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

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

governor of

Khurasan Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...

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 the

governor 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 ...

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

Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –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 deat ...

as governor of

, at a time concurrent with his brother

Ubayd Allah Ubayd Allah ( ar, عبيد الله), 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 detain ...

'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 Haytham al-Sulami, 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 ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...

. 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 ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...

, Abd al-Rahman retired to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, 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 Arabs 8th-century deaths Banu Thaqif Iranian centenarians Men centenarians Umayyad governors of Khurasan 7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate