ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ziyād ibn Abīhi () was the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

governor of

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

in 678/79–681. He is credited for reasserting Umayyad authority over the Arab tribesmen who garrisoned the province and ensuring the flow of Khurasan’s revenues and tribute to the Umayyad treasury in Damascus.

Life

Abd al-Rahman was an elder son of

Ziyad ibn Abihi Abu al-Mughira Ziyad ibn Abihi (; ), also known as Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan (), was an administrator and statesman of the successive Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates in the mid-7th century. He served as the governor of Basra in 665–670 and ultimat ...

the

governor of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and virtual viceroy of the eastern parts of the caliphate. Abd al-Rahman was appointed by Caliph

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

as governor of

, at a time concurrent with his brother

Ubayd Allah Ubayd Allah (), also spelled or transliterated Obaidullah, Obaydullah, Obeidallah, or Ubaydullah, is a male Arabic given name that means "little servant of God". Given name Obaidullah * Obaidullah (detainee), an Afghan detainee held in Guantanamo ...

's governorship of Iraq and its eastern dependencies, which included Khurasan.Shaban 1979, p. 39. Abd al-Rahman was tasked with restoring order to the Arab tribesmen who garrisoned the province and bringing them into line with the Umayyads' plans for eastward expansion. Under the virtual governorship of Aslam ibn Zur'a al-Kilabi, the Arabs had not launched any military expeditions for two years. Abd al-Rahman dispatched one of his commanders,

Qays ibn al-Haytham al-Sulami Qays ibn al-Haytham al-Sulamī () () was an Arab commander and administrator in the service of the Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun, Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Zubayrid caliphates. Under the caliphs Uthman () and Mu'awiya ...

, to confront Aslam and the latter was consequently imprisoned and forced to surrender 300,000 silver dirhams to the authorities. Abd al-Rahman remained in office for two years until being replaced with his brother Salm in 681 shortly after the accession of Caliph

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (; 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I () was the first ...

. In the course of his governorship, Abd al-Rahman did not launch any expeditions but succeeded in asserting control over the Arab troops of Khurasan and collecting unpaid tribute and revenues on behalf of Damascus. In a testament to his success, he was able to set aside from the collected sums twenty millions dirhams for himself, though this figure is likely an exaggeration by the sources, according to historian Muhammad Abdulhayy Shaban. According to 9th-century historian

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

, Abd al-Rahman retired to

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, where he maintained a daily spending of 1,000 dirhams and died at the age of 100.Al-Tabari, ed. Howard 1989, p. 185, n. 596.

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{cite book, title=The Abbasid Revolution , first=M. A. , last=Shaban , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=1979 , isbn=0-521-29534-3 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_03AAAAIAAJ , pages=160–161 7th-century Arab people 8th-century deaths Banu Thaqif Iranian men centenarians Umayyad governors of Khurasan 7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate