Rāfiʿ ibn al Layth ibn Naṣr ibn Sayyār () was a Khurasani Arab noble who led a large-scale rebellion against 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 ...

in 806–809. He was the grandson of the last

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, Nasr ibn Sayyar. His father Layth was likely the "''

mawla Mawlā ( ar, مَوْلَى, plural ''mawālī'' ()), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet ...

'' of the ''

amir al-mu'minin Amir al-Mu'minin ( ar, أَمِير ٱلْمُؤْمِنِين, amīr al-muʾminīn) is an Arabic title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community. It is usually translated as "Commander of the Faithful", though sometimes also as "Prin ...

''" whom Caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...

sent as an envoy to the Turkish ruler of Farghana. According to

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 e ...

, Rafi served as a garrison commander in Samarkand. In 796, 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 ...

appointed a prominent member of the Abbasid elites, Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan, as the governor of Khurasan. Ali's ruthless exploitation of the province and oppressive fiscal measures caused much resentment among the local elites, as well as outbreaks of Kharijite uprisings. In April 805, a more and more complaints reached Harun, he went to

Rayy Shahr-e Ray ( fa, شهر ری, ) or simply Ray (Shar e Ray; ) is the capital of Ray County in Tehran Province, Iran. Formerly a distinct city, it has now been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran as the 20th district of municip ...

to inspect the situation for himself. However, when Ali came and presented himself before the Caliph, he brought with him an enormous treasure in precious objects—worth 30 million

gold dinar The gold dinar ( ar, ﺩﻳﻨﺎﺭ ذهبي) is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Lat ...

s according to one source—which he liberally distributed to the Caliph's entourage and family. As a result, Harun not only kept him in place, but even accompanied him for part of his return journey, a rare mark of honour. Consequently, when in 806 Rafi launched a revolt in Samarkand, it spread quickly across Khurasan, finding support both among the Arabs and the Iranian natives. Rafi also secured the support of the Oghuz and Karluk Turks. Harun al-Rashid dismissed Ali and replaced him with

Harthama ibn A'yan Harthama ibn A'yan (; died June 816) was a Khurasan-born general and governor of the early Abbasid Caliphate, serving under the caliphs al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun. He played an important role in the victory of al-Ma'mun in the Abbasid ...

, and in 808 marched himself east to deal with the situation, but died in March 809 while at

Tus Tus or TUS may refer to: * Tus (biology), a protein that binds to terminator sequences * Thales Underwater Systems, an international defence contractor * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language, ISO 639-3 code Education * Technological Univ ...

. After Harun's death, Rafi' chose to surrender himself to Harun's son and new governor of Khurasan, al-Ma'mun. He was pardoned, and nothing more is known of him after.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * * * {{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, edition=Second 8th-century births 9th-century deaths 9th-century Arabs Khurasan under the Abbasid Caliphate Arab rebels Rebels from the Abbasid Caliphate 9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 800s conflicts