Siege of Carmona (763)

The siege of Carmona was a military engagement between the Umayyads and the Abbasids, who besieged the city of Carmona, where Abd al-Rahman garrisoned himself there, in an attempt to install Abbasid rule in Andalusia. The Umayyads decisively defeated the Abbasids and prevented their invasion.

History
In 763, the local governor of Beja, Al-Ala ibn Mughith al-Judhami, rebelled against the Umayyads in Andalusia. The Abbasid caliph, al-Mansur, made one final attempt to bring Andalusia under Abbasid control. Al-Ala aligned himself with the Abbasids. He received money, arms, and moral support from the Caliph. Al-Ala even raised the Abbasid flag and appointed himself governor of Andalusia. The Umayyad prince, Abd al-Rahman, left Cordoba and went to Carmona, a strong fortress high on a hill.

Al-Ala besieged the fortress for two months. Eventually Abd al-Rahman saw the Abbasids becoming impatient with the siege and ordered his troops to burn the scabbards of their swords, encouraging his men, numbering 700, to follow with him in a sortie that took the Abbasids by surprise. Al-Ala was killed alongside many Abbasid officers. The officers were beheaded, including Al-Ala. Their heads were embalmed and sent to Kairouan as a message of defiance to the Caliph.

The debacle at Carmona ended any Abbasid interference in Andalusian affairs; both sides soon became preoccupied with other issues. Al-Mansur reportedly said:

"We all belong to God. We sent this miserable man to his death. Praise be to God who has put the sea between me and this devil."