Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( fa, عبدالله بن خرداببه) was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

general and governor for 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 ...

. He was the son of Khordadbeh, a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

from Khurasan who converted to Islam. By ca. 815, Abdallah served as the governor of

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

, and conquered the mountainous regions of Tabaristan from the local Bavandid ruler

Sharwin I Sharwin I ( Persian: شروین) was the fifth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 772 to 817. He was the son and successor of Surkhab II. Background In 760, during the reign of Sharwin's father Surkhab II, Khurshid, the head of the Dabuyid dynast ...

. During the same year, he campaigned in

Daylam Daylam, also known in the plural form Daylaman (and variants such as Dailam, Deylam, and Deilam), was the name of a mountainous region of inland Gilan, Iran. It was so named for its inhabitants, known as the Daylamites. The Church of the East es ...

, where he conquered two cities and captured its ruler Abu Layla. In 817, he aided

Mazyar Mazyar (Middle Persian: ''Māh-Izād''; Mazandarani/ fa, مازیار, Māzyār) was an Iranian prince from the Qarinvand dynasty, who was the ruler (''ispahbadh'') of the mountainous region of Tabaristan from 825/6 to 839. For his resistance to ...

, an Iranian prince, to escape from Tabaristan and reach the court of the Abbasid

caliph 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 ...

al-Ma'mun. Abdallah was also a friend of the Persian musician

Ishaq al-Mawsili Ishaq al-Mawsili ( ar, إسحاق الموصلي; 767/772 – March 850) was an Arab musician of Persian origin active as a composer, singer, music theorist and writer on music. The leading musician of his time in the Abbasid Caliphate, he served ...

. Not much more is known about Abdallah; he had a son named Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah, better known as

Ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...

, who was born in 820 in Khurasan and was later raised in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

, where Abdallah probably then resided. He thereafter disappears from sources, and later died at an unknown date in the 9th-century.

References

Sources

* * 9th-century deaths Abbasid governors of Tabaristan Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate Year of birth unknown 9th-century Iranian people {{iran-mil-bio-stub