User:عبدالرحمن4132/sandbox3

The '''Battle of Arghana''' was a military engagement between the [[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanid Arabs]] and the Byzantine army in a defile near [[Ergani]]. The Arabs led by [[Sayf al-Dawla]] raided Byzantine territory. On their way back, they met a Byzantine force under [[John I Tzimiskes|John Tzimiskes,]] which blocked a pass that leads to [[Diyarbakır]]. The battle ended in Arab victory and the rout of the Byzantines.

==Battle==

In 956, [[Sayf al-Dawla]] took the initiative in a large-scale operation, either to repel an offensive by the new domestic or to respond to incursions carried out in the region of [[Diyarbakır]] by one of the lieutenants of Nikephoros, namely, John Tzimiskes.

He departed from Aleppo on Monday, 14 Muharram 345 (28 April 956), passed through Harran, and from there took the direct route leading to Arqanin [Ergani] via Hisn ar-Ran [near modern Ergani] and Hisn al-Hamma [Çermik].

He left Arqanin on 10 May 956 and reached the pass separating his territories from the region commanded by John Tzimiskes, who at that time seemed to have been strategos of the theme of Mesopotamia and also held authority over Anzitene. John Tzimiskes withdrew before the advance of Sayf al-Dawla, who came to encamp on the shores of Lake Gölgük [Lake Gölcük]. Then, after passing near Hisn Ziyad (Harpüt) [Harput], he marched toward the Arsanas [Murat River], which he crossed by boats and rafts between 12 and 15 May, heading toward Askuniyya, the residence of John Tzimiskes, which seems to correspond to Arkeni [near modern Çemişgezek] on the right bank of the Arsanas (Murat Su), near the confluence of that river with the Çemişgezek Su.

He ravaged two localities, including Tell Bitriq [unidentified, likely near the Murat valley], from which John Tzimiskes is said to have fled. He then returned to the southern bank of the Arsanas, burned several villages, and laid siege to Dädim [possibly near modern Elazığ], south of Harput, from 20 to 22 May, without being able to take the place.

It was there that he learned that the Byzantines had occupied the pass through which he would have to return. After passing by Sumnin on the shores of Gölgük [Lake Gölcük], he began his retreat on 24 May toward the Darb Baqasaya (or Darb al-Hayyatin, “Pass of the Tailors”) [likely near Ergani], which may be the same route by which he had come.

There, a terrible battle took place in which Sayf al-Dawla gained the upper hand. The Byzantines lost 4,000 men killed, including Romanos, son of al-Balantas, brother-in-law (or possibly son-in-law) of John Tzimiskes; Ibn F.sir, and another important officer who may have been the commander of the turma of Keltzene, as well as many others. Among the prisoners was a man named Ibn Q.I. mūt.

After pursuing the routed enemy for some time, Sayf al-Dawla headed toward Diyarbakır (Amid), which he entered at the end of the day on 25 May.