User:Al Ameer son/Muhallab

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Al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra al-Azdi
Fars
In office
685–686
MonarchAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (r. 683–692)
Zubayrid governor of Mosul[note 1]
In office
687–688
MonarchAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (r. 683–692)
Preceded byIbrahim ibn al-Ashtar
Succeeded byIbrahim ibn al-Ashtar
Umayyad governor of Khurasan[note 2]
In office
698–702
MonarchAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705)
Preceded byUmayya ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid
Succeeded byYazid ibn al-Muhallab
Personal details
Bornca. 632
Died702
Marw al-Rudh, Umayyad Caliphate
ChildrenYazid
Habib
Al-Mughira
ParentAbu Sufra

Abū Saʿīd al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra al-ʿAtakī al-Azdī (ca. 632–702) was an Arab general and governor who fought in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphs between the mid-640s and his death.

Throughout his early military career, he participated in the Arab campaigns against the Persians in

al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi in 686/87. After this victory, he was transferred to the governorship of Mosul where he was charged with protecting Iraq from a potential invasion from Umayyad-controlled Syria
.

The resurgence of the Azariqa in Ahwaz in 688/89 saw him transferred once again to that front by the Zubayrids. When the latter were ousted from Iraq by the Umayyads in 691, al-Muhallab switched allegiance to Caliph Abd al-Malik, who kept him in command of the war with the Azariqa. With the key support of the powerful Umayyad governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, al-Muhallab decisively defeated the Kharijites in 698. Throughout the thirteen-year conflict with the Kharijites, al-Muhallab was consistently viewed as indispensable by the Basrans and their successive Zubayrid and Umayyad rulers. Al-Hajjaj made al-Muhallab governor of Khurasan in 698 and from there, he recommenced the Arab conquests in Transoxiana, leading a two-year-long siege of the Kish fortress. He was ultimately compelled to withdraw to his capital in Merv and died on the way there. He was succeeded by his son Yazid ibn al-Muhallab.

Life

Early life

Al-Muhallab was born in circa 632.

Ahwaz.[1] He later fought them in Sistan in 653/54, during the reign of Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656).[1] In 656, during the reign of Caliph Ali (r. 656–661), al-Muhallab and his father were moved to Basra.[1] Though in the reports cited by 9th-century historians al-Tabari and al-Awtabi, Ali declared Abu Sufra the chief of Azd, the modern historian Patricia Crone holds that "neither Abu Sufra nor al-Muhallab ever held" the chieftainship of the Basran Azd.[1] Rather, they gained prestige and power through their military prowess not their tribal status.[1] At some point during Ali's caliphate, al-Muhallab fought again in Ahwaz.[1]

Between 662 and 665, during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), al-Muhallab led a renewed campaign into Sistan, reaching as far as Sindh.[1] In 664, he attacked Banna and al-Ahwar (Lahore), but was countered by local forces.[4] There, he adopted the Indian tradition of trimming the tails of his war horses.[1] After his Sistan campaign, he was transferred, for an unspecified period, to the Khurasan front in 670, fighting under the command of al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari.[1] He returned to this front under the governor of Khurasan, Sa'id ibn Uthman, in 676 and then again in 681, in the company of other reputable Basran generals recruited by the newly-appointed governor, Salm ibn Ziyad.[1] This time he remained in the province for a further three years, after which Umayyad authority collapsed in Khurasan and most of the caliphate.[1] Salm consequently departed the province, initially appointing al-Muhallab as his deputy governor, but the latter was quickly edged out by Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami.[1] Khurasan and Iraq ultimately came under the suzerainty of the anti-Umayyad, Mecca-based caliph, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (r. 683–692), who appointed al-Muhallab governor of Khurasan.[1] Meanwhile, a mass wave of Azdi tribesmen from Uman had migrated to Basra between 679 and 680, merged with the Azd Sarat already present in the city and formed a strong alliance with the Rabi'a tribal confederation, a major faction in the Basran garrison.[3] After Yazid's governor in the city, Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, was ousted in the aftermath of the caliph's death, the Azdi leader of the Azd–Rabi'a alliance, attempted to gain control of the city and was killed by members of the rival Banu Tamim, the other major faction of the Basran garrison.[3] This precipitated hostilities between the two groups, which spread to Khurasan where troops from both factions were deployed.[3]

First campaign against the Kharijites

Al-Muhallab was unable to take up his assignment in Khurasan due to the opposition of the Basran troops, who pressed him to lead the campaign against the

al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, proclaimed to the Basran garrison and its Zubayrid governor, al-Harith ibn Abi Rabi'a al-Makhzumi, that "only al-Muhallab" was capable of defeating the Azariqa.[7] After al-Muhallab refused their initial entreaties, the Basran nobles forged a letter from Ibn al-Zubayr calling on him to abandon his assignment to Khurasan and confront the Kharijites instead, which he accepted after securing assurances of loyalty from the troops and sufficient funds from the local treasury.[8] The campaign against the Kharijites "was to occupy him [al-Muhallab], on and off, for the next thirteen years", according to Crone.[1] Under his command, the Zubayrid forces ousted the Azariqa from the Tigris river valley, forcing them to regroup at a place in Ahwaz called Sillabra, where he inflicted a decisive defeat against them in 685,[6][9] in which 7,000 of their men were killed.[10] The Azariqa consequently retreated east into into Fars.[6] Al-Muhallab remained in Ahwaz for a short period until Ibn al-Zubayr's brother, Mus'ab, became governor of Basra.[11] The latter appointed al-Muhallab governor of Fars.[12]

Governor of Mosul

By 686/87, al-Muhallab had dispersed the Azariqa in the regions of Basra and Ahwaz and was called on by Mus'ab to join his campaign against

Adharbayjan.[1][14] He replaced al-Mukhtar's governor over these areas, Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar, who joined the Zubayrids after their victory in Kufa and was transferred to that city.[15] As governor over the region wedged between Zubayrid-controlled Fars and Iraq and Umayyad-controlled Syria, al-Muhallab was tasked with protecting Iraq from an Umayyad invasion.[1][16] He was also charged with ridding the region of al-Mukhtar's surviving loyalists, the Khashabiyya, who remained in control of Nisibis.[1]

Final campaign against the Kharijites

Al-Muhallab was recalled from Mosul to confront the Azariqa's resurgence and renewed raids against Ahwaz, and Ibn al-Ashtar replaced him as governor.[1][6][17] Despite the intensified efforts of al-Muhallab, the Azariqa's defense kept him confined to the west bank of the Dujayl Canal.[6] In 690, eight months after he was reassigned to the war against the Azariqa, Mus'ab was defeated and killed by the Umayyad army led by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan at the Battle of Maskin.[18][6] At the time, al-Muhallab was engaged against the Azariqa in the environs of Ahwaz.[19] Upon hearing news of Abd al-Malik's victory and conquest of Iraq, al-Muhallab had his troops swear allegiance to the Umayyad caliph.[20] Abd al-Malik's kinsman and governor over Basra, Khalid ibn Abdallah, relieved al-Muhallab of command and assigned him to collect the kharaj (land tax) of Ahwaz.[1] The governor's brother, Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah, was appointed in al-Muhallab's place, but was routed by the Azariqa.[21] After Abd al-Malik was informed of his forces' defeat, he sent a letter reproaching Khalid for not utilizing al-Muhallab, "who is fortunate in judgment, good in management, skillful and experienced in war—a man of war, and the son of men of war".[22] Afterward, in 693/94, Abd al-Malik directly appointed al-Muhallab commander of the war against the Azariqa, but later that year, his troops deserted the field against them at Ramhormoz following news of the death of Bishr ibn Marwan, Khalid's replacement as governor of Basra.[1]

Toward the end of 694, Abd al-Malik appointed

Sufyan ibn Abrad al-Kalbi in 698/99.[23]

Governor of Khurasan and death

In 697/98, Khurasan was incorporated into al-Hajjaj's governorship and he appointed al-Muhallab as his deputy governor over the province.[1][24] The Kharijite rebellions had not taken root in Khurasan and at the time of his appointment, the Tamim formed the strongest army faction in the province.[25] According to historian Muhammad Adnan Shaban, al-Hajjaj viewed the unruly Tamim's dominance as the major impediment to his policies of centralization and expansion in the eastern half of the caliphate. His solution was to balance the Tamim with the largely Azd–Rabi'a troops of al-Muhallab.[26] The latter's appointment marked a departure from the Umayyad tradition of appointing a member of the factionally neutral Quraysh as governor over Khurasan.[27]

By dint of his battlefield reputation and al-Hajjaj's resolute support, al-Muhallab secured the loyalty of the Khurasani troops and renewed their focus on furthering the Muslim conquests in Transoxiana.

Oxus river, and recruited its ruler, who converted to Islam.[28]

After crossing the Oxus, al-Muhallab reached

Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, in 700, all led al-Muhallab to "return to Merv to put his own house in order before trying to make any advances in Transoxiana".[30] Ibn al-Ash'ath's forces swept through Fars and at one point gained control of Kufa and Basra before being stamped out by al-Hajjaj and his Syrian troops in 701. Al-Muhallab remained loyal to the Umayyads during the tumult.[1] He died at Marw al-Rudh, on the way to Merv, in 702.[30] He was succeeded by his son Yazid as governor.[1] During this period, the Muslim conquest of Makran was consolidated and the Azd, the predominant Arab faction in this region, gained considerable wealth.[31]

Notes

  1. Adharbayjan.[1][2]
  2. ^ Khurasan was attached to the Iraqi governorship of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, who appointed al-Muhallab as his deputy governor over Khurasan.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai Crone 1993, p. 357.
  2. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 110, 118.
  3. ^ a b c d Strenziok 1960, p. 812.
  4. ^ Wink, p. 121.
  5. ^ a b Hawting 1989, pp. 165–166.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rubinacci 1960, p. 810.
  7. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 167.
  8. ^ Hawting 1989, pp. 167–168.
  9. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 168.
  10. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 175.
  11. ^ Hawting 1989, p. 172.
  12. ^ a b c d Fishbein 1990, p. 86.
  13. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 87, 92.
  14. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 110, 118.
  15. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 110.
  16. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 123.
  17. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 133–134.
  18. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 198.
  19. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 182.
  20. ^ Fishbein 1989, p. 199.
  21. ^ Fishbein 1990, p. 200.
  22. ^ Fishbein 1990, pp. 202–203.
  23. ^ Rubinacci 1960, pp. 810–811.
  24. ^ Shaban 1971, p. 109.
  25. ^ Shaban 1970, pp. 53–54.
  26. ^ Shaban 1970, pp. 54–55.
  27. ^ Shaban 1970, p. 54.
  28. ^ a b c d Shaban 1970, p. 55.
  29. ^ Shaban 1970, pp. 55–56.
  30. ^ a b c d e Shaban 1970, p. 56.
  31. ^ Wink 2002, p. 53.

Bibliography

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  • Fishbein, Michael, ed. (1990). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXI: The Victory of the Marwānids, A.D. 685–693/A.H. 66–73. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
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  • ISBN 978-0-88706-855-3
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  • ISBN 978-0-88706-721-1
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  • Rubinacci, R. (1960). "Azārika". In
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  • Shaban, M. A. (1970). The Abbasid Revolution. Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 0-521-29534-3
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  • Shaban, M. A. (1971). Islamic History: Volume 1, AD 600-750 (AH 132): A New Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 0-521-08137-8
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  • Strenziok, G. (1960). "Azd". In
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  • Wink, Andre (2002). Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Brill Academic Publishers.
    ISBN 0-391-04173-8
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