Nasr ibn Abdallah, known as Kaydar ( ar, كيدر نصر بن عبد الله; '' nisbah'' given variously as al-Safadi الصفدي or al-Sughdi الصغدي) was a governor of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

for the

Abbasid Caliphate 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-Muttalib ...

, serving there from 832 until his death in 834.

Career

Kaydar appears to have been of Sogdian descent, and he was considered a

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuabl ...

of the

Commander of the Faithful Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

(''mawla amir al-mu'minin''). He was appointed to the governorship of Egypt by the caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) following the latter's visit to the province in February 832. The caliph also sent a "foreigner" ('' ajam'') named Ibn Bistam to serve as chief of security (''

shurta ''Shurṭa'' ( ar, شرطة) is the common Arabic term for police, although its precise meaning is that of a "picked" or elite force. Bodies termed ''shurṭa'' were established in the early days of the Caliphate, perhaps as early as the caliphate ...

h''), but Kaydar dismissed him over charges of bribery and ordered him to be whipped in the mosque, after which he appointed his own son Muzaffar to lead the ''shurtah'' instead. During Kaydar's governorship, al-Ma'mun ordered the beginning of the '' mihnah'' or inquisition, to ensure compliance with his belief that the Qur'an had been created. In 833 Kaydar received a letter from al-Ma'mun's brother and successor Abu Ishaq, announcing the formation of the ''mihnah'' and instructing him to implement it in Egypt. He accordingly questioned the ''

qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

'' Harun ibn Abdallah al-Zuhri, along with other officials and legal experts, and received their affirmation of the createdness of the Qur'an. A few months after the beginning of the ''mihnah'', al-Ma'mun died in August 833 and was succeeded by Abu Ishaq, who took the regnal name al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). The new caliph wrote to Kaydar, ordering him to drop the names of the provincial Arabs from the army registers ('' diwan'') and stop paying their salaries. This act met stiff resistance, however, and soon a certain Yahya ibn al-Wazir al-Jarawi revolted and drew five hundred men to his cause. Kaydar responded by preparing to engage the rebels, but he died in 834, and the governorship was taken over by his son Muzaffar.; ;

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaydar Nasr ibn Abdallah 834 deaths Abbasid governors of Egypt 9th-century Iranian people Sogdian people 9th-century Abbasid governors of Egypt