Capture of Faruriyyah The Capture of Faruriyyah in 862 was a military campaign conducted by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine ( Eastern Roman ) Empire . Planned during the short caliphate of al - Muntasir ( r . 861 – 862 ) , it was commanded by the Turkish general Wasif , and was intended to strike against Byzantine defensive positions in southern Anatolia . Originally envisioned as a major multi - year operation , the campaign was cut short in the aftermath of the death of al - Muntasir , and only scored a minor success with the capture of the fortress of Faruriyyah . Background . Al - Muntasir became caliph on December 11 , 861 , after his father al - Mutawakkil was assassinated by members of his Turkish guard . Although he was suspected of being involved in the plot to kill al - Mutawakkil , he was able to quickly take control of affairs in the capital city of Samarra and receive the oath of allegiance from the leading men of the state . Al - Muntasir ' s sudden elevation to the caliphate served to benefit several of his close associates , who gained senior positions in the government after his ascension . Included among these were his secretary , Ahmad ibn al - Khasib , who became vizier , and Wasif , a senior Turkish general who had likely been heavily involved in al - Mutawakkil ' s murder . Shortly after securing his position as caliph , al - Muntasir decided to send an army against the Byzantines . According to the historian al - Tabari , this decision was prompted by Ahmad ibn al - Khasib ; the vizier had recently had a falling out with Wasif , and he sought to find an excuse to get him out of the capital . Ahmad ultimately decided that the best way to accomplish this was to put him at the head of a military campaign . He was eventually able to convince the caliph to go along with the plan , and al - Muntasir ordered Wasif to head to the Byzantine frontier . Planning and preparations . Regardless of the motivations for the expedition , Wasif seems to have had no objection to his assignment , and preparations for the operation soon began . Although the traditional annual summer raids ( " sawaʾif " ) against the Byzantine Empire had been maintained by local frontier commanders like ' Ali ibn Yahya al - Armani and ' Umar ibn ' Abdallah al - Aqta during the reign of al - Mutawakkil , this was to be the first large - scale expedition in several years that the central government planned to send against the Byzantines , and the caliph was prepared to put a large amount of resources into the venture . The campaign was planned to be a major affair . Wasif was to command upwards of ten thousand troops , consisting of the regular army , the " mawlās " and the " shākiriyyah " . In addition , a recruitment drive to gain volunteers for the campaign was ordered by al - Muntasir . On March 13 , 862 a proclamation announcing the campaign was issued ; it characterized the upcoming expedition as a holy war and extolled Wasif as a fine leader and a loyal servant of the caliph . Officers were assigned to specific roles in the army ; Muzahim ibn Khaqan was put in charge of the vanguard , Muhammad ibn Raja ' of the rear guard , al - Sindi ibn Bukhtashah of the right flank , and Nasr ibn Sa ' id al - Maghribi of the siege machines . Abu al - Walid al - Jariri al - Bajali was appointed to handle the army ' s expenditures and to oversee the distribution of spoils . A timetable for the expedition was drafted ; Wasif and the army were scheduled to arrive at the frontier outpost of Malatya ( the Greek Melitene ) on June 15 , 862 , and were to invade Byzantine territory on July 1 . After attacking Byzantine positions throughout the summer , Wasif was to remain at the frontier and launch additional campaigns over the next four years , until he received further instructions from the caliph . The Campaign . Having completed their preparations for the campaign , Wasif and the army departed for the Byzantine frontier in early 862 . Upon arriving at the Syrian side of the frontier zone , they set up camp there in preparation for their incursions into Byzantine territory . Before Wasif had a chance to make any serious progress against the Byzantines , however , the campaign was overshadowed by events back at the capital . After a reign of only six months , al - Muntasir died around the beginning of June , of either illness or poison . Following his death , the vizier Ahmad ibn al - Khasib and a small group of senior Turkish commanders met and decided to appoint al - Musta ' in as caliph in his stead . They presented their decision to the Samarran military regiments , and were eventually able to force the soldiers to swear allegiance to their candidate . The death of al - Muntasir did not immediately result in the termination of the military campaign . Wasif , upon learning of the passing of the caliph , decided that he should still persist with the operation , and led his forces into Byzantine territory . The army advanced against a Byzantine fortress called Faruriyyah in the region of Tarsus . The defenders of the fortress were defeated and the stronghold was conquered by the Muslims . Ultimately , however , the change of government in Samarra brought the expedition to a premature conclusion . The ascension of al - Musta ' in could not be ignored indefinitely by Wasif ; having already missed the opportunity to play a role in the selection of the new caliph , he needed to make sure his interests back in the capital were protected . As a result , he decided to abandon the Byzantine front , and by 863 he was back in Samarra . Aftermath . In the year following the campaign , the Byzantine military scored major successes on the frontier , defeating the Muslims at the decisive Battle of Lalakaon and killing the veteran commanders ' Umar ibn ' Abdallah and ' Ali ibn Yahya .