Ali ibn Yahya al-Armani

'Alī ibn Yaḥyā al-Armanī (Arabic: علي بن يحيى الأرمني) was a Muslim military commander of the mid-9th century, involved in the border warfare with the Byzantine Empire.

[2] Later he was named commander (wali or amir) of the Abbasid Caliphate's borderlands in Cilicia (the al-thughur ash-Sha'miya), confronting the Byzantine Empire, with Tarsus as his base.

He is the first amir of Tarsus known to have exercised broadly autonomous authority there, taking advantage of the decline in the power of the Abbasid Caliphate's central government.

[5][6] In October/November 862 he was appointed governor of Armenia and Adharbayjan,[7] and in October/November of the next year, he was killed in battle with the Byzantines along with 400 of his men.

[4] According to the 10th-century account of al-Mas'udi (The Meadows of Gold, VIII.74–75) his reputation was such that he was among the "illustrious Muslims" whose portraits were displayed in Byzantine churches in recognition of their valour.