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The Battle of Basra was a major engagement of the Zanj Rebellion, fought on September 7–10, 871. Zanj rebels and allied Arab tribesmen, led by Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Azraq and 'Ali ibn Aban al-Muhallabi, launched a coordinated attack against the city of Basra. The city’s defenders, consisting of a small contingent of Abbasid regular troops and local Basran militia, were quickly overwhelmed, and the Zanj were able to enter the city, after which they massacred its inhabitants and engaged in a several-day period of looting. The historian Alexandre Popovic has called the battle "the most outstanding event of this whole period if not of the entire () revolt." The total loss of life and damage to the city is unknown, but Muslim historians have generally described the incident as being extremely destructive. Following the battle, the Abbasid government intensified its efforts to suppress the Zanj, and in the following year the caliphal regent Abu Ahmad personally went on campaign against the rebels. == Background == In the two years since the outbreak of the revolt in September 869, the Zanj had successfully spread throughout the districts of lower Iraq and al-Ahwaz, bringing much of the region under their control. The rebels attacked cities and towns with virtual impunity; they had conquered al-Ubulla, Jubba and al-Ahwaz and received the voluntary submission of 'Abbadan. Rather than attempt to hold the cities that they captured, the Zanj generally opted to pillage and abandon them, after which they would move on to their next target. After mid-870 the leader of the rebellion, 'Ali ibn Muhammad, was no longer personally leading the Zanj armies into battle; he instead resided in his newly built city, al-Mukhtara, and issued orders to his military commanders in the field. Among his chief lieutenants were 'Ali ibn Aban al-Muhallabi and Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Azraq, two men who had been in the service of the Zanj leader since before the start of the revolt. By mid-871 'Ali ibn Aban was encamped in the district of Jubba, while Yahya was stationed on the Ma'qil Canal, in the vicinity of Basra. In an effort to combat the Zanj, the Abbasid central government in Samarra had dispatched a number of commanders, such as Ju'lan al-Turki, Sa'id al-Hajib, and Ibrahim ibn Sima al-Turki to lower Iraq and al-Ahwaz. These men were sometimes able to score a military victory against the rebels, but more often they suffered defeat, and in any case they were unable to effectively hinder the operations of the Zanj throughout the region. In 871 Mansur ibn Ja'far al-Khayyat was appointed as the administrator of Basra and the Tigris districts, but he was similarly incapable of making any headway against the Zanj, and his troops suffered significant casualties at the hands of the rebels. Due to its proximity to the rebels, as well as its status as a major commercial and cultural center, the city of Basra was a prime target for the Zanj. 'Ali ibn Muhammad had led an aborted revolt in the city in 868, and it was one of his first objectives after the start of the Zanj rebellion in 869. Although the Zanj had failed to take it at that time, a significant number of Basrans were subsequently killed at the Battle of the Barges, and the city was thereafter forced to rely on the Abbasid government to send troops for protection. The fall of al-Ubulla and of al-Ahwaz in 870 further instilled a state of panic in the city, and many of its inhabitants decided to evacuate to safer areas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Basra (871)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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