Siege warfare played a comparatively small part in early Islamic military activity. In general it seems that Muslim armies did not like to find themselves confined within walls but would rather have had the freedom of manoeuvre in the open countryside. Many must have agreed with Zufar b.al-Ḥārith’s attitude: when the army of ‘Abd al-Malik set up their siege engines to bombard the walls of Qarqīsiyā, saying that they were going to make a breach to attack him, he retorted, ‘We will not fight you from behind walls and gates, but will come out against you.’ ¹ In 64/684 the Bakrī tribesmen of Herat rebelled against the governor, ‘Abd Allāh b. Khāzim. The governor sent a military expeditions against them and they debated how best to resist. Their leader, Aws b.Tha‘laba urged them to ‘stick to the town, for it is well fortified (ḥaṣīna)’ and ‘Abd Allāh would be obliged to offer them terms, presumably because he would be unable to mount an effective siege. The Bakrīs, however, rejected this option and preferred instead to leave the town and encamp behind a khandaq. ² A century and a half later, in 195/811 when Ṭāhir b.al-Ḥusayn was leading the troops of al-Ma’mūn against al-Amīn’s armies, his companions urged him to take refuge behind the city walls of Rayy. Ṭāhir, like the Bakrīs, decided that he would rather fight in open country, keeping the city behind him so that the could take refuge there if things went wrong. ³ There was clearly a body of military opinion which held that its was either dishonourable or too restricting to shelter behind walls.

When people did use fortifications, the result was more likely to be a period of negotiation rather than an assault. When Ibn Muṭī‘ was besieged by al-Mukhtār in the governor’s palace (qaṣr) in Kūfa, no attempt was made to organise an assault. Apart from firing arrows at the defenders when they appeared to shout insults, no offensive action took place: after three days, Ibn Mutī‘ agreed to terms. ⁴ When the tables were turned, al-Mukhtār himself was besieged in his qaṣr for four months. Again, no attempt was made to attack the building, except by firing arrows against any defenders incautious enough to put their heads above the parapets. Food and water was denied to the defenders, but even this simple blockade took some time to organise. The siege ended only when al-Mukhtār and his men made a desperate sally outside the qaṣr. ⁵

When al-Walīd IF s enemies set out to hunt him down in 126/744, he considered

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