04-22-2017, 01:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-22-2017, 02:20 PM by Michael Kerr.)
This story has nothing to do with the pass at Macedonia but more to do with the Derbent pass near the Caspian. I read an old 1840 Turkish version of the book Derbend-Nâmeh, or ”the history of Derbend" or the parts with English translations on Google books where the Turkish author translated Persian and Arabic material and described a battle in the Arab-Khazar wars, in reality a series of wars, between 642 and 737 AD. Apparently the Arab armies invaded Khazar territory in the winter and won a battle near the town of Derbend/Derbent and made great slaughter and carried off the enemies' horses. This battle they called the "Battle of the Mud" or "Dirty Engagement" because of frequent rains. The Arabic leader Mervan ordered his men to cut off the tails off their horses due to the abundance of mud which clung to their tails. Of course it has nothing to do with Macedonia except for the Derbend/Derbent but maybe some connection or similarity in the name and I still thought it was worth mentioning.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
