Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar

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Ya'qūb-i Layth-i Saffār
یعقوب لیث صفاری
Saffarid
FatherLaith

Ya'qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār (Persian: یعقوب لیث صفاری; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879),[1] was a coppersmith and the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). Under his military leadership, he conquered much of the eastern portions of Greater Iran consisting of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan as well as portions of western Pakistan[2][3] and a small part of Iraq. He was succeeded by his brother, Amr ibn al-Layth.

Early life

Ya'qub was born in 840, of eastern Iranian origins,

Ismailism".[7] However, these claims came roughly a century after Yaqub's death, and most sources agree on Ya'qub's ascetic lifestyle.[8]

According to numerous sources, he was extremely poor, and because of this, he occasionally consumed bread and onions. His family moved to the city of Zaranj due to the occasional sectarian violence between the Sunnis and Kharijites. Ya'qub began work as a coppersmith ("saffar"), while his brother Amr ibn al-Layth worked as a mule-hirer.[9]

Rise to power

Ya'qub, along with his brothers Amr ibn al-Layth, Tahir ibn al-Layth and Ali ibn al-Layth, later joined the

Tahirid governor of Sistan. Another ayyar leader, Dirham ibn Nasr, succeeded in unseating Salih as the king of Sistan in 858. However, in 861, Ya'qub overthrew Dirham, and gave himself the title of Emir at that point.[10][5]

Reign

Campaigns in Sistan and Khorasan

Khurasan, Transoxiana and Tokharistan
Saffarid coinage in Kabul, with Arabic
Nagari to left, عدل (’adl, "Justice") in Arabic to right.[11]

Ya'qub attracted the attention of an

Kharijism in the East. After having defeated the Ammar, Ya'qub held a celebration. During the celebration, one of the members of the court made a speech in Arabic. Ya'qub asked the latter why he made a speech in a language which he could not understand. One of Ya'qub's secretaries, Muhammad ibn Vasif, then made a qasida in Persian.[12]

Ya'qub claimed the inheritance of the kings of Persia and sought "to revive their glory," and thus in 867 he sent a poem written by himself to the Abbasid caliph Al-Mu'tazz. The poem said: "With me is the Derafsh Kaviani, through which I hope to rule the nations."[13]

In 870/871, Ya'qub marched against the Kharijites of

Isfizar.[14]

His army would later march to

Tahirids from their own capital of Nishapur, and captured its ruler Muhammad ibn Tahir, which led to conflicts with the Abbasid caliphate. During one of Ya'qub's numerous battles, his face was disfigured to the point that he could only eat through a pipe in his mouth for twenty days.[15]

Campaigns in Western Iran

Ya'qub set out west for

al-Hasan ibn Zayd. Ya'qub collected taxes in Tabaristan's capital Amul
before departing for Rayy.

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth once again set out for Fars, this time, invading it and advancing to

Khuzestan, and returned to Fars in an attempt to stop Ya'qub. They met near Lake Bakhtegan in August 875, and in the resulting battle, Muhammad, despite having a numerically superior army, was defeated. Muhammad was forced to flee; Ya'qub looted Muhammad's stronghold at Sa'idabad and took control of Fars.[19][20][21]

Map showing the location of the battle, as well as the routes taken by the Saffarid (red) and main 'Abbasid (blue) armies
Statue of Ya'qub in Zabol, Iran

In 876, the Abbasid representative

Al-Mufawwad in charge of the capital. On 15 March he arrived at Baghdad, before arriving near Kalwadha
and setting up camp.

Ya'qub traveled through Khuzistan, during which he gained the defection of a former general of the caliph's,

Abi'l-Saj Devdad, and entered Iraq. The caliphal general Masrur al-Balkhi managed to slow down his progress by flooding the land outside Wasit, but the Saffarid army was able to get through this and he entered Wasit on 24 March. Leaving Wasit, he set out for the town of Dayr al-`Aqul, which was about fifty miles from Baghdad.[26][27][28][29] According to one source, Ya'qub did not actually expect the caliph to offer battle; instead he would give in to any demands that the Saffarid had.[30][31] Al-Mu'tamid, however, sent al-Muwaffaq to stop him. The two armies met at Istarband, between Dayr al-`Aqul and Sib Bani Kuma.[32][33][34][35]

The Battle of Dayr al-Aqul took place on 8 April.[32][b] Before the battle, Ya'qub reviewed his troops, who apparently numbered about ten thousand. The Abbasids, however, had a numerical superiority[32][37] and the additional advantage of fighting on familiar territory. The center of the Abbasid army was commanded by al-Muwaffaq. Musa bin Bugha had command of the right wing, and Masrur al-Balkhi the left.[32][38][36] A final appeal was made to the Saffarids to restore their loyalty to the caliph, and the battle began.[39][40]

The fighting raged on for most of the day. The Saffarid army was somewhat reluctant to directly fight the caliph and his army. Despite this, there were heavy losses on both sides, and several Abbasid and Saffarid commanders were killed. Ya'qub himself was wounded, but he did not leave the field. As evening approached, reinforcements arrived to support al-Muwaffaq.

Abbasids a further advantage.[41][45]

Eventually the Saffarid army began to flee from the battle. Ya'qub and his bodyguards continued to fight, but were forced to leave the field as the army retreated, leaving them behind.

Muhammad bin Tahir, also fell into Abbasid hands and were freed.[41][46][36][45][47]

Ya'qub then withdrew from Iraq and died three years later.[8][48]

Ideology

Silver Dirham of Ya'qub al-Layth.

The motivation behind the Saffarids' initial campaigns remains unknown and highly debated in secondary scholarship. Some scholars believe that Ya'qub fought as a ghazi warrior for the purpose of spreading proto-Sunni Islam, others support the notion that he was motivated by his Persian identity,[c] while others believed he had a love for military conquest.[49] Ya'qub's hostility towards the Abbasid caliphs was easily seen.

The religion of the Saffarid's founder, Ya'qub, has been a topic of debate.[50] Most of the primary sources were written during or after the fall of the Samanid dynasty and view the Saffarids through Samanid eyes.[d] These primary sources depict Ya'qub either as a religious rascal or a volunteer Sunni warrior - a mutatawwi.[51] Yet Kharijism prospered in Sistan longer than anywhere else in eastern Iran, and it was believed the Saffarids held Kharijite sympathies.[52] Ya'qub even won Kharijite support in Sistan.[53]

C.E. Bosworth states the early Saffarid emirs did not appear to have significant religious beliefs.[54] The vizier Nizam al-Mulk, obsessed with the integrity of the Seljuk Empire, depicts Ya'qub as an Ismaili convert.[55]

According to the

Fadl ibn Sahl, despite everything which these men had done on the dynasty's behalf? Let no one ever trust them!"[56]

Death

Tomb of Ya'qub ibn al-Layth, near Dezful.

Ya'qub suffered from

Juzjani, claim that Yaqub never married.[58][59]

Legacy

It was during Ya'qub's rule that

Dailamites
.

Notes

  1. ^ Ibn Khallikān adds Kirman, Adharbayjan, Qazwin and al-Sind to this list.[25]
  2. ^ The actual date is given variously in the Arabic sources, such as 1 April[33] and 10 April[36]
  3. ^ D.G. Tor states S.M Stern's thesis work, which concerned Ya'qub's Persian nationalism, was based on one poem.[49]
  4. ^ According to D.G. Tor, the Samanids vilified the Saffarids in order to increase their own legitimacy since they were competing against them for territory.[51]

References

  1. ^ C. E. Bosworth. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. XI. p. 255. The provincial Persian Ya'kub, on the other hand, rejoiced in his plebeian origins, denounced the Abbasids as usurpers, and regarded both the caliphs and such governors from aristocratic Arab families as the Tahirids with contempt. – Ya'kub b. al-Layth al Saffar
  2. ^ a b "Yaʿqūb ibn Layth al-Ṣaffār". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  3. ^ a b c "Saffarid Dynasty". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  4. ^ Baumer 2016, p. 24.
  5. ^ a b Noldeke 2007, p. 170.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-9004072589
    .
  7. ^ Niẓām al-Mulk (1960). The Book of government or Rules for kings: The Siyāsat-nāma or Siyar al-Mulūk. Translated by Hubert Darke. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 15.
  8. ^ a b Bosworth 1994, p. [page needed].
  9. ^ a b c C. Edmund Bosworth. "YAʿQUB b. LAYṮ b. MOʿADDAL". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  10. ^ Bosworth 1975a, p. 109-111.
  11. ^ Flood 2018, p. 25-26.
  12. ^ Bosworth 1975b, p. 595.
  13. Encyclopaedia Iranica
    .
  14. ^ Bosworth 1975a, p. 110.
  15. ^ Gafurov, B.G. (2005). Central Asian:Pre-historic to Pre-Modern Times. Shipra Publications. pp. 53–54.
  16. ^ Bosworth 1994, pp. 148–149.
  17. ^ Tor 2007, pp. 132–133.
  18. ^ al-Tabari, pp. 119, 137.
  19. ^ Bosworth 1994, pp. 150–152.
  20. ^ Tor 2007, p. 157.
  21. ^ al-Tabari, p. 166.
  22. ^ Bosworth 1994, pp. 153–155.
  23. ^ al-Tabari, pp. 168–169.
  24. ^ Ibn al-Athir, p. 260.
  25. ^ Ibn Khallikān, p. 312.
  26. ^ Bosworth 1994, pp. 158–159.
  27. ^ al-Tabari, pp. 169–170.
  28. ^ Ibn al-Athir, pp. 260–261.
  29. ^ Ibn Khallikān, pp. 313, 316.
  30. ^ Bosworth 1994, p. 161.
  31. ^ Ibn Khallikān, p. 315.
  32. ^ a b c d e Bosworth 1994, p. 159.
  33. ^ a b al-Tabari, p. 170.
  34. ^ a b al-Mas'udi 1874, p. 43.
  35. ^ Ibn Khallikān, p. 31.
  36. ^ a b c d e Ibn al-Athir, p. 261.
  37. ^ Ibn Khallikān, p. 314.
  38. ^ al-Tabari, pp. 170, 172.
  39. ^ Bosworth 1994, pp. 159–160.
  40. ^ Ibn Khallikān, pp. 313–314.
  41. ^ a b c d Bosworth 1994, p. 160.
  42. ^ al-Tabari, pp. 170–171.
  43. ^ al-Mas'udi 1874, pp. 43–44.
  44. ^ Ibn Khallikān, pp. 314–316, 318–319.
  45. ^ a b c al-Mas'udi 1874, pp. 44–45.
  46. ^ a b al-Tabari, p. 171.
  47. ^ a b Ibn Khallikān, pp. 315–316, 319.
  48. ^ al-Tabari, p. [page needed].
  49. ^ a b Tor 2007, p. 87.
  50. ^ Tor 2007, p. 85-87.
  51. ^ a b Tor 2007, p. 90.
  52. ^ Bosworth 1975, p. 107.
  53. ^ Rahmati 2020, p. 44.
  54. ^ Meisami 1999, p. 120.
  55. ^ Bosworth 1975a, p. 108.
  56. ^ Bosworth 1975a, p. 125.
  57. ^ Noldeke 2007, p. 193.
  58. ^ Tor 2007, p. 182.
  59. ^ Ibn Khallikān, p. 330.
  60. ^ Stern, S.M. (1970). Yaqub the Coppersmith and Persian National Sentiment. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  61. ^ Culture and Customs of Afghanistan. Greenwood Press. 2005. p. 27.

Sources


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