أسر إسماعيل بن أحمد لعمرو بن الليث

In 287 AH Amr ibn al-Layth al-Saffar was captured by Isma'il ibn Ahmad. al-Tabari reports that the news of this came with the seizure of his camp, and that al-Mu'tadid praised Isma'il and blamed Amr. ^{1 2}

Isma'il crossed the river of Balkh seeking Amr and defeated him. Ibn al-Jawzi says that the people of Balkh had grown weary of him, and that he had stretched his hand to their wealth. Amr was routed and taken to Isma'il, who stood up to him and kissed him between the eyes. Then came the caliph al-Mu'tadid's letter ordering his surrender, and he surrendered him. ³

According to al-Mas'udi, he was brought into the City of Peace in Jumada al-Ula 288 AH, paraded on a camel, and then al-Mu'tadid saw him and he was put into the dungeons. ⁴

The two sources differ on the year of his arrival in Baghdad from the year of his capture. That is part of what the two accounts report.