Ujayf ibn Anbasa () (died 838) was one of the senior-most military leaders of 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 ...

under the caliphs

al-Ma'mun Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...

and al-Mu'tasim.

Biography

Nothing is known of his family, but he was probably of native Khurasani or

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

n origin. He appears in the early 9th century as a follower of the rebel governor

Rafi ibn al-Layth Rāfiʿ ibn al Layth ibn Naṣr ibn Sayyār () was a Khurasani Arab noble who led a large-scale rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate in 806–809. He was the grandson of the last Umayyad governor of Khurasan, Nasr ibn Sayyar. His father Layth ...

, but quickly abandoned him along with most of the people of

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

and

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

when Caliph

Harun al-Rashid Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar , أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...

himself campaigned to Khurasan in 808.Bosworth (2000), p. 778'Ujayf probably belonged to the same social group as the other eastern Iranian generals who were later employed by al-Mu'tasim in his "Turkish" guard, and who were minor princes or drawn from the landed gentry (). Under

(r. 813–833), Ujayf became a distinguished general, campaigning in northern

Persia 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 ...

and suppressing the

Kharijite 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 c ...

revolt of Bilal al-Dibabi in 829. Ujayf maintained his position under Mu'tasim, Ma'mun's half-brother and successor, campaigning against the

Zutt Jat Muslim or Musalman Jat also spelled Jutt ( ur, ) (also spelled Jatt or Jutt; ) are a sub-group of the Jat people, who are followers of Islam and are primarily native to the Punjab region, Gujarat Region or Northern regions of the Indian S ...

in southern

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 ...

in 834, and leading a number of expeditions against the Byzantines in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Ujayf was one of the military leaders to receive cantonments for themselves and their troops at Mu'tasim's new capital at

Samarra Samarra ( ar, سَامَرَّاء, ') is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, north of Baghdad. The city of Samarra was founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutasim for his Turkish professional army ...

, and he was granted the revenue from the market of the town of Ishtikhan (near

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

) as a reward. In 838, however, during Mu'tasim's great campaign against the Byzantine city of Amorium, Ujayf fell out with the caliph over the provisioning of the army; to this were added other perceived slights, and Ujayf and his followers began to conspire against the caliph. Ujayf was probably a leading member of a powerful group within the Abbasid military establishment that already back in 833 had opposed Mu'tasim's accession, and had favoured his nephew, Ma'mun's son al-Abbas. The agitation then had only subsided after Abbas himself swore allegiance to his uncle, but now a conspiracy was formed to kill Mu'tasim as well as his top Turkish commanders,

al-Afshin Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs ( ar, حيدر بن كاوس, fa, خِیذَر اِبنِ کاووس, Kheyzar ebn-e Kāvus), better known by his hereditary title of al-Afshīn ( ar, الأفشين, fa, اَفشین, Afshin), was a senior general of Sogd ...

and

Ashinas Abu Ja'far Ashinas ( ar, أبو جعفر أشناس; died 17 or 19 December 844) was a general of the ''Abbasid Caliph'' Al-Mu'tasim. One of the earliest and most prominent members of al-Mu'tasim's Turkic guard, he rose to become one of the leadi ...

. The plot was uncovered, however, and the ringleaders were arrested, with Ujayf being executed.Gordon (2001), pp. 47–50

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ujayf ibn Anbasa 8th-century births 838 deaths Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Executed military personnel Khurasan under the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century Iranian people