Abdallah al-Battal

Abdallah al-Battal
Native name	عبدالله البطال
Died	740 Akroinon
Allegiance	Umayyad Caliphate
Years of service	ca. 727–740
Wars	Arab–Byzantine Wars

Abdallah al-Battal (Arabic: عبدالله البطال‎‎; "Abdallah the Hero", died in 740) was a Muslim commander in the Arab–Byzantine Wars of the early 8th century, participating in several of the campaigns launched by the Umayyad Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire. Historical facts about his life are sparse, but an extensive pseudo-historical and legendary tradition grew around him after his death, and he became a famous figure in both Arabic and later Turkish epic literature as Sayyid Battal Ghazi.

Nothing is known of Abdallah al-Battal's origin or early life. Much later accounts claim that he hailed from Antioch or Damascus, and that he was a mawla of the Umayyad family. He is also given various kunya, Abu Muhammad, Abu Yahya, or Abu 'l-Husayn, by which he is usually known. The use of the nisba of al-Antaqi ("of Antioch") rather than a tribal affiliation suggests that he may not have been of Arab origin; in this context, his name "Abdallah" further suggests that he was a convert to Islam, as this name (meaning "servant of Allah") was often given to new converts in early Islamic times.Khalid Yahya Blankinship suggested that he might be the same person as a certain "'Amr" recorded by the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor in the Nicaea campaign of 727, and hence that "'Amr" could be his actual personal name or a patronymic (i.e. his name could be 'Amr ibn Abdallah or Abdallah ibn 'Amr), while alternatively "Abdallah" could simply be an honorific.

Arab accounts from the 10th century place al-Battal alongside Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik during the latter's failed siege of Constantinople in 717–718, but as the Arab accounts of the siege are semi-legendary, it is impossible to know if this report contains any truth. In reliable historical sources (the chroniclers al-Ya'qubi and al-Tabari), al-Battal first appears in 727, in one of the annual raids against Byzantine Asia Minor. This campaign was commanded by Mu'awiya ibn Hisham, the son of the reigning Caliph Hisham (reigned 723–743). Al-Battal led the vanguard, with which he penetrated as far as the city of Gangra in Paphlagonia, which he captured and razed, before the army went on to unsuccessfully lay siege to Nicaea. Blankinship considers that al-Battal's capture of Gangra ranks as one of the greatest successes of Umayyad arms against the Byzantines in this period, along with the capture of Caesarea by Maslama in 726.

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