Badr al-Hammami Badr al-Hammami Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Ḥammāmī, also known as Badr al-Kabīr ("Badr the Elder"), was a general who served the Tulunids and later the Abbasids. Of Greek origin, Badr was originally a slave of the founder of the Tulunid regime, Ahmad ibn Tulun, who later set him free. In September 893, along with Muhammad ibn Abba, and the governor of Tarsus, Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi, Badr led an expedition against the Byzantine Empire, reaching as far as al-Balaqsun (unidentified, possibly Carian or Lycian Telmessos). Following the death of Ibn Tulun's son Khumarawayh in 896, many Tulunid officers left Egypt and
Battle of the Defile the Turgesh army withdrew north towards Samarkand. The Muslim army followed, and scored a victory in a battle fought near the city. Junayd then retired with his troops to winter in Merv. During the winter, rebellions broke out south of the Oxus, in Tokharistan, which had hitherto been quiescent to Muslim rule. Junayd was forced to set out for Balkh and there dispersed 28,000 of his men to quell the revolt. This left him seriously weakened when, in early 731, the Turgesh laid siege to Samarkand and appeals for aid arrived from the city's governor, Sawra ibn al-Hurr al-Abani. Despite