Abdullah 2

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM/L VII
Dates668 (taq) / 677 (tpq)
PmbZ No.12
Variant NamesAbdelas;
`Abdallah
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsCrete
Textual SourcesElias Barshinaya, Chronicle (Eliae metropolitae Nisibeni, Opus chronologicum, pars prior, ed. and tr. E. W. Brooks, CSCO 62 and CSCO 63 (1910) (chronicle);
Tabari, al-, Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, ed. M.-J. de Goeje et al., 15 vols. (Leiden 1879-1901); Eng tr. The History of al-Tabari, general editor E. Yar-Shater, 39 vols. (New York, 1985-) (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle)

Abdullah 2 was called Abdelas in Theophanes; and `Abdallah b. Qays al-Fazari in Tabari. Son of Kais(us) (Qays 1), he wintered with Fadalas 1 in Crete in 675/676 (674/675) (during the series of naval campaigns against Constantinople): Theoph. AM 6166 (ἐχείμασεν Ἀβδελᾶς, υἱὸς Κάϊς, καὶ Φαδαλᾶς εἰς Κρήτην). On the date of this, cf. Fadalas 1. He is recorded in Tabari on three occasions as leading campaigns against the Byzantines. In AH 48 (Feb. 668/Feb. 669) he led the summer campaign: Tabari XVIII, p. 93. In AH 55 (Dec. 674/Nov. 675), according to some accounts (not specified by Tabari) he led the winter campaign into Byzantine territory: Tabari XVIII, p. 180. In AH 57 (Nov. 676/Nov. 677) he again led the winter campaign into Byzantine territory: Tabari XVIII, p. 191. It is difficult to match the chronology of Theophanes with that of Tabari. In AH 55 (Dec. 674/Nov. 675) = 986 Sel. (674/675) Abdallah ibn Qais spent the winter in Roman territory: Elias, Chron., p. 145, lines 16-19 = p. 70.

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