Today in Islamic History

Battles & Sieges

0684 (1342 years ago)

(18 August) The Umayyads under Marwan I defeated the Zubayrids in the Battle of Marj Rahit.

Deaths

1648 (378 years ago)

(18 August) Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim I died in Constantinople. He was called Ibrahim the Mad (Turkish: Deli İbrahim) due to his mental condition.

Events

1136 (890 years ago)

(18 August) After Baghdad surrendered, Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud deposed the Abbasid caliph Al-Rashid Billah and replaced him with his uncle, Al-Muqtafi.

1721 (305 years ago)

(18 August) The Sack of Shamakhi occurred when around 15,000 rebellious Sunni Lezgin tribesmen attacked and looted Shamakhi, the capital of Shirvan in the declining Safavid Empire (present-day Azerbaijan). The assault led to a large-scale massacre of the city’s Shia population and the plundering of foreign merchants, including Russian traders.