legions. Three full legions were also sent east: I Minervia from Bonn in Upper Germany, II Adiutrix from Aquincum, and V Macedonica from Troesmis. The northern frontiers were strategically weakened; frontier governors were told to avoid conflict wherever possible. Attidius Cornelianus himself was replaced by M. Annius Libo, Marcus' first cousin. He was young—his first consulship was in 161, so he was probably in his early thirties—and, as a mere patrician, lacked military experience. Marcus had chosen a reliable man rather than a talented one.Marcus took a four-day public holiday at Alsium, a resort town on the Etrurian coast. He was too anxious to relax. Writing to his former tutor Marcus Cornelius Fronto, he declared that he would not speak about his holiday. Fronto replied ironically: "What? Do I not know that you went to Alsium with the intention of devoting yourself to games, joking and complete leisure for four whole days?" He encouraged Marcus to rest, calling on the example of his predecessors (Pius had enjoyed exercise in the palaestra, fishing, and comedy), going so far as to write up a fable about the gods' division of the day between morning and evening—Marcus had apparently been spending most of his evenings on judicial matters instead of leisure. Marcus could not take Fronto's advice. "I have duties hanging over me that can hardly be begged off," he wrote back. Marcus put on Fronto's voice to chastise himself: "'Much good has my advice done you', you will say!" He had rested, and would rest often, but "—this devotion to duty! Who knows better than you how demanding it is!"Fronto sent Marcus a selection of reading material, including Cicero's pro lege Manilia, in which the orator had argued in favor of Pompey taking supreme command in the Mithridatic War. It was an apt reference (Pompey's war had taken him to Armenia), and may have had some impact on the decision to send Lucius to the eastern front. "You will find in it many chapters aptly suited to your present counsels, concerning the choice of army commanders, the interests of allies, the protection of provinces, the discipline of the soldiers, the qualifications required for commanders in the field and elsewhere [...]" To settle his unease over the course of the Parthian war, Fronto wrote Marcus a long and considered letter, full of historical references. In modern editions of Fronto's works, it is labeled De bello Parthico (On the Parthian War). There had been reverses in Rome's past, Fronto writes, at Allia, at Caudium, at Cannae, at Numantia, Cirta, and Carrhae; under Trajan, Hadrian, and Pius; but, in the end, Romans had always prevailed over their enemies: "always and everywhere [Mars] has changed our troubles into successes and our terrors into triumphs".
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Anastasian War", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
The Anastasian War was fought from 502 to 506 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the first major conflict between the two powers since 440, and would be the prelude to a long series of destructive conflicts between the two empires over the next century.Prelude Several factors underlay the termination of the longest period of peace the Eastern Roman and the Sassanid Empire ever enjoyed. The Persian king Kavad I needed money to pay his debts to the Hephthalites who had helped him regain his throne in 498/499. The situation was exacerbated by recent changes in the flow of the Tigris in Lower Mesopotamia, sparking famines and flood. When the Roman emperor Anastasius I refused to provide any help, Kavad tried to gain the money by force.Anastasius' campaign of 503 and Kavad's counterattack The Byzantine emperor Anastasius I dispatched an army in May 503 against the Sasanians. The army numbered 52,000 men, the largest Roman force in the East since Julian's invasion of Persia, and the largest assembled Roman army throughout the 6th century. The force gathered at Edessa and Samosata. It operated in three divisions under magister militum per Orientem Areobindus, strategos Patricius, and Hypatius. Hypatius and Patricius attacked Amida, which was held by a 3,000-strong garrison under Glones. Areobindus, together with Romanus and the Arab phylarch Asouades (Aswad) (probably a Kinda leader) attacked Nisibis, in which Kavad was residing. Procopius also mentions Celer as a fourth commander. Notable officers associated with this force include "hyparch" Apion I (the Egyptian), comes Justin (the future emperor), Patriciolus and his son Vitalian (who later revolted against Anastasius), the Colchian Pharesmanes, and the Goths Godidisklus and Bessas.Initially, Areobindus gained the upper hand in Nisibis, but Kavad's counterattack defeated him, plundered his fort Apadna, and forced him to retreat westward; Hypatius and Patricius attempted to assist him, but it was too late. They failed to join with Areobindus and were decisively defeated between Apadna and Tell Beshme and retreated to Samosata. According to Zacharias, their cavalry suffered heavily during the retreat, falling from the cliffs of mountains. Kavad continued westward to Constantia but failed to capture it, though he received supplies from its inhabitants. In early September, Kavad reached near Edessa. Areobindus rejected Kavad's demand of 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) of gold in exchange for peace. Sasanians and Lakhmids overran much of Osrhoene but attempts to attack the fortified city failed. Meanwhile, Byzantine forces under Pharesmanes attacked Amida, who killed the Sasanian commander Glones through cunning. This, together with Hunnic incursions, the arrival of Byzantine reinforcements, and Kavad's lack of supplies, all forced him to withdraw to Persia. This further contributed to the reputation of Edessa as being impregnable. Meanwhile, the dux of Osrhoene, Timostratus, defeated the Lakhmids, and the Tha'labites (Byzantine Arabs) attacked Lakhmid capital al-Hira.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Anastasian War", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
The Anastasian War was fought from 502 to 506 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the first major conflict between the two powers since 440, and would be the prelude to a long series of destructive conflicts between the two empires over the next century.Prelude Several factors underlay the termination of the longest period of peace the Eastern Roman and the Sassanid Empire ever enjoyed. The Persian king Kavad I needed money to pay his debts to the Hephthalites who had helped him regain his throne in 498/499. The situation was exacerbated by recent changes in the flow of the Tigris in Lower Mesopotamia, sparking famines and flood. When the Roman emperor Anastasius I refused to provide any help, Kavad tried to gain the money by force.
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Anastasian War", "participant", "Lakhmids" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Gothic War (248–253)", "participant", "Ancient Rome" ]
The Gothic War took place between the years 248 and 249, as well as in the year 253. Within this war, a series of battles occurred and plundering was carried out by the Goths and their allies in the eastern territory of the Roman Empire, specifically in the Balkans. With the cessation of the payment of tribute previously made by the Roman emperor Philip the Arab (r.  244–249) to the tribes beyond the Danube, the Goths and their allies, led by King Ostrogotha and his subcommanders Argedo and Gundericus, moved towards the Roman border and began a series of attacks, including against the fortified city of Marcianopolis (today Devnya) in Thracia. After these actions, the Goths withdrew with their spoils of war. In 250, the invasions continued, the Carpiani attacked Dacia, while the Gothic King Cniva commanding various groups of Goths and other allied peoples, defeated the Romans in two major battles, in one of these he killed the Roman emperor Decius (r.  249–251) and his co-emperor Herennius Etruscus (r.  251). The imperial successor Trebonianus Gallus (r.  251–253) pledged to pay an annual tribute if the invaders left, however, he did not keep his promise, which provoked new attacks in 253, although the governor and future emperor Aemilianus (r.  253) managed to stop these raids.
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Gothic War (248–253)", "topic's main category", "Category:Gothic War (248–253)" ]
The Gothic War took place between the years 248 and 249, as well as in the year 253. Within this war, a series of battles occurred and plundering was carried out by the Goths and their allies in the eastern territory of the Roman Empire, specifically in the Balkans. With the cessation of the payment of tribute previously made by the Roman emperor Philip the Arab (r.  244–249) to the tribes beyond the Danube, the Goths and their allies, led by King Ostrogotha and his subcommanders Argedo and Gundericus, moved towards the Roman border and began a series of attacks, including against the fortified city of Marcianopolis (today Devnya) in Thracia. After these actions, the Goths withdrew with their spoils of war. In 250, the invasions continued, the Carpiani attacked Dacia, while the Gothic King Cniva commanding various groups of Goths and other allied peoples, defeated the Romans in two major battles, in one of these he killed the Roman emperor Decius (r.  249–251) and his co-emperor Herennius Etruscus (r.  251). The imperial successor Trebonianus Gallus (r.  251–253) pledged to pay an annual tribute if the invaders left, however, he did not keep his promise, which provoked new attacks in 253, although the governor and future emperor Aemilianus (r.  253) managed to stop these raids.
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Yayoi period", "follows", "Jōmon period" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Yayoi period", "followed by", "Kofun period" ]
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Yayoi period", "followed by", "Yamato period" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Yayoi period", "topic's main category", "Category:Yayoi period" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Kofun period", "topic's main category", "Category:Kofun period" ]
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Kofun period", "follows", "Yayoi period" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Kofun period", "followed by", "Asuka period" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Clerical script", "topic's main category", "Category:Clerical script" ]
null
null
null
null
0
[ "Clerical script", "based on", "seal script" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 was a war fought between the Sasanian Empire of Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire, termed by modern historians as the Byzantine Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events also contributed to its outbreak. The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern Anatolia, Syria, and northern Iran. It was part of an intense sequence of wars between these two empires which occupied the majority of the 6th and early 7th centuries. It was also the last of the many wars between them to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces and neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone. It preceded a much more wide-ranging and dramatic final conflict in the early 7th century.
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 was a war fought between the Sasanian Empire of Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire, termed by modern historians as the Byzantine Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events also contributed to its outbreak. The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern Anatolia, Syria, and northern Iran. It was part of an intense sequence of wars between these two empires which occupied the majority of the 6th and early 7th centuries. It was also the last of the many wars between them to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces and neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone. It preceded a much more wide-ranging and dramatic final conflict in the early 7th century.
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591", "participant", "Ghassanids" ]
Fall of Dara In Mesopotamia, however, the war began disastrously for the Byzantines. After a victory at Sargathon in 573, they laid siege to Nisibis and were apparently on the point of capturing this, the chief bulwark of the Persian frontier defences, when the abrupt dismissal of their general Marcian led to a disorderly retreat. Taking advantage of Byzantine confusion, Sassanid forces under Khosrow I (r. 531–579) swiftly counter-attacked and encircled Dara, capturing the city after a four-month siege. At the same time, a smaller Persian army under Adarmahan ravaged Syria, sacking Apamea and a number of other cities. They were only pushed away from Syria proper by a bumbling Byzantine defence near Antioch. To make matters worse, in 572 the Byzantine emperor Justin II (r. 565-578) had ordered the assassination of the Ghassanid king al-Mundhir III; as a result of the unsuccessful attempt on his life, al-Mundhir severed his alliance with the Byzantines, leaving their desert frontier exposed.The fall of Dara, the main Byzantine stronghold in Mesopotamia, reportedly drove Justin II to insanity, and control of the Byzantine Empire passed to his wife Sophia and Tiberius Constantine. The new regents agreed to pay 45,000 nomismata for a one-year truce, and later in the year extended this to five years, secured by an annual payment of 30,000 nomismata. However, these truces applied only to the Mesopotamian front; in the Caucasus, the war continued.
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591", "participant", "Lakhmids" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Second Council of Constantinople", "follows", "Council of Chalcedon" ]
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Second Council of Constantinople", "followed by", "Third Council of Constantinople" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Second Council of Constantinople", "different from", "Council of Constantinople" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Moche culture", "topic's main category", "Category:Moche culture" ]
null
null
null
null
9
[ "7th century", "followed by", "8th century" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "7th century", "follows", "6th century" ]
null
null
null
null
10
[ "7th century", "topic's main category", "Category:7th century" ]
null
null
null
null
13
[ "Vandalic War", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
The Vandalic War was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage in 533–534. It was the first of Justinian I's wars of the reconquest of the Western Roman Empire. The Vandals occupied Roman North Africa in the early 5th century and established an independent kingdom there. Under their king, Geiseric, the Vandal navy carried out pirate attacks across the Mediterranean, sacked Rome in 455, and defeated a Roman invasion in 468. After Geiseric's death in 477, relations with the Eastern Roman Empire were normalized, although tensions flared up occasionally due to the Vandals' adherence to Arianism and their persecution of the Nicene native population. In 530, a palace coup in Carthage overthrew the pro-Roman Hilderic and replaced him with his cousin Gelimer. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian took this as a pretext to intervene in Vandal affairs, and after securing the eastern frontier with Sassanid Persia in 532 he began preparing an expedition under general Belisarius, whose secretary Procopius wrote the main historical narrative of the war. Justinian took advantage of rebellions in the remote Vandal provinces of Sardinia and Tripolitania. These not only distracted Gelimer from Justinian's preparations but significantly weakened Vandal defenses through the dispatch of the bulk of the Vandal navy and army under Gelimer's brother Tzazon to Sardinia. The Roman expeditionary force set sail from Constantinople in late June 533, and after a sea voyage along the coasts of Greece and southern Italy, landed on the African coast at Caputvada in early September, catching Gelimer completely by surprise. The Vandal king hastily gathered his forces and met the Roman army at the Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage, on 13 September. Gelimer's elaborate plan to encircle and destroy the Roman army came close to success, but Belisarius was able to drive the Vandal army to flight and occupy Carthage. Gelimer withdrew to Bulla Regia, where he gathered his remaining strength, including the army of Tzazon, which returned from Sardinia. In December, Gelimer advanced towards Carthage and met the Romans at the Battle of Tricamarum. The battle resulted in a Roman victory and the death of Tzazon. Gelimer fled to a remote mountain fortress, where he was blockaded until he surrendered in the spring. Belisarius returned to Constantinople with the Vandals' royal treasury and the captive Gelimer to enjoy a triumph, while Africa was formally restored to the imperial rule as the praetorian prefecture of Africa. Imperial control scarcely reached beyond the old Vandal kingdom, however, and the Mauri tribes of the interior, unwilling to accept Roman rule, soon rose up in rebellion. The new province was shaken by the wars with the Mauri and military rebellions, and it was not until 548 that peace was restored and the Roman government firmly established.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Vandalic War", "topic's main category", "Category:Vandalic War" ]
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Vandalic War", "participant", "Belisarius" ]
Opposing forces Justinian selected one of his most trusted and talented generals, Belisarius, who had recently distinguished himself against the Persians and in the suppression of the Nika riots, to lead the expedition. As Ian Hughes points out, Belisarius was also eminently suited for this appointment for two other reasons: he was a native Latin-speaker, and was solicitous of the welfare of the local population, keeping a tight leash on his troops. Both these qualities would be crucial in winning support from the Latin-speaking African population. Belisarius was accompanied by his wife, Antonina, and by Procopius, his secretary, who wrote the history of the war.According to Procopius (The Vandalic War, I.11), the army consisted of 10,000 infantry, partly drawn from the field army (comitatenses) and partly from among the foederati, as well as 5,000 cavalry. There were also some 1,500–2,000 of Belisarius' own retainers (bucellarii), an elite corps (it is unclear if their number is included in the 5,000 cavalry mentioned as a total figure by Procopius). In addition, there were two additional bodies of allied troops, both mounted archers, 600 Huns and 400 Heruls. The army was led by an array of experienced officers. The eunuch Solomon was chosen as Belisarius' chief of staff (domesticus) and the former praetorian prefect Archelaus was placed in charge of the army's provisioning, while Rufinus the Thracian and Aïgan the Hun led the cavalry. The whole force was transported on 500 vessels manned by 30,000 sailors under admiral Calonymus of Alexandria, guarded by ninety-two dromon warships. The traditional view, as expressed by J.B. Bury, is that the expeditionary force was remarkably small for the task, especially given the military reputation of the Vandals, and that perhaps it reflects the limit of the fleet's carrying capacity, or perhaps it was an intentional move to limit the impact of any defeat. Ian Hughes however comments that even in comparison with the armies of the early Roman Empire, Belisarius' army was a "large, well-balanced force capable of overcoming the Vandals and may have contained a higher proportion of high quality, reliable troops than the armies stationed in the east".On the Vandal side, the picture is less clear. The Vandal army was not a professional and mostly volunteer force like the East Roman army, but comprised every able-bodied male of the Vandal people. Hence modern estimates on the available forces vary along with estimates on the total Vandal population, from a high of between 30,000–40,000 men out of a total Vandal population of at most 200,000 people (Diehl and Bury), to as few as 25,000 men—or even 20,000, if their losses against the Mauri are taken into account—for a population base of 100,000 (Hughes). Despite their martial reputation, the Vandals had grown less warlike over time, having come to lead a luxurious life amidst the riches of Africa. In addition, their mode of fighting was ill-suited to confronting Belisarius' veterans: the Vandal army was composed exclusively of cavalry, lightly armoured and armed only for hand-to-hand combat, to the point of neglecting entirely the use of bows or javelins, in stark contrast to Belisarius' heavily armoured cataphracts and horse archers. (The account of Procopius completely refutes this poorly chosen source.) The Vandals were also weakened by the hostility of their Roman subjects, the continued existence among the Vandals of a faction loyal to Hilderic, and by the ambivalent position of the Mauri tribes, who watched the oncoming conflict from the sidelines, ready to join the victor and seize the spoils.Aftermath Belisarius' triumph Belisarius would not remain long in Africa to consolidate his success, as a number of officers in his army, in hopes of their own advancement, sent messengers to Justinian claiming that Belisarius intended to establish his own kingdom in Africa. Justinian then gave his general two choices as a test of his intentions: he could return to Constantinople or remain in Africa. Belisarius, who had captured one of the messengers and was aware of the slanders against him, chose to return. He left Africa in the summer, accompanied by Gelimer, large numbers of captured Vandals—who were enrolled in five regiments of the Vandali Iustiniani ("Vandals of Justinian") by the emperor—and the Vandal treasure, which included many objects looted from Rome 80 years earlier, including the imperial regalia and the menorah of the Second Temple. In Constantinople, Belisarius was given the honour of celebrating a triumph—the first to be celebrated in Constantinople since its foundation and the first granted to a private citizen in over five and a half centuries—and described by Procopius:
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Vandalic War", "participant", "Gelimer" ]
The Vandalic War was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage in 533–534. It was the first of Justinian I's wars of the reconquest of the Western Roman Empire. The Vandals occupied Roman North Africa in the early 5th century and established an independent kingdom there. Under their king, Geiseric, the Vandal navy carried out pirate attacks across the Mediterranean, sacked Rome in 455, and defeated a Roman invasion in 468. After Geiseric's death in 477, relations with the Eastern Roman Empire were normalized, although tensions flared up occasionally due to the Vandals' adherence to Arianism and their persecution of the Nicene native population. In 530, a palace coup in Carthage overthrew the pro-Roman Hilderic and replaced him with his cousin Gelimer. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian took this as a pretext to intervene in Vandal affairs, and after securing the eastern frontier with Sassanid Persia in 532 he began preparing an expedition under general Belisarius, whose secretary Procopius wrote the main historical narrative of the war. Justinian took advantage of rebellions in the remote Vandal provinces of Sardinia and Tripolitania. These not only distracted Gelimer from Justinian's preparations but significantly weakened Vandal defenses through the dispatch of the bulk of the Vandal navy and army under Gelimer's brother Tzazon to Sardinia. The Roman expeditionary force set sail from Constantinople in late June 533, and after a sea voyage along the coasts of Greece and southern Italy, landed on the African coast at Caputvada in early September, catching Gelimer completely by surprise. The Vandal king hastily gathered his forces and met the Roman army at the Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage, on 13 September. Gelimer's elaborate plan to encircle and destroy the Roman army came close to success, but Belisarius was able to drive the Vandal army to flight and occupy Carthage. Gelimer withdrew to Bulla Regia, where he gathered his remaining strength, including the army of Tzazon, which returned from Sardinia. In December, Gelimer advanced towards Carthage and met the Romans at the Battle of Tricamarum. The battle resulted in a Roman victory and the death of Tzazon. Gelimer fled to a remote mountain fortress, where he was blockaded until he surrendered in the spring. Belisarius returned to Constantinople with the Vandals' royal treasury and the captive Gelimer to enjoy a triumph, while Africa was formally restored to the imperial rule as the praetorian prefecture of Africa. Imperial control scarcely reached beyond the old Vandal kingdom, however, and the Mauri tribes of the interior, unwilling to accept Roman rule, soon rose up in rebellion. The new province was shaken by the wars with the Mauri and military rebellions, and it was not until 548 that peace was restored and the Roman government firmly established.
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Vandalic War", "participant", "Vandal Kingdom" ]
The Vandalic War was a conflict fought in North Africa between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Vandalic Kingdom of Carthage in 533–534. It was the first of Justinian I's wars of the reconquest of the Western Roman Empire. The Vandals occupied Roman North Africa in the early 5th century and established an independent kingdom there. Under their king, Geiseric, the Vandal navy carried out pirate attacks across the Mediterranean, sacked Rome in 455, and defeated a Roman invasion in 468. After Geiseric's death in 477, relations with the Eastern Roman Empire were normalized, although tensions flared up occasionally due to the Vandals' adherence to Arianism and their persecution of the Nicene native population. In 530, a palace coup in Carthage overthrew the pro-Roman Hilderic and replaced him with his cousin Gelimer. The Eastern Roman emperor Justinian took this as a pretext to intervene in Vandal affairs, and after securing the eastern frontier with Sassanid Persia in 532 he began preparing an expedition under general Belisarius, whose secretary Procopius wrote the main historical narrative of the war. Justinian took advantage of rebellions in the remote Vandal provinces of Sardinia and Tripolitania. These not only distracted Gelimer from Justinian's preparations but significantly weakened Vandal defenses through the dispatch of the bulk of the Vandal navy and army under Gelimer's brother Tzazon to Sardinia. The Roman expeditionary force set sail from Constantinople in late June 533, and after a sea voyage along the coasts of Greece and southern Italy, landed on the African coast at Caputvada in early September, catching Gelimer completely by surprise. The Vandal king hastily gathered his forces and met the Roman army at the Battle of Ad Decimum, near Carthage, on 13 September. Gelimer's elaborate plan to encircle and destroy the Roman army came close to success, but Belisarius was able to drive the Vandal army to flight and occupy Carthage. Gelimer withdrew to Bulla Regia, where he gathered his remaining strength, including the army of Tzazon, which returned from Sardinia. In December, Gelimer advanced towards Carthage and met the Romans at the Battle of Tricamarum. The battle resulted in a Roman victory and the death of Tzazon. Gelimer fled to a remote mountain fortress, where he was blockaded until he surrendered in the spring. Belisarius returned to Constantinople with the Vandals' royal treasury and the captive Gelimer to enjoy a triumph, while Africa was formally restored to the imperial rule as the praetorian prefecture of Africa. Imperial control scarcely reached beyond the old Vandal kingdom, however, and the Mauri tribes of the interior, unwilling to accept Roman rule, soon rose up in rebellion. The new province was shaken by the wars with the Mauri and military rebellions, and it was not until 548 that peace was restored and the Roman government firmly established.
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade. The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "Perpetual Peace".
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Kingdom of Iberia" ]
The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade. The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "Perpetual Peace".
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Huns" ]
Origin After the Anastasian War, a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor Anastasius I had already started fortifying Dara as a counter to the Persian fortress city of Nisibis for a looming conflict. In 524–525, the Persian shah Kavadh I (r. 488–531) proposed that Emperor Justin I adopt his son, Khosrow I; the priority of the Persian king was to secure the succession of Khosrow, whose position was threatened by rival brothers and the Mazdakite sect. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Roman Emperor and his nephew, Justinian but Justin's quaestor, Proculus, opposed the move. Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that war on the main eastern frontier began. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through Arab allies in the south and Huns in the north.Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the Iberian king Gourgen to the Romans. According to Procopius, Kavadh I tried to force the Christian Iberians to become Zoroastrians, and in 523, under the leadership of Gourgen, they rose in revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of Lazica. Gourgen received pledges by Justin I that he would defend Iberia; the Romans then recruited Huns from the north of the Caucasus to assist the Iberians.
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
Origin After the Anastasian War, a seven-year truce was agreed on, yet it lasted for nearly twenty years. Even during the war in 505, Emperor Anastasius I had already started fortifying Dara as a counter to the Persian fortress city of Nisibis for a looming conflict. In 524–525, the Persian shah Kavadh I (r. 488–531) proposed that Emperor Justin I adopt his son, Khosrow I; the priority of the Persian king was to secure the succession of Khosrow, whose position was threatened by rival brothers and the Mazdakite sect. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Roman Emperor and his nephew, Justinian but Justin's quaestor, Proculus, opposed the move. Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that war on the main eastern frontier began. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through Arab allies in the south and Huns in the north.Tensions between the two powers were further heightened by the defection of the Iberian king Gourgen to the Romans. According to Procopius, Kavadh I tried to force the Christian Iberians to become Zoroastrians, and in 523, under the leadership of Gourgen, they rose in revolt against Persia, following the example of the neighboring Christian kingdom of Lazica. Gourgen received pledges by Justin I that he would defend Iberia; the Romans then recruited Huns from the north of the Caucasus to assist the Iberians.War Violence escalated at various points where the power of the two empires met: in 525 a Roman fleet transported an Aksumite army to conquer Himyarite Yemen and in 525–526, Persia's Arab allies, the Lakhmids, raided Roman territories on the edge of the desert. The Romans were interested in gaining influence in Yemen to protect Christian interests there (see Christian community of Najran) as well as to dominate the spice and silk trade routes to India which were under Persian control.By 526–527, overt fighting between the two empires had broken out in the Transcaucasus region and upper Mesopotamia; the Persians continued to exert pressure on the Romans to obtain funds from them. Following the emperor Justin I's death in 527, Justinian I acceded to the imperial throne. The early years of war favored the Persians, by 527 the Iberian revolt had been crushed, a Roman offensive against Nisibis and Thebetha in that year failed and forces attempting to fortify Thannuris and Melabasa were prevented from doing so by Persian attacks.In 528, the Persians pressed on from Iberia to capture forts in eastern Lazica. Attempting to remedy the deficiencies revealed by these Persian successes, Justinian reorganised the eastern armies by dividing the command of the magister militum of the East in two and appointing a separate magister militum of Armenia over the northern portion. The most important Roman initiative on the southern front in 528 was Belisarius's expeditions to Thannuris, where he tried to protect Roman workers undertaking the construction of a fort right on the frontier. His forces were defeated by Xerxes during the battle of Thannuris and he had to retreat to Dara.Damaging raids on Syria by the Lakhmids in 529 also encouraged Justinian to strengthen his own Arab allies, helping the Ghassanid leader Al-Harith ibn Jabalah turn a loose coalition into a coherent kingdom which was able to gain the upper hand against the Lakhmids over the following decades. In 530, Belisarius led the Romans to victory over a much larger Persian force under Perozes at the Battle of Dara, while Sittas and Dorotheus defeated a Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe at the Battle of Satala. In 531, Belisarius was defeated by Persian and Lakhmid forces at the Battle of Callinicum but during the summer, the Romans captured some forts in Armenia and repulsed a Persian offensive. The Roman failure at Callinicum was followed by a commission of inquiry, the result of which was the dismissal of Belisarius from his post. Azarethes, the Persians' commander at Callinicum, was also stripped of his ranks due to his failure to capture any significant fortification.
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Heruli" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Kingdom of Aksum" ]
null
null
null
null
9
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Belisarius" ]
null
null
null
null
10
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Sabir people" ]
null
null
null
null
11
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Sittas" ]
null
null
null
null
13
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Ghassanids" ]
The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade. The Sasanians maintained the upper hand until 530 but the Byzantines recovered their position in battles at Dara and Satala while their Ghassanid allies defeated the Sasanian-aligned Lakhmids. A Sasanian victory at Callinicum in 531 continued the war for another year until the empires signed the "Perpetual Peace".
null
null
null
null
14
[ "Iberian War", "participant", "Lakhmids" ]
null
null
null
null
15
[ "Aramaic alphabet", "has use", "Aramaic languages" ]
null
null
null
null
0
[ "Aramaic alphabet", "based on", "Phoenician alphabet" ]
Origins The earliest inscriptions in the Aramaic language use the Phoenician alphabet. Over time, the alphabet developed into the form shown below. Aramaic gradually became the lingua franca throughout the Middle East, with the script at first complementing and then displacing Assyrian cuneiform, as the predominant writing system.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Aramaic alphabet", "has use", "Imperial Aramaic" ]
null
null
null
null
26
[ "Aramaic alphabet", "topic's main category", "Category:Aramaic alphabet" ]
null
null
null
null
28
[ "Lazic War", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Lazic War", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
Background The Persian Sasanians recognized Lazica (Egrisi) as part of the Roman/Byzantine sphere of influence by the "Eternal Peace" Treaty of 532. By that time, in order to foster their influence over the local monarchy, the Byzantines had insisted on the conversion of the King, Tzath I: he received both baptism and royal attributes in Constantinople, from Emperor Justin I (Justinian's predecessor), in 522/3. Byzantine garrisons were stationed in Lazica and in neighboring Abasgia, mostly in the coastal cities of Poti, Sebastopolis and Pityus. The kingdom's capital, Archaeopolis, was fortified, as well as the southern access to the kingdom on the coastal road at Petra (present-day Tsikhisdziri, north of Batumi). In 536, however, the Byzantine presence turned into a full protectorate, as the king lost many powers to the new magister militum per Armeniam John Tzibus. When Tzibus curtailed the freedom of trade of Lazic tradesmen to advance Byzantine interests, the popular dissatisfaction led to a full-scale uprising in 541, and the weakened king, Gubazes II, secretly sought Persian assistance against the Byzantines.War Those calls were answered that year by the Persian king Khosrow I, who entered Lazica, captured the Byzantine main stronghold of Petra, and established another protectorate over the country. Khosrow I retreats to Persia a year later after an abortive invasion of Commagene. In 543, a Roman invasion of Armenia was defeated by a small Persian force at Anglon, and Khosrow I unsuccessfully besieges Edessa in Mesopotamia a year later. A peace treaty is signed in 545. In Lazica, Khosrow I's attempt to establish direct Persian control over the country and the missionary zeal of the Zoroastrian priests soon caused discontent in Christian Lazica and King Gubazes revolted in 548, this time against the Persians. Gubazes II requested aid from Emperor Justinian I and brought Alans and Sabirs to an alliance. Justinian sent 7,000 Roman and 1,000 Tzani (relatives of the Lazs) auxiliaries under Dagisthaeus to assist Gubazes, and besieged the Petra fortress, but faced tough resistance from its heavily outnumbered garrison. Persian reinforcements under Mihr-Mihroe defeated a small Byzantine force guarding the mountain passes and then relieved the besieged Petra. Lacking enough supplies, Mihr-Mihroe garrisoned 3,000 men in the fortress and marched to Armenia leaving 5,000 soldiers to supply Petra. This force was destroyed by Dagisthaeus at the Phasis river in 549. The next Persian offensive also proved to be unsuccessful with the commander Chorianes killed in a decisive battle at the river Hippis (now the Tskhenistskali). Nevertheless, the Persians manage to resupply Petra. The new Byzantine commander Bessas quelled a pro-Persian revolt of the Abasgi tribe, took and dismantled the fort of Petra after a lengthy siege and fierce fighting as Mihr-Mihroe didn't arrive in time. The latter unsuccessfully diverts his force against Archaeopolis in 551 as many of his men are lost due to a lack of supplies. However, the latter was unopposed elsewhere in the field and managed to capture Cotais and the Uthimereos fortress blocking the important roads to the highland regions of Scymnia and Souania, which were also captured by him later. In the summer of 555, he dislodged a superior Byzantine-Lazic force at Telephis and Ollaria by stratagem and forced them to retreat to Nesos. Nachoragan replaced Mihr-Mihroe as the latter died of illness shortly after. King Gubazes quarreled with Byzantine commanders Bessas, Martin, and Rusticus, complaining to emperor Justinian. Bessas was recalled, but Rusticus and his brother John eventually murdered Gubazes. To redress this with a victory on the battlefield, the Byzantine generals launched a full-scale assault at Onoguris, which was repulsed by a small force under Nachoragan who momentarily took and destroyed the main Byzantine base at Archaeopolis, which Mihr-Mihroe had twice tried and failed to take. These defeats and the murder of the Lazic king caused a bitter feud between the Lazic and Byzantine generals. The Lazi people got the Emperor to nominate Tzathes, the younger brother of Gubazes, as their new king, and Senator Athanasius investigated the assassination. Rusticus and John were arrested, tried, and executed. In 556, the allies retook Archaeopolis and routed Nachoragan in his abortive attack on Phasis. In the autumn and winter of the same year, the Byzantines suppressed a rebellion staged by the mountain tribe of the Misimians, and finally made peace.
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Lazic War", "participant", "Lazica" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Lazic War", "participant", "Sabir people" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
The Roman–Sasanian war of 421–422 was a conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians. The casus belli was the persecution of Christians by the Sassanid king Bahram V, which had come as a response to attacks by Christians against Zoroastrian temples; the Christian Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II declared war and obtained some victories, but in the end, the two powers agreed to sign a peace on the status quo ante.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
The Roman–Sasanian war of 421–422 was a conflict between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians. The casus belli was the persecution of Christians by the Sassanid king Bahram V, which had come as a response to attacks by Christians against Zoroastrian temples; the Christian Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II declared war and obtained some victories, but in the end, the two powers agreed to sign a peace on the status quo ante.
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422", "participant", "Lakhmids" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Aksumite–Persian wars", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
Context Around 520 CE, Kaleb of Aksum sent a military expedition to Yemen to fight against Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish ruler of the Himyarite Kingdom who had gained notoriety for his ongoing persecution of the Christian community in Najran. Following the successful Aksumite invasion, Nuwas was deposed and executed, and Kaleb appointed a Christian Himyarite native, Sumūyafa Ashwa, as his viceroy. However, around 525, Ashwa was deposed by the Aksumite general Abraha, who declared himself as the king of the new Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom. After Abraha's death, his son Masruq ibn Abraha continued the Aksumite vice-royalty in Yemen and resumed payment of tribute to the Kingdom of Aksum; he ended the joint Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom and annexed it to the Aksumite kingdom. Following these events, Masuq's half-brother Maʽd-Karib revolted against him. After being denied aid by Justin II of the Byzantine Empire, Maʽd-Karib sought help from Khosrow I of the Sasanian Persian Empire.Course of conflict In response to Maʽd-Karib's request, Khosrow I sent the Sasanian military general Wahrez and his son Nawzadh to Aksumite-ruled Yemen at the head of a small expeditionary force of 800 Dailamite cavalrymen in 570 CE. The Sasanian military, onboard eight ships, sailed around the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula; although two of the ships were wrecked, the rest successfully docked in the Hadhramaut region of southern Arabia. The strength of the Sasanian expeditionary force is variously given as 3,600 or 7,500 (Ibn Qutaybah), or 800 (al-Tabari). Modern estimates place the Sasanian force's numbers at 16,000 men. The Persians sailed from the port of Obolla, seized the Bahrain Islands, and subsequently moved on Sohar, the portside capital of historical Oman; they then captured Dhofar and the remainder of Hadhramaut before landing at Aden.During the initial invasion, Nawzadh was killed by Aksumite forces. This event led Wahrez to pursue a vendetta against the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen, Masruq ibn Abraha, who was personally executed by Wahrez at the Battle of Hadhramaut. The decisive Persian victory at Hadhramaut marked the beginning of the Aksumite retreat and the subsequent besieging of Sanaʽa by the Persians.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Aksumite–Persian wars", "topic's main category", "Category:Abyssinian–Persian wars" ]
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Aksumite–Persian wars", "participant", "Kingdom of Aksum" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Aksumite–Persian wars", "participant", "Himyarite Kingdom" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Northern and Southern dynasties", "topic's main category", "Category:Northern and Southern dynasties" ]
null
null
null
null
7
[ "Second Perso-Turkic War", "participant", "Sasanian Empire" ]
The Second Perso-Turkic War began in 606/607 with an invasion of the Sasanian Empire by the Göktürks and Hephthalites. The war ended in 608 with the defeat of the Turks and Hephthalites by the Sasanians under the Armenian general Smbat IV Bagratuni.
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Arab–Khazar wars", "participant", "Abbasid Caliphate" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Arab–Khazar wars", "participant", "Khazar Khaganate" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Arab–Khazar wars", "topic's main category", "Category:Arab–Khazar wars" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Arab–Khazar wars", "participant", "Umayyad Caliphate" ]
null
null
null
null
7
[ "Arab–Khazar wars", "participant", "Rashidun Caliphate" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Nara period", "followed by", "Heian period" ]
The Nara period (奈良時代, Nara jidai) of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kanmu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784, before moving to Heian-kyō, modern Kyoto, a decade later in 794. Japanese society during this period was predominantly agricultural and centered on village life. Most of the villagers followed Shintō, a religion based on the worship of natural and ancestral spirits named kami. The capital at Nara was modeled after Chang'an, the capital city of the Tang dynasty. In many other ways, the Japanese upper classes patterned themselves after the Chinese, including adopting the Chinese writing system, Chinese fashion, and a Chinese version of Buddhism.
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Nara period", "follows", "Asuka period" ]
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Nara period", "follows", "Yamato period" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Nara period", "topic's main category", "Category:Nara period" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Byzantine Empire" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Avar Khaganate" ]
Background The Avars arrived in the Carpathian Basin in 568, fleeing from the First Turkic Khaganate. They quickly entered into an alliance with the Lombards to seize the land of the Gepids. However, during this process, the Lombards retreated to Italy, allowing the Avars to take both the lands of the Gepids and the former lands of the Lombards for themselves, creating the Avar Khaganate. The Avars then claimed all former territory of both as their own territory. This included Sirmium, which had been recently reconquered by the Byzantines from the Gepids, and would serve as the first cause of conflict between the Avars and the Byzantines.The Avars were heavily dependent upon the skills and labor of their subject peoples for both siege warfare and logistics. Subject peoples, such as the early Slavs and the Huns, had long traditions of engineering and craftsmanship, such as the building of boats and bridges, and the use of rams, tortoise formations, and artillery in sieges. In every documented use of siege engines by the Avars, the Avars depended upon subject peoples who had knowledge of them, usually the Sabirs, Kutrigurs, or Slavs. Avar military tactics also relied upon speed and shock.
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Slavs" ]
null
null
null
null
4
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Sasanian dynasty" ]
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Sabir people" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Antes people" ]
null
null
null
null
7
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Kutrigurs" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Avar–Byzantine wars", "participant", "Sclaveni" ]
null
null
null
null
9
[ "Taika (era)", "followed by", "Hakuchi" ]
Taika (大化) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō) during the reign of Kōtoku. The Taika era immediately preceded the Hakuchi era. This period spanned the years from August 645 through February 650.History In 645, also known as Taika 1 (大化元年), the new era name was created to mark the beginning of the reign of the emperor Kōtoku. The previous reign ended and the new one commenced in the fourth year after the beginning of Empress Kōgyoku's reign.In Japan, this was the first nengō, derived from the Chinese system of eras (nianhao); although some scholarly doubt has been cast on the authenticity of Taika and Hakuchi as historically legitimate era names.
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan" ]
The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve years. The war involved the suppression of two challenges to the Umayyad dynasty, the first by Husayn ibn Ali, as well as his supporters including Sulayman ibn Surad and Mukhtar al-Thaqafi who rallied for his revenge in Iraq, and the second by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. The roots of the civil war go back to the First Fitna. After the assassination of the third caliph, Uthman, the Islamic community experienced its first civil war over the question of leadership, with the main contenders being Ali and Mu'awiya. Following the assassination of Ali in 661 and the abdication of his successor Hasan the same year, Mu'awiya became the sole ruler of the caliphate. Mu'awiya's unprecedented move to nominate his son Yazid as his heir sparked opposition, and tensions soared after Mu'awiya's death. Husayn ibn Ali was invited by the pro-Alids of Kufa to overthrow the Umayyads but was killed with his small company en route to Kufa at the Battle of Karbala in October 680. Yazid's army assaulted anti-government rebels in Medina in August 683 and subsequently besieged Mecca, where Ibn al-Zubayr had established himself in opposition to Yazid. After Yazid died in November the siege was abandoned, and Umayyad authority collapsed throughout the caliphate except in certain parts of Syria; most provinces recognized Ibn al-Zubayr as caliph. A series of pro-Alid movements demanding revenge for Husayn's death emerged in Kufa, beginning with Ibn Surad's Penitents movement, which was crushed by the Umayyads at the Battle of Ayn al-Warda in January 685. Kufa was then taken over by Mukhtar. Though his forces routed a large Umayyad army at the Battle of Khazir in August 686, Mukhtar and his supporters were slain by the Zubayrids in April 687 following a series of battles. Under the leadership of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, the Umayyads reasserted control over the caliphate after defeating the Zubayrids at the Battle of Maskin in Iraq and killing Ibn al-Zubayr in the siege of Mecca in 692. Abd al-Malik made key reforms in the administrative structure of the caliphate, including increasing caliphal power, restructuring the army, and Arabizing and Islamizing the bureaucracy. The events of the Second Fitna intensified sectarian tendencies in Islam, and various doctrines were developed within what would later become the Sunni and Shi'a denominations of Islam.
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Husayn ibn Ali" ]
null
null
null
null
2
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Al-Mukhtar" ]
null
null
null
null
3
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Yazid I" ]
Sectarian and eschatological developments The death of Husayn produced widespread outcry and helped crystallize opposition to Yazid into an anti-Umayyad movement based on Alid aspirations. The Battle of Karbala contributed to the definitive break between what later became the Shi'a and Sunni denominations of Islam. This event catalyzed the transformation of Shi'ism, which hitherto had been a political stance, into a religious phenomenon. To this day it is commemorated each year by Shi'a Muslims on the Day of Ashura. This period also saw the end of purely Arab Shi'ism in the revolt of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, who mobilized the marginalized and socioeconomically exploited mawali by redressing their grievances. Before then, non-Arab Muslims had not played any significant political role. Despite its immediate political failure, Mukhtar's movement was survived by the Kaysanites, a radical Shi'a sect, who introduced novel theological and eschatological concepts that influenced the later development of Shi'ism. The Abbasids exploited the underground network of Kaysanite propagandists during their revolution and the most numerous among their supporters were Shi'a and non-Arabs.The Second Fitna also gave rise to the idea of the Islamic Messiah, the Mahdi. Mukhtar applied the title of Mahdi to Ali's son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya. Although the title had previously been applied to Muhammad, Ali, Husayn, and others as an honorific, Mukhtar employed the term in a messianic sense: a divinely guided ruler, who would redeem Islam. Ibn al-Zubayr's rebellion was seen by many as an attempt to return to the pristine values of the early Islamic community. His revolt was welcomed by a number of parties that were unhappy with Umayyad rule. To them, the defeat of Ibn al-Zubayr meant that all hope of restoring the old ideals of Islamic governance was lost. In this atmosphere, Ibn al-Zubayr's role as the anti-caliph shaped the later development of the concept of the Mahdi. Some aspects of his career were already formulated into hadiths ascribed to Muhammad during Ibn al-Zubayr's lifetime—quarrels over the caliphate after the death of a caliph (Mu'awiya I), escape of the Mahdi from Medina to Mecca, taking refuge in the Ka'aba, defeat of an army sent against him by a person whose maternal tribe is Banu Kalb (Yazid I), Mahdi's recognition by the righteous people of Syria and Iraq—which then became characteristics of the Mahdi who was to appear in the future to restore the old glory of the Islamic community. This idea subsequently developed into an established doctrine in Islam.
null
null
null
null
5
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Abbas ibn Ali" ]
null
null
null
null
7
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Marwan I" ]
null
null
null
null
8
[ "Second Fitna", "topic's main category", "Category:Second Fitna" ]
null
null
null
null
9
[ "Second Fitna", "followed by", "Third Fitna" ]
null
null
null
null
10
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Shemr" ]
null
null
null
null
11
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr" ]
null
null
null
null
13
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Umar ibn Sa'ad" ]
null
null
null
null
14
[ "Second Fitna", "follows", "First Fitna" ]
null
null
null
null
15
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad" ]
Revolts against Yazid Revolt of Husayn ibn Ali Husayn had considerable support in Kufa. The inhabitants of the town had fought the Umayyads and their Syrian allies during the First Fitna. They were dissatisfied with Hasan's abdication and strongly resented Umayyad rule. After the death of Hasan in 669, they had attempted unsuccessfully to interest Husayn in revolting against Mu'awiya. After the latter died, the pro-Alids of Kufa once again invited Husayn to lead them in revolt against Yazid. To assess the situation, the Mecca-based Husayn sent his cousin Muslim ibn Aqil, who gained widespread support in Kufa and suggested Husayn join his sympathizers there. Yazid removed Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari as governor due to his inaction over Ibn Aqil's activities and replaced him with Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, then governor of Basra. On Yazid's instructions, Ibn Ziyad suppressed the rebellion and executed Ibn Aqil. Encouraged by his cousin's letter, and unaware of his execution, Husayn left for Kufa. To track him down, Ibn Ziyad stationed troops along the routes leading to the city. He was intercepted at Karbala, a desert plain north of Kufa. Some 4,000 troops arrived later to force his submission to Yazid. After a few days of negotiations and his refusal to submit, Husayn was killed along with some 70 of his male companions in the Battle of Karbala on 10 October 680.Struggle for control of Syria After Yazid's death, his son and nominated successor Mu'awiya II became caliph, but his authority was limited to certain parts of Syria. Mu'awiya II died after a few months with no suitable Sufyanid (Umayyads of the line of Mu'awiya; descendants of Abu Sufyan) candidate to succeed him. The northern Syrian Qays tribes supported Ibn al-Zubayr, as did the governors of the Syrian districts of Hims, Qinnasrin and Palestine, while the Damascus governor Dahhak ibn Qays was also leaning toward Ibn al-Zubayr. Moreover, many Umayyads, including Marwan ibn al-Hakam, the most senior among them at the time, were willing to recognize him. Pro-Umayyad tribes, particularly the Banu Kalb, dominated the district of Jordan and had support in Damascus. They were determined to install an Umayyad. The Kalbite chief Ibn Bahdal was related in marriage to the Sufyanid caliphs, and his tribe had held a privileged position under them. He wanted to see Yazid's younger son Khalid on the throne. Ibn Ziyad convinced Marwan to put forward his own candidacy as Khalid was considered too young for the post by the non-Kalbites in the pro-Umayyad coalition. Marwan was acknowledged as caliph in a shura of pro-Umayyad tribes summoned to the Kalbite stronghold of Jabiya in June 684. Pro-Zubayrid tribes refused to recognize Marwan and the two sides clashed at the Battle of Marj Rahit in August. The pro-Zubayrid Qays under Dahhak's leadership were slaughtered and many of their senior leaders were slain.Marwan's accession was a turning point as Syria was reunited under the Umayyads and the Umayyads' focus was turned to regaining lost territories. Marwan and his son Abd al-Aziz expelled the Zubayrid governor of Egypt with the help of local tribes. The Zubayrid attack on Palestine led by Mus'ab was repulsed, but an Umayyad campaign to retake the Hejaz was defeated near Medina. Marwan dispatched Ibn Ziyad to restore Umayyad control in Iraq. After Marwan died in April 685, he was succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik.
null
null
null
null
16
[ "Second Fitna", "participant", "Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni" ]
null
null
null
null
17
[ "Second Fitna", "replaces", "Siege of Uthman" ]
null
null
null
null
18
[ "Early Muslim conquests", "topic's main category", "Category:Early Muslim conquests" ]
null
null
null
null
1
[ "Umayyad campaigns in India", "follows", "Muslim conquest of Persia" ]
null
null
null
null
6
[ "An Lushan Rebellion", "topic's main category", "Category:An Lushan Rebellion" ]
null
null
null
null
3