Khalid al-Qasri
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Khālid ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Qasrī (; died 743) was an Arab who served the
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 ...
as governor of
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
in the 8th century and of
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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
from 724 until 738. The latter post, entailing as it did control over the entire eastern Caliphate, made him one of the most important officials during the crucial reign of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. He is most notable for his support of the Yaman tribes in the conflict with the Qays who dominated the administration of Iraq and the East under his predecessor and successor. Following his dismissal, he was twice imprisoned and in 734 tortured to death by his successor,
Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi () was a senior provincial governor for the Umayyad Caliphate. His policies during his tenure as governor of Iraq in 738–744 deepened the Qays–Yaman rivalry and were one of the main factors in the outbreak of the civil ...
.


Origin and early life

Khalid was born in Damascus. He was a member of the Tihamite Qasr clan, a subtribe of the
Bajila The Bajīla () was an Arab tribe that inhabited the mountains south of Mecca in the pre-Islamic era and later dispersed to different parts of Arabia and then Iraq under the Muslims. The tribe, under one of its chieftains Jarir ibn Abd Allah, play ...
, of which his great-grandfather Asad ibn Kurz al-Qasri is said by some traditions to have been the chief in the times of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, and is accounted as one of the Prophet's Companions. Other traditions, however, hostile to Khalid, report that Asad was a runaway Jewish slave. Khalid's grandfather Yazid was an early and prominent supporter of the
Umayyads Umayyads may refer to: *Umayyad dynasty, a Muslim ruling family of the Caliphate (661–750) and in Spain (756–1031) *Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) :*Emirate of Córdoba (756–929) :*Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خ ...
in the First Fitna, while Khalid's father Abdallah sided with
Ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...
in the Second Fitna, but was eventually pardoned by the Caliph Abd al-Malik (). Khalid's mother was a Christian.Crone (1980), p. 102Hawting (1978), pp. 925–927 Khalid possibly served as governor of
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 ...
in 702, but his first secure appointment is as governor of
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
. The dates of this appointment are unclear, as al-Tabari mentions his appointment twice in 707/8 and 709/10, under al-Walid I (), but other traditions report that he held the post already under Abd al-Malik in 705. Similarly, although his tenure is held to have ended with the accession of Sulayman in 715, the historian
al-Azraqi Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah Al-Azraqi () was a 9th-century Islamic commentator and historian, and author of the ''Kitab Akhbar Makka'' (Book of Reports about Mecca). Al-Azraqi was from a family who lived in Mecca for hundreds of years. He gave inform ...
reports traditions that he continued to govern Mecca into Sulayman's reign. His governorship of Mecca is remembered chiefly for acts such as the decoration of the Kaaba with gold or measures to regulate the local cult, such as the segregation of genders during the ''
tawaf The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
''. Khalid also constructed a fountain, at the behest of the Caliph, to serve the pilgrims, and boasted of its superiority to the bitter water of the sacred
Zamzam Well The Zamzam Well ( ar, بئر زمزم, translit=Biʾru Zamzam ) is a well located within the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is located east of the Kaʿba, the holiest place in Islam. According to Islamic narratives, the well is a mi ...
. During this time he also reportedly proclaimed that he would be willing, as a measure of his loyalty to the dynasty, if the Caliph so ordered, to tear down the Kaaba and transport it to
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.Hawting (2000), p. 82


Governorship of Iraq

After his dismissal from Mecca, he is next mentioned as one of the two envoys sent by Caliph
Yazid II Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, يزيد بن عبد الملك, Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; — 28 January 724), also referred to as Yazid II, was the ninth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 9 February 720 until his death in 724. Early life Yazid was b ...
() to the former governor of Iraq,
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab Yazid ibn al-Muhallab ( ar, يزيد بن المهلب) (672–720) was a provincial governor in the time of the Umayyad dynasty and an early member of the Muhallabid family that became important in early Abbasid times. Life In A.H. 78 (697-698 ...
, hoping to prevent his rebellion. In 724, on the accession of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (), Khalid was himself appointed as governor of Iraq, replacing
Umar ibn Hubayra Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari ( ar, عمر بن هبيرة الفزاري, ʿUmar ibn Hubayra al-Fazārī; ) was a prominent Umayyad general and governor of Iraq, who played an important role in the Qays–Yaman conflict of this period. Origin and ...
. His authority extended over the entire eastern Caliphate, except for Khurasan, which was sometimes separated from Iraq's authority. When Khurasan was under his jurisdiction, he appointed his brother, Asad, to its governorship (725–727 and 734–738). As his native Bajila tribe was relatively weak and unaligned in the pervasive conflict between the Qays and Yaman tribal groups of the period, Khalid's appointment to Iraq may have been a move designed to calm the situation there, which had been exacerbated by the brutal suppression of the Muhallabid rebellion by the Qaysi Syro- Jaziran army and the subsequent solidly Qaysi regime of Ibn Hubayra. In the event, however, this backfired: the Qaysis resented Khalid for his replacement of their champion, Ibn Hubayra, while the Yamanis themselves did not support him wholeheartedly, even though he staffed his administration with Yamanis; it was only his replacement in 738 with another Qaysi governor,
Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi () was a senior provincial governor for the Umayyad Caliphate. His policies during his tenure as governor of Iraq in 738–744 deepened the Qays–Yaman rivalry and were one of the main factors in the outbreak of the civil ...
, that confirmed Khalid as a "Yamani" governor in the later tradition. Details of his long tenure are relatively unknown. With the exception of the suppression of a Kharijite revolt of Bahlul ibn Bishr al-Shaybani in the north and a
Shi'ite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
extremist movement of al-Mughira ibn Sa'id in
Kufa Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...
and of Wazir al-Sikhtiyani in al-Hirah in 737, his governorship seems to have been generally peaceful. He is also held responsible for the execution of Ja'd ibn Dirham, a "rather shadowy figure associated with a variety of religious doctrines" (Hawting). During this tenure, Khalid undertook extensive irrigation and land reclamation projects, from which he amassed a huge fortune. His governorship was also marked by the minting of high-quality coinage, by increasing, at the orders of Hisham, the weight of the silver '' dirham'' from six to seven ''daniqs''. After his dismissal, this change was reverted. Khalid is also accused by some later traditions of having been ambivalent or even hostile towards Islam. He is presented as a sceptic or atheist (''
zindiq Zindīq (pl. zanādiqa) is a medieval Islamic term applied by Muslims to individuals who are considered to hold views or follow practices that are contrary to central Islamic dogmas.. Zandaqa is the noun describing these views. Zanadiqa is usuall ...
'') and favourably disposed towards the non-Muslim groups, especially the Christians: he is derisively called ''Ibn Nasraniyya'' on account of his maternal ties to Christians, and is said to have commented on Christianity's superiority to Islam, derided the ''
huffaz Hafiz (; ar, حافظ, ḥāfiẓ, pl. ''ḥuffāẓ'' , f. ''ḥāfiẓa'' ), literally meaning "memorizer", depending on the context, is a term used by Muslims for someone who has completely memorized the Quran. Hafiza is the female equiva ...
'', and to have built a church for his mother near the mosque at Kufa.


Dismissal and death

The reasons for Khalid's dismissal in 738 are obscure. Sources suggest that Hisham became jealous of Khalid's wealth, but the real motive seems to have been Qaysi pressure to relieve him. Khalid certainly was taken by surprise by the arrival of his replacement, Yusuf ibn Umar. Yusuf immediately imprisoned Khalid and his sons, and tortured his predecessor to extract his wealth, a practice common during hand-overs of governorships at the time. After eighteen months, Khalid was released and went to Hisham's capital Rusafa and then to his native Damascus. However, after Hisham died in early 743, his successor al-Walid II () sold Khalid back to Yusuf ibn Umar for 50 million ''dirhams''. Yusuf again tortured him until Khalid died, an act which further exacerbated the Qays–Yaman feud and led to the downfall of al-Walid II. Of Khalid's sons, Yazid became a partisan of
Yazid III Yazīd ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (701 – 3/4 October 744) ( ar, يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك) usually known simply as Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or ...
during the
Third Fitna The Third Fitna ( ar, الفتنة الثاﻟﺜـة, al-Fitna al-thālitha), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate beginning with the overthrow of Caliph al-Walid II in 744 and ending with the victory of Marwan ...
and was executed by
Marwan II Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم, Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of ...
(), while
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
joined the
Abbasid 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 ...
armies and served as governor of Mecca and
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
.Crone (1980), pp. 102–103


References


Sources

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External links

{{Authority control 7th-century births 743 deaths Umayyad governors of Iraq Politicians from Damascus Prisoners and detainees of the Umayyad Caliphate 8th-century Arabs Torture victims 8th-century executions by the Umayyad Caliphate One Thousand and One Nights characters 7th-century Arabs Umayyad governors of Mecca