Musa ibn Khazim's Seizure of Tirmidh

استيلاء موسى بن عبد الله بن خازم على الترمذ

Musa ibn Abdallah ibn Khazim was at Tirmidh; he came to Samarqand where king Tarkhon honored him — until one of his men killed a Sughdian and he was expelled — then to Kish's lord, then back to Tirmidh the fortress. Its dahqan lodged and fed him; when Musa lay down to stay, the dahqan said 'leave', and he answered 'I know no home like this' — and fought its people.

Overview

Al-Baladhuri relates that Musa ibn Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami came to Samarqand, where its king Tarkhun honoured him. Then Tarkhun expelled him when one of his companions killed a Soghdian man. ¹

Tirmidh

Musa went to the lord of Kush, then came to Tirmidh, which was a fortress. He stayed with its landowner, who prepared food for him; when he had eaten he lay down. The landowner told him to leave, and he answered in words to the effect that he knew no house like this, and he fought its people. ¹

Musa's Wars from Tirmidh

Tirmidh's dahqan and folk went to the Turks for help — refused: 'curse you, a man in a hundred comes, expels you, takes your city'. His father's old companions joined Musa; when the Turks finally aided, surrounding him, he night-attacked and took their camp — sixteen Muslims wounded. Thabit and Hurayth ibn Qutba, backed by Tarkhun's levies, became his army's real commanders — 'yours is the name, theirs the command'. Hayatila and Turks sallied and were beaten — al-Hajjaj: 'praise God who gave the hypocrites victory over the polytheists' — and Musa built two great mounds of his foes' heads. Hurayth fell to a stray arrow; the men pressed Musa against Thabit, who fled, won Tarkhun's aid, took the rabad, and besieged him in eighty thousand as Kish, Nasaf and Bukhara reinforced Musa. Yazid ibn Huzayl, sent against Ziyad al-Qasir, took a head-blow and died in seven days — Yazid himself escaped across the Saghaniyan river — and Musa's night-raid on Thabit's camp scattered the Ajam home. Khurasan's people said: never his like — two years unbeaten with his father, Tirmidh taken with a handful, its king expelled, Turks and Ajam routed.

Musa ibn Khazim's Seizure of Tirmidh

At a glance

Overview

Tirmidh

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Musa's Wars from Tirmidh