34 | Changing Perceptions along the Frontiers
region from Byzantine attacks, especially during expeditions when Muslims left
the thughur unguarded. In such cases, the ɇawasim functioned as a second zone
of defense. During almost five centuries of Arabo-Byzantine confrontation, the
fortresses of the thughur changed hands continually. Concentration points such
as Malatya and Tarsus were abandoned and left desolate by one side and then
rebuilt and repopulated by the other side.
In the Battalname, Sey yid Battal’s first military campaign is against Maɇmu-
riyye—or Byzantine Amorium in Phrygia—to avenge his father’s murder by the
infidel ruler Mihriyayil. Whereas Maɇmuriyye is described as being in Rum, the
frontier with Rum is much farther to the east and is defined more specifically as
Cu-yı Karakıb. “Karakıb” most certainly refers to the Kubakib river, the name
medieval Arab geographers gave to a tributary of the Euphrates that rises far to
the west of Malatya (the Byzantine Melas and modern-day Tohma Suyu). As
described in the Battalname, this area must be the farthest point in the thughur
in the direction of Rum, because when the gazis built a fortress there the lands
beyond were described as Rum, whereas Malatya, in the other direction, was
not part of Rum but on the frontier with Syria (Şam haddi).
Syria, or Şam (specifically Damascus), occupied a central place in the nar-
rative next to Malatya, the home of gazis, and Baghdad, the throne of the caliph.
Whenever there was news of successful gazas, it was first reported to the caliph,
who immediately sent a message to the province of Syria (Şam Vilayeti). This
emphasis on Syria can be attributed to the administrative organization of the
thughur, because the fortresses of the thughur were directly under the command
of the province of Syria and benefited from a massive budget funded by tax rev-
enue from the Syrian and Jaziran frontiers.
In the Battalname, Malatya was the center of action from where Seyyid Battal
and his comrades attacked the infidels of Rum, and it remained their military base
throughout the story. After every attack, whether successful or not, the gazis re-
turned to Malatya, whereas in both the Danişmendname and the Saltukname the
protagonist moved his military base several times to a newly conquered territory.
The opening story of the Danişmendname starts in Malatya with the death
of Battal Gazi and a list of his descendants down to Melik Danişmend. According
to the story, and agreeing with other contemporary sources, Melik Danişmend’s
first conquest was Sivas, in the territory of Malatya. Melik Danişmend rebuilt the
city, which was in ruins, and made it his military base, pushing the frontier zone
westward. After he conquered Tokat, to the northwest, that became his base. Af-
ter he conquered Turhal and Harşana (or Haraşna, also referred to as Amasiyye
in the text), moving each time slightly northwest toward the Black Sea, Harşana
became his final military base for his conquests in the region of Canik, includ-
ing Yankoniya (Çorum) and lastly Niksar (also referred to as Harsanosiyye in the
text). Meanwhile, the warlords under his command attacked farther to the west