the Ghassanid, and he sent word threatening al-Rashid. The caliph’s anger flared; he marched forth with his armies until he confronted him at Heraclea. The Byzantines were humbled, and it was an expedition long remembered. (1)

In 188 AH the great pitched battle took place: a vast number of Byzantines were slain, Nicephorus suffered three wounds, and the exchange of captives was carried through until not a single prisoner remained in Byzantine hands. (2)

In 190 AH Rafiʿ ibn al-Layth renounced allegiance, seized Samarkand, and routed al-Rashid’s army. (3)

That same year al-Rashid campaigned against the Byzantines with one hundred thousand horsemen, captured Heraclea, and Nicephorus sent him a tribute of three hundred thousand dinars.

In 191 AH he dismissed the governor of Khurasan, Ibn Māhān, replacing him with Harthama ibn Aʿyan. Al-Rashid then confiscated Ibn Māhān’s wealth, forcing him to pay eighty million dirhams; the man had been arrogant, rebellious, and harsh. (4)

That year also witnessed the first appearance of the Khurramiyya in Azerbaijan. (5)

In 192 AH al-Rashid set out for Gurgan to pacify Khurasan, but death overtook him in 193. (6)