Battle of the Mills
وقعة الطواحين
Shawwal 271 AH – Shawwal 271 AH
271/885: al-Muwaffaq's son Abu l-Abbas routs Khumarawayh at the Mills in Palestine — then Khumarawayh's ghulam Sa'd al-A'sar counterattacks and sacks the victor's camp 1.
At a glance
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Overview
The battle of al-Tawahin was fought between Abu al-Abbas ibn al-Muwaffaq and Abu al-Jaysh Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun at al-Tawahin, in the districts of Palestine, in Shawwal 271 AH. 2
al-Mas'udi's account
al-Mas'udi says that it was on Tuesday, fourteen nights before the end of Shawwal. Khumarawayh was routed, and Abu al-Abbas seized his camp. Khumarawayh escaped with a group of his commanders as far as Fustat. Then his servant Sa'd al-A'sar fought Abu al-Abbas, defeated him, plundered his camp and killed his leading commanders. 2
Ibn al-Jawzi's account
Ibn al-Jawzi says that it was on the sixteenth of Shawwal. Abu al-Abbas routed Khumarawayh, who fled on a donkey, and the companions of Abu al-Abbas were busy plundering. Then an ambush of Khumarawayh's men came out and routed them, and what was in both camps was lost to plunder. 3
The two accounts differ on the day, and agree on the month and the year.
Sources
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p. 579-580
- Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi, p.579-580
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi, p.101
- Al-Mas'udi, Muruj al-dhahab wa-ma'adin al-jawhar, ed. Kamal Hasan Mar'i (al-Maktaba al-'Asriyya, 2005)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Battle of the Mills”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/battle-of-tawahin/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-18.