al-Aghlab ibn Salim's Death by an Arrow and Harish's Rout

مصرع الأغلب بن سالم بسهم ودحر حريش

between 785 and 786 CE

In al-Baladhuri via Ahmad ibn Nafi', mawla of the Aghlab family: al-Aghlab ibn Salim al-Tamimi was of Marw al-Rudh's people among the Masawwida who came from Khurasan; Musa al-Hadi gave him the Maghreb, and Harish — a man of the frontier army of Tunis — gathered him a host and marched on him at Qayrawan of Ifriqiya, besieging him; al-Aghlab sallied and fought him, an arrow struck him in the battle and he fell dead, his companions not knowing of his fall nor Harish's companions knowing; then Harish and his army fled, al-Aghlab's men pursued three days and killed them, killing Harish at a place known as Suq al-Ahad — and al-Aghlab was called al-Shahid.

The long-form text for this entry has not been written yet. The facts and connections below come from the museum's data.

The Founding of Qayrawan

In al-Baladhuri: Mu'awiya ibn Khudayj sent — or, some say, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan gave him the Maghreb — Uqba ibn Nafi' al-Fihri, who raided Ifriqiya with ten thousand Muslims, conquered it, and laid out its Qayrawan, whose site was a thicket of trees and thickets unapproachable for beasts, snakes and deadly vermin; Uqba being a righteous man whose prayer was answered, he prayed to his Lord and all that was removed — till the very beasts carried away their young in flight; and Musa ibn Ali said the first to build it was Uqba ibn Nafi', who laid it out then built — the people building houses and dwellings with him — and built its congregational mosque; and a body of Ifriqiya's people told from their shaykhs that when Uqba wished to make Qayrawan a misr he pondered where its mosque should be, and saw in a dream as though a man gave the call to prayer in the place where its minaret stood — so when morning came he built the minarets in the man's station, then built the mosque. Al-Waqidi said Abdallah ibn Sa'd stayed governor until Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa seized Egypt; then Mu'awiya gave Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari Egypt and the Maghreb, and he gave the Maghreb to his mawla Abu al-Muhajir; when Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ruled he restored Uqba to his office — who raided Sus al-Adna beyond Tangier, roaming unchallenged till he returned; Abu al-Abbas gave Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i Ifriqiya — he repaired Qayrawan's city and mosque — then al-Mansur dismissed him and gave his place to Umar ibn Hafs Hazarmard.

al-Aghlab ibn Salim's Death by an Arrow and Harish's Rout

At a glance

In time

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

The Founding of Qayrawan