| Mount Lebanon revolts of 752 and 759 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab–Byzantine wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Mardaites Maronites Melkites Byzantine Empire |
Abbasid Caliphate Tanukhids Lakhmids | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Elias † Simon Bandar (Theodore) Constantine V |
As-Saffah Al-Mansur Salih ibn Ali Abu Muslim | ||||||||
The Mount Lebanon revolts of 752 and 759 were a series of anti-Abbasid revolts by the Christian inhabitants of Lebanon as a response to the Abbasid oppression of the region. The first of these revolts began in the year 752 under the Mardaite prince Elias of Baskinta. Elias battled the Arabs in many parts of the Beqaa Valley but ultimately met his fate in a town now named after him known as Qabb Ilyas. However the Christians were not discouraged and a new leader known as Simon continued the rebellion, almost taking Homs and Hama of Syria with the support of the Byzantine navy. A second rebellion, commonly known as the Munayṭirah Revolt (Arabic: ثورة المنيطرة), occurred in 759 when a man known as Bandar (or Theodore in some sources)[1] declared himself king over all of the Mardaites. Salih ibn Ali, the uncle of the Abbasid caliph, ambushed Bandar near Baalbek and defeated him. After this the Caliph migrated several Arab tribes to the Christian regions forcing the expulsion of many from their native villages.