Rabi ibn Ziyad al-Harithi () 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, ...

military leader, who served the Rashidun and

Umayyad Caliphate 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 th ...

Biography

In 651, Rabi ibn Ziyad invaded the

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

province of

Sakastan 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 ( ...

. After some time, he reached Zaliq, a border town between

Kirman Kerman is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. Kerman or Kirman may also refer to: Places *Kirman (Sasanian province), province of the Sasanian Empire * Kerman Province, province of Iran ** Kerman County *Kerman, California People * Jo ...

and Sakastan, where he forced the '' dehqan'' of the town to acknowledge Muslim authority. He then did the same at the fortress of Karkuya, which had a famous fire temple, which is mentioned in the ''

Tarikh-i Sistan The ''Tarikh-i Sistan'' (''History of Sistan'') is an anonymous Persian-language history of the region of Sistan, in modern north-eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, ام ...

''. He then continued to seize more land in the province. He thereafter besieged the capital

Zrang Zaranj or Zarang (Persian language, Persian/Pashto language, Pashto/ bal, زرنج) is a city in southwestern Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan–Iran border, border with Iran, which has a population of 160,902 people as of 2015. It is the capita ...

, and after a heavy battle outside the city, its governor Aparviz surrendered. When Aparviz went to Rabi ibn Ziyad to discuss about the conditions of a treaty, he saw that he was using the bodies of two dead soldiers as a chair. This horrified Aparviz, who in order to spare the inhabitants of Sakastan from the Arabs, made peace with them in return for a heavy tribute of one million dirhams, as well as 1,000 slave boys (or girls) bearing 1,000 golden vessels. Rabi ibn Ziyad was then appointed as the governor of the province. 18 months later, Rabi was summoned 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 ...

, and was replaced by Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura as governor. In 671, Rabi was appointed as the governor of Khurasan, where he was able to expand Muslim rule in the east as far as Balkh. In 673, his son Abdallah ibn Rabi succeeded him as governor.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{s-end 7th-century deaths 7th-century Arabs Arab generals Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate People of the Muslim conquest of Persia Governors of Sistan Umayyad governors of Khurasan