, title =
Amir of the
Saffarid dynasty
, image = مجسمه یعقوب لیث در زابل.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Statue of Ya'qub in
Zabol, Iran
, reign = 861–879
, coronation =
, predecessor = Laith
, successor =
Amr ibn al-Layth
, spouse =
, issue =
, royal house =
Saffarid
, father = Laith
, mother =
, religion = Christianity (earlier)
(Later)Islam
, birth_name = Nicholas
, birth_date = 840
, birth_place = Karnin (near
Zaranj), modern-day
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
, death_date = 5 June 879 (aged 39)
, death_place =
Gundeshapur
Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded ...
,
Khuzestan,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, place of burial =
Tomb of Yaghub Leys Safari
The Tomb of Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar or Yaghub Leys Safari (Persian: آرامگاه یعقوب لیث صفاری) was built by the Saffarid dynasty and this building is located in Gundeshapur in Dezful County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. It ...
, Gundeshapur,
Dezful, Khuzestan, Iran
Ya'qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār ( fa, یعقوب لیث صفاری; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879), was a son of a coppersmith named
Laith and he himself was also a coppersmith before rosing to the power , he was the founder of the
Saffarid dynasty of
Sistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...
, with its capital at
Zaranj (a city now in south-western
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
). Under his military leadership, he conquered much of the eastern portions of
Greater Iran consisting of modern-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
,
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the s ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
,
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
as well as portions of western
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and a small part of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He was succeeded by his brother,
Amr ibn al-Layth.
Early life
Ya'qub was born in 840, of eastern Iranian origins, in a small town called ''Karnin'' (Qarnin), which was located east of
Zaranj and west of
Bost (Lashkargah), in what is now
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
. Information about his genealogy and social background is lacking.
Clifford Edmund Bosworth explains that several
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...
sources were invariably hostile to Ya'qub because of the disrespect he showed toward the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
caliph.
[Bosworth, "The Armies of the Saffarids", pp. 536, 541. Cited in ] "Some sources accused Ya'qub of being a
Khariji,
Ibn Khallikan labeled him a Christian, and
Nizam al-Mulk claimed that he converted to
Ismailism
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al ...
". However, these claims came roughly a century after Yaqub's death, and most sources agree on Ya'qub's ascetic lifestyle.
Many sources claim that he lived a very poor life, and it is mentioned that he sometimes ate bread and onions due to poverty. 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.
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
ayyars under Salih ibn al-Nadr, who had opposed the Abbasids and began ruling in Bost. By 854, the ayyars managed to expel Ibrahim ibn al-Hudain, who was the
Tahirid governor of Sistan. In 858, Dirham ibn Nasr, another ayyar leader, managed to replace Salih as the ruler of Sistan. However, in 861, Ya'qub overthrew Dirham, and gave himself the title of
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
at that point.
Reign
Campaigns in Sistan and Khorasan
Ya'qub attracted the attention of an
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
by first battling Kharijites in his homeland of Sistan. In 864, "Yaʿqub led an expedition to
Bost against his former master Salih, and then into Rukkaj and
Zamindāvar against the local ruler there, the
Zunbil, killing him and securing an immense booty."
He also managed to capture several family members of the Zunbils, including the Zunbil king's son. He then vanquished the
Hindu Shahis, conquering their capital
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
. He later moved against the
Kharijites in northern
Sistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...
, winning a decisive victory and killing their leader Ammar ibn Yaser in 865. Ya'qub's campaigns marked the decline of militant
Kharijism
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
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.
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
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
caliph
Al-Mu'tazz. The poem said: "With me is the ''
Derafsh Kaviani
Derafsh Kaviani ( fa, درفش کاویانی) was the legendary royal standard Derafsh (in Latin: vexilloid) of Iran ( Persia) used since ancient times until the fall of the Sasanian Empire. The banner was also sometimes called the "Standard o ...
'', through which I hope to rule the nations."
In 870/871, Ya'qub marched against the Kharijites of
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...
, and defeated them. He then marched towards
Karukh
Karukh (Persian/Pashto: كرخ) is a town and the center of Karukh District, Herat Province, Afghanistan. The population is more than 18,800 people. The town is located at 1320 m altitude, 50 km northeast of Herat.Karukh's busy bazaar is con ...
, and defeated another Khariji leader who was named Abd al-Rahman. Ya'qub then pardoned Abd al-Rahman and made him governor of
Isfizar.
His army would later march to
Ghazna,
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...
, and
Bamyan, conquering these territories from the
Hindu Shahi
The Hindu Shahis (also known as Odi Shahis, Uḍi Śāhis, or Brahman Shahis, 822–1026 CE) were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabul Valley, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details ...
in the name of Islam, and appointing Muslim governors. From there they moved to north of the
Hindu Kush and by 870 AD the whole of Khorasan was brought under their control. The
Panjshir Valley was now under Ya'qub's control, which made him able to mint silver coins. In 873, Ya'qub ousted the
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.
Campaigns in Western Iran
Ya'qub set out west for
Fars with the intention of subjugating the province. Sources disagree on what happened next, but Ya'qub was eventually dissuaded from continuing his expedition, and he turned back toward Sistan. His withdrawal is described as having been caused either by the governor
Muhammad ibn Wasil's submission to him, or by the arrival of emissaries sent by the caliphal government to convince him to abandon his westward advance. In either case, Muhammad soon afterwards reached a rapprochement with the central government, and in 872 he handed over the
kharaj (tax revenues), and possibly the government of Fars, to a caliphal representative. Ya'qub later traveled to
Tabaristan in 874, and battled the
Zaydid leader
al-Hasan ibn Zayd. Ya'qub collected taxes in Tabaristan's capital
Amul
Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) is an Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat.
Formed in 1946, it is a cooperative brand managed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today is ...
before departing for Rayy.
Ya'qub ibn al-Layth once again set out for Fars, this time, invading it and advancing to
Estakhr, seizing Muhammad's treasuries there. Muhammad departed from
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.
In 876, the Abbasid representative
Al-Muwaffaq offered Ya'qub governorship of Khurasan, Tabaristan, Fars,
Gurgan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...
, and
Ray
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (gr ...
, and to appoint him as head of security in Baghdad. Ya'qub, sensing that the offer was made due to the weakness of the caliph, rejected it and wrote back that he would be advancing to the capital. The offer also alienated the Turks of Samarra, who felt that Ya'qub represented a threat to their interests. Seeing that an agreement with the Saffarid was impossible, the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Mutta ...
caliph
al-Mu'tamid decided upon war and pronounced a formal curse upon Ya'qub. On 7 March 876, al-Mu'tamid left Samarra, leaving his son
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. 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. Al-Mu'tamid, however, sent al-Muwaffaq to stop him. The two armies met at Istarband, between Dayr al-`Aqul and Sib Bani Kuma.
The
Battle of Dayr al-Aqul took place on 8 April. Before the battle, Ya'qub reviewed his troops, who apparently numbered about ten thousand. The Abbasids, however, had a numerical superiority 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. A final appeal was made to the Saffarids to restore their loyalty to the caliph, and the battle began.
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. The ''
mawla'' Nusayr created a diversion by attacking the Saffarid rear from boats on the
Tigris and setting fire to the
Saffarid baggage train, giving the
Abbasids a further advantage.
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. The caliph had apparently flooded the lands behind the Saffarids before the battle, and this made a retreat difficult; many men drowned attempting to escape the Abbasid army. With the Saffarids making their hasty exit, al-Muwaffaq was able to capture Ya'qub's baggage. Several political prisoners that Ya'qub had brought with him, such as the Tahirid
Muhammad bin Tahir, also fell into Abbasid hands and were freed.
Ya'qub then withdrew from Iraq and died three years later.
Ideology
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, while others believed he had a love for military conquest. 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. Most of the primary sources were written during or after the fall of the Samanid dynasty and view the Saffarids through Samanid eyes. These primary sources depict Ya'qub either as a religious rascal or a volunteer Sunni warrior - a ''mutatawwi''.
C.E. Bosworth
Clifford Edmund Bosworth FBA (29 December 1928 – 28 February 2015) was an English historian and Orientalist, specialising in Arabic and Iranian studies.
Life
Bosworth was born on 29 December 1928 in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire (now ...
states the early Saffarid emirs did not appear to have significant religious beliefs. The vizier Nizam al-Mulk, obsessed with the integrity of the Seljuk Empire, depicts Ya'qub as an Ismaili convert.
According to the ''
Tarikh-i Sistan'', Ya'qub even said that the Abbasids were liars, and also said: "Haven't you seen what they did to Abu Salama,
Abu Muslim
, image = Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales, Folio from the Ethics of Nasir (Akhlaq-e Nasiri) by Nasir al-Din Tusi (fol. 248r).jpg
, caption = "Abu Muslim chastises a man for telling tales," Folio from the '' ...
, the
Barmakid family and
Fadl ibn Sahl, despite everything which these men had done on the dynasty's behalf? Let no one ever trust them!"
Death
Ya'qub suffered from
colic
Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out. ...
and was refusing treatments when advised to do so. As a result, he died on Wednesday, 5 June 879, in
Gundeshapur
Gundeshapur ( pal, 𐭥𐭧𐭩𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭩𐭥𐭪𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, ''Weh-Andiōk-Šābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundishapur, founded ...
. He was soon after succeeded by his brother
Amr Saffari. Although he was not viewed as a gentleman, he also did not exercise any special cruelty. It was reported that he did not smile much, and was called "the
anvil" by one of his enemies. According to
Ibn Khallikan, his wife was an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
woman from
Sistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...
, although all other sources, including
Ibn Athir and
Juzjani, claim that Yaqub never married.
Legacy
It was during Ya'qub's rule that
Persian was introduced as an official language, and Ya'qub reportedly did not know Arabic.
Ya'qub has been accorded the historical status of a popular folk hero since his court began the revitalization of the Persian language after two centuries in which the Arabic language flourished in Persian lands.
Several poets, like Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Mamshadh, fabricated Ya'qub's genealogy, tracing it back to the legendary Iranian king
Jamshid.
Ya'qub is also sometimes perceived as one of the first autonomous rulers in Khurasan since the Islamic conquests.
Ya'qub's campaigns in fact also marked the early stage in the decline of caliphal political unity in the Islamic world,
which was further worsened by the ''
ghulams'' and the
Dailamites.
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saffari, Yaqub-i Laith
Rulers of the Saffarid dynasty
840 births
879 deaths
Rebels from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century Iranian people
Coppersmiths