Alptakin

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Alptakin, also known as Aftakin, was a Turkish officer who served the Buyids. He led an unsuccessful rebellion in Iraq from 973 to 975. After fleeing west with about 300 followers, he used the chaos in Syria to seize several cities, including Damascus. For three years he withstood Fatimid attempts to take Damascus, until Caliph al‑Aziz Billah defeated and captured him. He was taken to Egypt and joined the Fatimid army, but was later poisoned by the vizier Yaqub ibn Killis. He had been a freedman of Izz al‑Dawla Bakhtiyar, the Buyid ruler of Iraq.

In 973 he joined the rebellion led by Sabuktakin, who managed to seize Baghdad and much of Iraq. As the Turkish rebels under Sabuktakin besieged Wasit, Sabuktakin died, and Alptakin was chosen as the new leader. Meanwhile Adud al‑Dawla, Izz al‑Dawla’s cousin, moved toward Iraq and by 975 had crushed the rebellion along the Diyala River. Alptakin fled to Syria with about 300 followers and captured the city of Hims.

There he allied with the Qarmatians. In the winter of 975 he invaded the Fatimid coast and laid siege to Sidon, which he captured, killing about 4,000 Fatimid troops. He also took Tiberias and then Damascus. The Byzantine emperor John I Tzimiskes was campaigning in Syria, so Alptakin allowed John to hold the lands temporarily through diplomacy, avoiding outright annexation.

The Fatimid caliph al‑Aziz sent his general Jawhar to retake the coast and Damascus, and the siege began in July 976. The Qarmatians sent aid to Alptakin—some sources say he asked for their help—which forced Jawhar to lift the siege in January 977. The Qarmatians and the Tayy Bedouin helped pursue Jawhar to Ramla. The Qarmatians entered Ramla on 12 March 977, and the allied forces then besieged Ascalon. After a long siege, in April 978 the Fatimids agreed to peace: Alptakin would hold Damascus and Palestine, while the northern border would be Gaza, and he would recognize the Fatimid caliph in name, though he kept revenue from his lands.

In 978 Izz al‑Dawla fled to Damascus and joined Alptakin, who added the Dailamites to his army. A Fatimid army under al‑Aziz advanced toward Damascus, and a battle near Ramla severely weakened Alptakin’s forces, with about 20,000 of his men killed. He fled into the desert but was found by Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al‑Jarrah, who at first treated him with honor but ultimately betrayed him for 100,000 gold dinars and handed him to al‑Aziz. In Cairo, al‑Aziz treated him well and later incorporated Alptakin and his Turkish followers into the Fatimid army. Alptakin was eventually poisoned by the vizier Yaqub ibn Killis.