The Origins of the Islamic State/Part 10/Chapter 5

by Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyá al-Balādhurī

CHAPTER V

Ḳumm, Ḳâshân and Iṣbahân

Ḳumm and Ḳâshân reduced. Leaving Nihâwand, abu-Mûsa ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ḳais al-Ashʿari came to al-Ahwâz, and after passing through it, stopped at Ḳumm which he reduced after a few days' fight. He then directed al-Aḥnaf ibn-Ḳais, whose name was aḍ-Ḍaḥḥâk ibn-Ḳais at-Tamîmi to Ḳâshân, which he took by force. Abu-Mûsa then overtook him.^[1]

Jai and al-Yahûdîyah capitulate. In the year 23, ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb directed ʿAbdallâh ibn-Budail ibn-Warḳâʾ al-Khuzâʾi to Iṣbahân. Others assert that ʿUmar wrote to abu-Mûsa-l-Ashʿari ordering him to direct ʿAbdallâh at the head of an army to Iṣbahân, which abu-Mûsa did. ʿAbdallâh ibn-Budail conquered Jai,^[2] which capitulated after a fight, agreeing to pay kharâj and poll-tax, provided the population be guaranteed the safety of their lives and all possessions with the exception of the arms in their hands.

ʿAbdallâh ibn-Budail then directed al-Aḥnaf ibn-Ḳais, who was in his army, to al-Yahûdîyah,^[3] whose inhabitants made terms similar to those of Jai.

Thus ibn-Budail effected the conquest of the territory of Iṣbahân with its districts over which he acted as ʿâmil to the end of the first year of ʿUthmân's caliphate, at which time ʿUthmân appointed as-Sâʾib ibn-al-Aḳraʿ.

Bashîr's version. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd, a freedman of the banu-Hâshim, from Bashîr ibn-abi-Umaiyah:—Al-Ashʿari camped at Iṣbahân and proposed to the people the idea of Islâm, which they refused. He then proposed that they pay tax, upon which they made terms agreeing to pay it. The very next morning they rebelled; and he fought against them and, by Allah's help, defeated them. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd, however, adds, "In my view this refers to the inhabitants of Ḳumm."

The satrap of Iṣbahân. Muḥammad ibn-Saʿd from Muḥammad ibn-Isḥâḳ:—ʿUmar sent ibn-Budail al-Khuzâʿi to Iṣbahân, whose satrap [marzubân] was an aged man called al-Fâdûsafân.^[4] Ibn-Budail besieged the city and wrote to the people inciting them to forsake him. Seeing the lukewarmness of his men, al-Fâdusafân chose thirty archers, in whose courage and obedience he confided, and fled away from the city towards Karmân with a view to joining Yazdajird. As soon as ʿAbdallâh knew of it, he sent after him a heavy detachment of cavalry. As the Persian reached a high place, he looked behind and said to ʿAbdallâh, "Take heed for thyself, no arrow of ours misses its mark. If thou charge, we shoot; and if thou fight a duel, we will fight!" A duel followed in the course of which the Persian gave ʿAbdallâh^[5] a blow [with the sword] which, falling on the pommel of his saddle, broke it and cut the breast-girth [of the horse]. The Persian then said to ʿAbdallâh, " I hate to kill thee because I see thou art wise and brave. Wouldst thou let me go back with thee that I may arrange terms with thee and pay tax for my townsmen, of whom those who stay will be considered dhimmis, and those who flee will not be interfered with? The city I will turn over to thee." Ibn-Budail returned with him and took Jai; and the Persian fulfilled his promise, saying, "I saw that ye, people of Iṣbahân, are mean and disunited. Ye, therefore, deserve what I did with you."

The territory of Iṣbahân pays kharâj. Ibn-Budail then passed through the plains and mountains of the territory of Iṣbahân, all of which he conquered, treating them as regards kharâj as he had treated the people of al-Ahwâz.

Some say that the conquest of Iṣbahân and its territory was effected partly in the year 23 and partly in the year 24.

Other versions. It is reported by others that ʿUmar ibn-al-Khaṭṭâb sent at the head of an army ʿAbdallâh ibn-Budail, who met abu-Mûsa, after the latter had conquered Ḳumm and Ḳâshân. They both now led the attack against Iṣbahân with al-Aḥnaf ibn-Ḳais commanding the van of abu-Mûsa's army. Thus they subjugated all al-Yahûdîyah as described above. Ibn-Budail, after that, reduced Jai; and they both marched through the territory of Iṣbahân and reduced it. The most reliable account, however, is that Ḳumm and Ḳâshân were conquered by abu-Mûsa; whereas Jai and al-Yahûdîyah, by ʿAbdallâh ibn-Budail.

Abu-Ḥassân az-Ziyâdi from a Thaḳîf man:—In Iṣbahân stands the sanctuary^[6] of ʿUthmân ibn-abi-l-ʿÂṣi ath-Thaḳafi.

Persian nobility embrace Islâm. Muḥammad ibn-Yaḥya at-Tamîmi from his sheikhs:—To the nobility of Iṣbahân belonged various strongholds in Jafrabâd in the district of ath-Thaimarah^[7]-l-Kubra, in Bihjâwarsân^[8] and in the fort of Mârabîn.^[9] When Jai was reduced, these nobles offered homage, agreeing to pay the kharâj; and because they disdained to pay poll-tax, they became Moslems.

Al-ʿAnbari in Iṣbahân. It is stated by al-Kalbi and abu-l-Yaḳẓân that after al-Hudhail ibn-Ḳais al-ʿAnbari was appointed governor of Iṣbahân in the time of Marwân, the ʿAnbari clan moved there.

Idrîs ibn-Maʿḳil imprisoned. The grandfather of abu-Dulaf (abu-Dulaf being al-Ḳâsim ibn-ʿÎsa ibn-Idrîs ibn-Maʿḳil al-ʿIjli), whose occupation consisted in preparing perfumes and trading in sheep, came to al-Jabal with a number of his relatives and occupied a village at Hamadhân called Mass. They became wealthy and came to own many [crown] villages. One day Idrîs ibn-Maʿḳil attacked a merchant who owed him money and choked him. Others say he choked him and took his money. Therefore, he was carried away to al-Kûfah, where he was imprisoned. This took place when Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar ath-Thaḳafi ruled over al-ʿIrâḳ in the days of Hishâm ibn-Abd-al-Malik.

Al-Karaj rebuilt. After that, ʿÎsa ibn-Idrîs came to al-Karaj,^[10] which he reduced and whose fort, which was dilapidated, he rebuilt. Abu-Dulaf al-Ḳâsim ibn-ʿÎsa strengthened his position and rose into eminence in the eyes of the sulṭân. He enlarged that fort and built the city of al-Karaj which was for that reason called after him Karaj abi-Dulaf. Al-Karaj to-day forms a district by itself.

Ḳumm's rebellion suppressed. The inhabitants of Ḳumm threw off their allegiance and withheld the kharâj. Al-Maʾmûn directed against them ʿAli ibn-Hishâm al-Marwazi, recruiting him with troops^[11] and ordering him to wage war against them. ʿAli did so, killed their chief, Yaḥya ibn-ʿImrân, razed the city wall to the ground and collected over 7,000,000 dirhams as tax, although previous to this they used to complain that 2,000,000 were too much for them to pay.

In the caliphate of abu-ʿAbdallâh al-Muʿtazz-Billâh ibn-al-Mutawakkil-ʿAlallâh, they once more threw off their allegiance, upon which al-Muʿtazz directed against them Mûsa ibn-Bugha, his ʿâmil over al-Jabal, who was conducting the war against the Ṭâlibites who appeared in Ṭabaristân. Ḳumm was reduced by force and a large number of its inhabitants was slaughtered. Al-Muʿtazz wrote that a group of its leading men should be deported.

Footnotes

1. Cf. Yâḳût, vol. iv, pp. 15, 175.
2. A part of Isbahân. Iṣṭakhri, p. 198, note n; Ḥauḳal, p. 261; Yâḳût, vol. ii, p. 181; Meynard, pp. 188–189.
3. Another suburb of Iṣbahân. Yâḳût, vol. iv, p. 1045.
4. Ṭabari, vol. i, p. 2639: "al-Fâdhûsafân".
5. Caetani, vol. v, p. 10, takes ʿAbdallâh to be the one who delivered the blow. Cf. Ṭabari, vol. i, p. 2639.
6. Ar. mashhad—a place where a martyr died or is buried.
7. Yaʿḳûbi, p. 275: "at-Taimara"; cf. Rustah, p. 154, b; Yâḳût, vol. i, p. 908.
8. or Ḳahjâwarsân, Pers. Gah Gâwarsân. Yâḳût, vol. ii, p. 11.
9. Cf. Muḳaddasi, p. 402: "Sârimîn"; Yaʿḳûbi, p. 275: "Mîrabin"; Yâḳût, vol. iv, p. 382: "Mârabânân"; Hamadhâni, p. 263.
10. Meynard, pp. 478–479.
11. Ṭabari, vol. iii, p. 1093.