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The Banu Amir sack of Basra (588 AH)

نهب بني عامر البصرة

c. 16 February 1192 CE · 6 Safar 588 AH

Safar 588: Banu Amir under their amir Umayra stormed Basra — beating the caliphal deputy at the Maydan gate, breaching the wall by night, plundering the shore-khans, then leaving to rout Khafaja and Muntafiq and returning on Monday to finish the sack over two days while the townsfolk fled across the channels; Ibn al-Athir adds he saw the same story with his own eyes in 593 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
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In time

1180119012001210 c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks

Overview

In Safar 588 AH the Banu Amir gathered in a great number under the leadership of Umayra and marched on Basra. Its amir was Muhammad ibn Isma'il, deputising for its iqta' holder, the amir Tughril, a mamluk of the caliph al-Nasir. They arrived on Saturday, the sixth of Safar. 1

Fighting and plunder

The amir Muhammad went out to them, and the fighting took place at the Square Road until the end of the day. The Arabs breached the wall by night and entered the town, and plundered the inns and some quarters. Then the forces the amir had gathered from the people of Basra and the countryside were routed. The Arabs entered Basra and plundered it, and its people left it. The people later returned to it. 1

Ibn al-Athir says that he saw this very same story in the year 593 AH. 1

Sources

  1. al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir, p. 214-215
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Banu Amir sack of Basra (588 AH)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/banu-amir-sack-basra-588/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.

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