Tarsus

طرسوس

Tarsus, greatest city of the Syrian marches; it lay in ruins after its people's evacuation in the conquest until al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba described it to al-Mahdi in year 162, who bequeathed its building, and when word reached al-Rashid in year 171 that the Byzantines had conspired to fortify it, Harthama ibn A'yan forestalled them, rebuilding it under Faraj ibn Sulaym's hand; the Khurasani and Syrian levies settled it in year 172 across four thousand surveyed lots of twenty cubits each; it became the launching-point of the summer raids, the Jihad gate and the greatest of the Muslims' border strongholds.

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The Thughur (Frontier Marches)

The Thughur — in al-Baladhuri: the Muslims' Syrian marches in Umar's and Uthman's days were Antioch and the cities al-Rashid later called the 'Awasim, the Muslims raiding beyond them as they now raid beyond Tarsus; between Alexandretta and Tarsus lay Byzantine forts and watchposts that their people sometimes abandoned in flight or filled with fighters, Heraclius reportedly removing their people with him on leaving Antioch so the Muslims could not settle the land between; the Umayyads raided the Byzantines with the people of Syria and the Jazira summer and winter, posting coastal watchmen and keeping raiding ships, then Abu Ja'far al-Mansur went through the coastal fortresses and cities, restoring, fortifying and building what needed building and doing likewise for the march cities, al-Mahdi completed what remained and reinforced them, Harun carried fortification and raiding to a pitch unmatched before him and disbursed funds through the marches, and al-Mutawakkil in year 247 ordered ships stationed on every coast manned with fighters; among its famous strongholds are Masisa, Tarsus, Mar'ash, al-Hadath, Sis and Qanqara.

Tarsus

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The Thughur (Frontier Marches)