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Sack of Amorium

Al-Mu'tasim answered a Byzantine raid by sacking the home city of the emperor's family.

The site of the battle on the 800 map. Shaded: Abbasid Caliphate, c. 800, Umayyad emirate of Cordoba.

Key facts

When
838
Where
Near Afyon, Turkey
Sides
Abbasid Caliphate vs Byzantine Empire
Commanders
Caliph al-Mu'tasim vs Emperor Theophilos
Result
Abbasid victory
Type
Early conquests
Chapter
3. The Abbasids, the Crusades and the Mongols

The wider picture: The Abbasid golden age

The Abbasids built a new capital at Baghdad in 762. Under Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun, the House of Wisdom translated Greek, Persian and Indian science into Arabic, and al-Khwarizmi wrote the book that gave algebra its name. The four Sunni schools of law took shape in these years.

More early conquests battles

All 17 early muslim conquests battles · Battle explorer

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