al-Battal 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitE/M VIII
Dates740 (taq) / 740 (ob.)
PmbZ No.15
Variant NamesBatal;
Abdullah al-Battal
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsSynnada (Phrygia Salutaris);
Akroinon (Phrygia)
Textual SourcesChronique de Denys de Tell-Mahré, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot (Paris, 1895); tr. A. Palmer, The Seventh Century in West-Syrian Chronicles (Liverpool, 1993), pp. 54-65 (chronicle);
Tabari, al-, Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, ed. M.-J. de Goeje et al., 15 vols. (Leiden 1879-1901); Eng tr. The History of al-Tabari, general editor E. Yar-Shater, 39 vols. (New York, 1985-) (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle)

Al-Battal 1 was Abd Allah, known as al-Battal, who later figured in Arab legend and romance; see Encyclopaedia of Islam., I, pp. 1102-3. In AD 732/733 al-Battal 1 led an Arab army against the Romans and defeated them, capturing their commander, Konstantinos 317: Tabari XXV 97. In the year 1046 Sel. (AD 734/735) an Arab force under Malik ibn Shabib (Malik 1) and `Abdullah al-Battal 1 invaded the lands of the Romans and laid siege to Synnada; their forces allegedly consisted of 50,000 men; while encamped near Synnada the Arabs were surprised by the Romans and most were killed, including their commanders: Pseudo-Dion., Chron., pp. 172,10-24 = p. 130. He was one of four Arab generals (στρατηγοῖς τε δ') who invaded Roman territory in May 740 ( the others were Sulayman 2, Gamer 1 and Malik 1); he and Melich (Malik 1), with twenty thousand men, went to Akroinon, where they were heavily defeated by the Romans under the emperors Leo III (Leo 3) and Constantine V (Konstantinos 7); he and Melich (Malik 1) both perished with the majority of their men, of whom only six thousand eight hundred allegedly managed to escape and rejoin Sulayman 2 before returning home: Theoph. AM 6231.

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