Wasit
| The author of this article is Laxman Burdak. |
Wasit (Arabic,واسط) is a place in south east of Kut in eastern Iraq.
Contents
History
The city was built by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in about AD 702 on the west bank of the Tigris across the river from the historical city of Kashkar.[1] It was in Wasit that Al Hajjaj died in AD 714.
Jat History
Suppression of the Jat Rebellion under Caliph Mu'tasim
Prof. Abdul Ali[2]tells us that The eighth Abbasid Caliph Mu'tasim (ruled 833-42 AD), son of Caliph Harun al-Rashid by a Turkish slave and step-brother & Caliph
The Jats, Vol. 2: End of p.21
Mamun, was fully seized of the problem caused to the Abbasid Empire by the Jats. He made elaborate arrangements and preparations before despatching a strong contingent of force under the command of 'Ujayf Bin 'Anbasah. First, he refurbished the postal service by the relays of swift-running horses, as a result of which the news sent by 'Ujayf could reach the caliph in the capital the same day. Likewise, the commander used to get the regular military instructions and reinforcements from the capital through the same channel of postal service.[3]
When 'Ujayf at the head of the contingent comprising 5000 soldiers reached Wasit, he encamped at a village called al-Safiyah situated on the bank of an off-shoot of the Tigris river. Then he besieged the Jats on all sides by sending troops in all possible hideouts of them, about which he had gathered intelligence in advance. Having done all that, he launched the decisive attack, in which 300 Jats were killed and 500 arrested, all of whom were beheaded. Finding no outlet of escape, the Jats led by their leader Muhammad Bin 'Uthman and their commander Samlaq surrendered and appealed for amnesty which was granted. An idea of the formidable force mustered by the Jats may be had from the fact that it took the mighty Abbasid army under the command of 'Ujayf as many as nine months to finally break their power -and- defeat them.[4] When they surrendered in the month of Dhul in1ih 219 AH/840 AD, they numbered about 27000, out of whom 12000 were fighting soldiers and the remaining were old men, women and children.[5]
All the captured Jats were ship-loaded and brought to Baghdad for Caliph Mu'tasim to have look at them. Then they were transported and settled at 'Ayn Zarbah where some Jats had already been rehabilitated in the time of the Umayyad Caliph, Hisham in Abdul Mafik. It is said that when the Romans attacked the Muslim territories in Asia Minor under Caliph Mutawakkil (847-61 AD), they made all the Jats including their women and children captives and went- away with them. It has also been reported that they were killed to the last by the Romans.51 And with that history Jats as a separate, distinct Indian tribe in West Asia Came to an end. As regards the remaining Jats settled in different parts of West Asia, they continued to live and prosper. They were not at all affected by the sad plight of their rebellious brethren of Iraq. But in the course of time they became so thoroughly assimilated and dissolved in Arab-Muslim culture that now it is difficult to delineate their history as a distinct Indian tribe.
The Jats, Vol. 2: End of p.22
External links
References
- ↑ Mirecki, BeDuhn; Jason, Paul Allan (2007). Frontiers of faith: the Christian encounter with Manichaeism in the Acts of Archelaus. BRILL. p. 10. ISBN 978-90-04-16180-1.
- ↑ The Jats, Vol. 2: Socio-Political and Military Role of Jats in West Asia as Gleaned from Arabic Sources, p.21-22
- ↑ Tarikh al-Tabari, Op. cit., Vol. IX, p. 8.
- ↑ Tarikh al-Tabari, Op. cit., Vol. IX, p. 9-10
- ↑ Tarikh al-Tabari, Op. cit., Vol. IX, p. 10.
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