Utba ibn Abi Sufyan
Utba ibn Abi Sufyan عتبة بن أبي سفيان | |
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Governor of Egypt | |
In office 664–665 | |
Monarch | Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) |
Preceded by | Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As |
Succeeded by | Uqba ibn Amir |
Personal details | |
Born | Banu Umayya (clan) |
Children | Al-Walid |
Parents |
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Military service | |
Battles/wars |
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Utba ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb (
Life
Utba was a son of
Following the death of Amr in 664, his son Abd Allah was appointed governor of Egypt for a few weeks in 664 before he was removed from his position and Utba was appointed governor of Egypt.[8] He strengthened the Muslim Arab presence and elevated the political status of Alexandria by attaching 12,000 Arab troops to the city and constructing a dar al-imara (governor's palace).[8] The Dar al-Imara was intended to serve as the residence of the Arab governor of the province, who was based in Fustat.[9] Utba was the first Arab governor of Egypt recorded to have visited Alexandria by the Arabic sources, though Amr is implicitly said to have entered the city as governor, according to al-Baladhuri.[10] Nonetheless, Utba remained concerned that troop numbers in Alexandria remained insufficient and vulnerable to the large, local Christian population there.[8] Utba died in office in 665,[11] and was succeeded by the muleteer of Muhammad, Uqba ibn Amir.[8] According to the 9th-century historian al-Tabari, however, Utba led the Hajj in February 667, and he or his brother Anbasa led it again the following year, in January 668.[12]
Utba's son al-Walid went on to serve as governor of Medina under Mu'awiya and his son and successor, Caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683). A descendant of Utba, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Utbi was recorded as a source of information in the history of al-Tabari.[13]
References
- ^ Morony 1987, p. 220.
- ^ Donner 1981, p. 251.
- ^ Donner 1981, p. 271.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 182.
- ^ Madelung 1997, p. 196.
- ^ Madelung 1997, pp. 236–237.
- ^ Morony 1987, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d Kennedy 1998, p. 69.
- ^ Bruning 2018, p. 50.
- ^ Bruning 2018, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Rosenthal 2015, p. 633, note 475.
- ^ Morony 1987, pp. 89–92.
- ^ Brinner 1987, p. 83.
Bibliography
- Brinner, William, ed. (1987). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume II: Prophets and Patriarchs. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-921-6.
- Bruning, Jelle (2018). The Rise of a Capital: Al-Fusṭāṭ and Its Hinterland, 18-132/639-750. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-36635-0.
- ISBN 0-691-05327-8.
- ISBN 0-521-47137-0.
- ISBN 0-521-56181-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87395-933-9.
- Rosenthal, Franz (2015). Man versus Society in Medieval Islam. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-27088-6.