Invasion By The Rus and Hamdanids
In the spring of 945 the Rus invaded Azerbaijan. Coming up the Kura River, they occupied Barda (for details of this occupation, see Caspian expeditions of the Rus). Marzuban's army, which included many volunteers eager to fight the infidel Rus, was numerically superior to the raiders. Despite this, the Sallarid army was defeated several times. It was only after the Rus had been weakened by disease that he managed to ambush and kill 700 of them.
Marzuban then laid siege to Barda, but received news that the Hamdanid amir of Mosul, Nasir al-Daula, had sent his nephew al-Husain b. Sa'id to take over Azerbaijan. In 942, during the war between Marzuban and Daisam, al-Husain had been invested with the government of the province by the caliph, and now he intended to make good on his claim. The Hamdanid had reached Salmas and had gained the support of the Kurds. Marzuban left a small force to keep the Rus in check, and in a winter campaign (945-946) defeated al-Husain. A short time later al-Husain was recalled by Nasir al-Daula, who was preparing for a war against the Buwayhid amir of Baghdad. The Rus meanwhile decided to leave, taking as much loot and prisoners as they could.
Read more about this topic: Marzuban Ibn Muhammad
Famous quotes containing the word invasion:
“In our governments the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from the acts of government contrary to the sense of the constituents, but from the acts in which government is the mere instrument of the majority.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)