Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān () (died ) was an
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 ...
general and military governor of
Khurasan in 676–677 during the reign of Caliph
Mu'awiya I. He was a son of Caliph
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
() and a one-time seeker of the caliphate in 675/76.
During his short term in Khurasan, he launched a campaign deep into
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 ...
and defeated one or two
Soghdia
Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Em ...
n armies. He reportedly captured
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
and besieged
Samarkand, gaining tributary status from the latter, before proceeding to capture
Tirmidh
Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it i ...
. He was dismissed by Mu'awiya, possibly due to concerns that his popularity and battlefield successes had strengthened Sa'id's previous bid to seek the caliphate instead of Mu'awiya's designated successor,
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 ...
. He was killed in Medina by his noble Soghdian slaves.
Life
Sa'id was a son of Caliph
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
() and the latter's wife Fatima bint al-Walid, a scion of the prominent
Banu Makhzum
The Banu Makhzum () was one of the wealthy clans of the Quraysh. They are regarded as being among the three most powerful and influential clans in Mecca before the advent of Islam, the other two being the Banu Hashim (the tribe of the Islamic proph ...
clan of the
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
. Caliph
Mu'awiya I () had partly based his claim to the caliphate on his pursuit of justice for the assassination in 656 of Uthman, his
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 ...
kinsman. Upon hearing news that he had nominated his son
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 ...
as his successor, Sa'id left Medina for Mu'awiya's court in Damascus to petition against the decision. According to the accounts of the medieval Muslim historians
al-Mada'ini
Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Sayf al-Qurashī l-Madāʾinī () (752/3–843), better known by his '' nisba'' of al-Madāʾinī ("from al-Mada'in"), was a scholar of Iranian descent who wrote in Arabic and was active ...
(d. 843) and
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 ...
(d. 892), Sa'id visited Damascus to demand a high-ranking office from Mu'awiya and that the latter questioned Sa'id about rumors that he was seeking the caliphate. Sa'id, in turn, argued that because he was a son of Uthman and that his mother was a noble Qurayshite (as opposed to Yazid whose mother
Maysun bint Bahdal
Maysun bint Bahdal () was a wife of caliph Mu'awiya I (), and as mother of his successor and son Yazid I (). She belonged to a ruling clan of the Banu Kalb, a tribe which dominated the Syrian steppe. Mu'awiya's marriage to her sealed his allia ...
was a
Kalbite tribeswoman), he was indeed a more legitimate candidate for the caliphate than Yazid. Sa'id had been supported or encouraged to claim the office by people in Medina, including a segment of the elite
Ansar faction. He may have also been quietly encouraged by
Marwan ibn al-Hakam
Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...
, a senior Umayyad in Medina who resented Mu'awiya's rule and sought to restore the office to the Abu al-As branch of the Umayyad clan, to which Marwan and Sa'id belonged (Mu'awiya belonged to the Sufyanid branch). Mu'awiya accepted the merit of Sa'id's arguments, though
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) holds that the caliph rejected Sa'id's assertion that he was more worthy than Yazid.
Governorship of Khurasan
Depending on the source, during his meeting with Sa'id, Mu'awiya recommended that he should take up office in
Khurasan, the easternmost province of the
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, or granted this to Sa'id per the latter's own request. In any event, the caliph sent Sa'id to
Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad
ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād ( ar, عبيد الله بن زياد, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ziyād) was the Umayyad governor of Basra, Kufa and Khurasan during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I and Yazid I, and the leading general of the Umayyad army unde ...
, the governor of
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 the eastern Caliphate, with directions to assign Sa'id commander of the conquests in Khurasan in 675/76. Per the caliph's instructions, Ibn Ziyad allotted Sa'id four million
dirhams to distribute among the 4,000 soldiers under his command. Though there were capable commanders among the men assigned to Sa'id, including
al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra
Abū Saʿīd al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufra al-Azdī ( ar, أَبْو سَعِيْد ٱلْمُهَلَّب ابْن أَبِي صُفْرَة ٱلْأَزْدِي; 702) was an Arab general from the Azd tribe who fought in the service of the R ...
, many of the troops collected were Basran prisoners and otherwise disruptive tribal elements from the population. On the way to Khurasan, Sa'id further recruited highwaymen from the
Banu Tamim
Banū Tamīm ( ar, بَنُو تَمِيم) is an Arab tribe that originated in Najd in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, and has a strong presence in Morocco, Palestine, Tuni ...
to join his ranks.
Mu'awiya restricted Sa'id's jurisdiction to military affairs, assigning fiscal responsibilities to
Ishaq ibn Talha Isḥāq ibn Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh (died 675 or 676) was a member of the Muslim elite settled in Iraq under Umayyad rule and a transmitter of Muslim tradition. The caliph Mu'awiya I appointed time oversee fiscal affairs in the vast province o ...
, who died en route to Khurasan and was replaced in the role by
Aslam ibn Zur'a al-Kilabi Aslam ibn Zurʿa ibn ʿAmr ibn Khuwaylid al-Ṣāʿiq al-Kilābī () () was a prominent Arab chieftain of the Qays tribal faction in Basra and Khurasan and served as the governor of Khurasan in 675 and 677–679. In the period between his two terms, ...
, a
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
ite tribal leader in the Khurasan garrison and the province's former lieutenant governor. According to the historian Muhammad Shaban, Mu'awiya's deployment of Sa'id and Ishaq represented efforts to ensure that the surplus tax revenue of Khurasan, in addition to the traditional fifth of the war booty from the conquests there, was forwarded to the caliphal treasury in Damascus. This was generally opposed by the Arab tribesmen who made up the ranks of Khurasan's garrisons, who sought to keep the bulk of the provincial revenue under their control. With Ishaq's death and Aslam's virtual usurpation of the former's role, as well as Mu'awiya's efforts to keep good relations with the Qaysites so that their Syrian counterparts would accept Yazid's nomination, Sa'id was forced to work with Aslam as his partner-in-government.
After preparing his army, Sa'id launched a campaign east of the
Oxus
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
river, deeper than the previous campaign of 674 by Ibn Ziyad, and defeated a
Soghdia
Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Em ...
n army on the open field before capturing one of their cities and then occupying the
Tirmidh
Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it i ...
fortress. The traditional Muslim histories of
Abu Ubayda
ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet ...
(d. 825), al-Baladhuri,
al-Tabari (d. 923),
Narshakhi
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi (or Narshaki) (ca. 899–959), a Sogdian scholar from the village of Narshak in the Bukhara oasis is the first known historian in Central Asia. His unique ''History of Bukhara'' (''Tarikh-i Bukhara'') was writ ...
(d. 959) offer varying accounts of the campaign. Al-Baladhuri and Narshakhi hold that Sa'id's crossing of the Oxus prompted Khatun, the queen of
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
to give allegiance to the Caliphate, but she then reneged upon the arrival of a supportive 120,000-strong army of Turks, Soghdians and soldiers from
Kish
Kish may refer to:
Geography
* Gishi, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, a village also called Kish
* Kiş, Shaki, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality also spelled Kish
* Kish Island, an Iranian island and a city in the Persian Gulf
* Kish, Iran, ...
and
Nasaf
Qarshi ( uz, Qarshi/Қарши, ; fa, نخشب ''Nakhshab'') is a city in southern Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Qashqadaryo Region. Administratively, Qarshi is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Qashqadaryo. It ...
. Sa'id's forces decisively defeated this army, entered Bukhara in triumph and, boosted by numerous defectors among the Soghdian army, besieged
Samarkand for three days, after which it became a tributary of the Caliphate. Abu Ubayda also records that Sa'id besieged Samarkand. He then proceeded to capture Tirmidh and it was there that he received the tribute owed by Khatun and the allegiance of
Principality of Khuttal
The Principality of Khuttal, (also spelled ''Khatlan'' and ''Khotlan''), was a local Iranian dynasty, which ruled the Khuttal region from the early 7th century to 750. The rulers of the region were known by their titles of “Khuttalan Shah” (k ...
.
Dismissal, death and legacy
Mu'awiya relieved Sa'id of his post in 677. This may have stemmed from Sa'id's growing popularity and battlefield successes, which could potentially reinforce his claims as a legitimate rival to Yazid.
Ibn Asakir (d. 1176) relates that Sa'id had returned to Medina after Mu'awiya's death in 680. On his return, he took with him fifty Soghdian nobles as slaves whom he employed to work his land. He abused them by confiscating their valuables and having them dressed in wool. A number of the Soghdians then killed Sa'id, possibly with their shovels, in his walled garden before killing themselves. Marwan had attempted to rescue Sa'id, but was unable as the Soghdians had locked the garden's gate.
Sa'id had at least two wives, one of whom was Ramla, the daughter of Mu'awiya's father and a leading figure among the Quraysh,
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams ( ar, صخر بن حرب بن أمية بن عبد شمس, Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya ibn ʿAbd Shams; ), better known by his '' kunya'' Abu Sufyan ( ar, أبو سفيان, Abū Sufyān), was a prominent ...
; the other wife is not named in the sources. From Ramla, Sa'id had his son Muhammad, about whom nothing is known in the sources, and A'isha, who married Abd Allah, the son of Mu'awiya I. From his second wife, Sa'id had a daughter called Umm Sa'id who successively married Caliph
Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (),
al-Abbas ibn al-Walid (son of Caliph
al-Walid I, ) and
Abd al-Aziz ibn Umar (son of Caliph
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ( ar, عمر بن عبد العزيز, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; 2 November 680 – ), commonly known as Umar II (), was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He made various significant contributions and reforms to the society, and ...
, ). Another son of Sa'id recorded in the sources was Aban, whose ''
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 ...
'' (non-Arab, Muslim freedman) was a high-ranking supporter of the Umayyad rebel
Abu al-Umaytir in his early 9th-century revolt against the
Abbasids
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 ...
, who had overthrown the Umayyads in 750.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
680s deaths
7th-century Arabs
People from Medina
Children of Rashidun caliphs
Umayyad governors of Khurasan
Assassinated people in the medieval Islamic world
Umayyad dynasty