Umar al-Aqta

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallah ibn Marwan al-Aqtaʾ
Emir of Malatya
Reign	830s–863
Died	3 September 863 Porson
Religion	Sunni Islam

ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Marwān or ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaydallāh ibn Marwān, surnamed al-Aqtaʾ, "the one-handed" (μονοχεράρης, monocherares, in Greek), and found as Amer or Ambros (Greek: Ἄμερ or Ἄμβρος) in Byzantine sources, was the semi-independent Arab emir of Malatya (Melitene) from the 830s until his death in the Battle of Lalakaon on September 3, 863. During this time, he was one of the greatest threats to the Byzantine Empire on its eastern frontier, and became a prominent figure in later Arabic and Turkish epic literature.

ʿUmar belonged to the Banu Sulaym tribe, which was established in the western Jazira at the time of the Muslim conquests and played an important role in the affairs of Malatya and the Jaziran frontier zone (thughur) with the Byzantine Empire as well as the Caucasian frontier with the Khazars. His father, ʿAbdallah or ʿUbaydallah, is little known, except that he was also emir of Malatya, and that ca. 810 he surrendered to the Byzantines the fortress of Kamacha to obtain the release of his son, who was held captive.

ʿUmar himself probably became emir of Malatya in the 830s, and first appears in 838, in the Amorium campaign of the Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). The campaign was waged in retaliation for a large-scale raid in the previous year by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) against the Arab border emirates, including Malatya, whose territory was laid waste and depopulated. During the Amorium campaign, ʿUmar took part with his men in the great Arab victory over Theophilos himself at the Battle of Dazimon in July 838. In the 840s, he provided refuge to the surviving members of the Paulicians, who were fleeing persecution in Byzantium, and allocated them the area around the fortresses of Tephrike, Amara and Argaoun. The Paulician leader Karbeas turned this into a separate Paulician principality, allied with ‘Umar and launching frequent expeditions against Byzantium, either in conjunction with ʿUmar or independently. In 844, ʿUmar's forces participated in a major raid that inflicted a heavy defeat upon an army led by the Byzantine chief minister, Theoktistos, at the Battle of Mauropotamos. In the late 840s, he was also engaged in warfare against a neighbouring Armenian lord named Skleros, whom he finally vanquished after a protracted and bloody conflict.

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