KUTAYBA’S SUCCESSORS
On the death of Kutayba, Wakī`, who had been a ringleader in the
revolt, took upon himself the direction of affairs in Khorāsān. After
a lapse of nine months, however, a new governor arrived, in the person
of Yezīd ibn Muhallab, and Wakī` was placed under arrest, while his
partisans were subjected to punishment. According to the Persian
translation of Tabari, Yezīd this year “began a series of expeditions
beyond the frontiers of Khorāsān, to countries where Kutayba had not
penetrated,”[141] but they are not mentioned in the Arabic original,
nor are such undertakings consistent with the rest of Yezīd’s career.
For his attention was turned to the subjection of the countries to
the west of Khorāsān,[142] rather than to the extension of Mohammedan
authority towards the Chinese frontier.
Thus we find him in A.H. 98 conducting his troops against Jurjān and
Tabaristān. The former country was regarded as the key of Western Asia.
It was strongly fortified; and its walls, extending as far as the Sea
of Azof, were an effectual barrier to the aggressions of the Turkish
hordes.[143] But these attacks appear to have told severely on the
inhabitants, who finally secured the withdrawal of their persistent
foes by the payment of tribute. They had adopted similar tactics on an
Arab invasion which took place under the Caliphate of `Othman: when the
enemy again withdrew, on receiving a bribe of 2,000,000 direms. Jurjān
thereafter enjoyed a long immunity from attack, although Kutayba had
more than once solicited permission from Hajjāj to establish a direct
route between `Irāk and Khorāsān by crushing its independence. Yezīd’s
anxiety to achieve a conquest which had been the unrealised ambition of
his great rival can be easily understood. On his departure from Jurjān
he left his son Mokhallad in charge of Khorāsān. The force at his
command included Kūfans, Basrans, Syrians, and the _élite_ of Khorāsān
and Ray, and numbered 100,000, exclusive of volunteers and slaves. The
first object of his attack was the town of Dihistān, which was peopled
by Turks.[144] Having reduced it by a close blockade, he proceeded
to Jurjān, where the inhabitants, as was their wont, bought peace at
the price of 300,000 direms. Yezīd then passed in a south-westerly
direction into Tabaristān. Its king took refuge in a mountain
inaccessible to the Mohammedan troops, and organised resistance to the
invader from this safe retreat. He obtained reinforcements from Gīlān
and Daylam, and called on the _Marzabān_ of Jurjān to break the treaty
entered into with Yezīd, and massacre the Arabs in Jurjān. Thus was
Yezīd surrounded by active foes, and his retreat cut off. The only
course open to him was to conclude peace with the king of Tabaristān,
and gather his forces for the punishment of the faithless people of
Jurjān. This he did, swearing that he would not stay his sword until
he had shed blood enough to turn a mill, and had eaten bread made
with flour therefrom. The Marzabān, on learning the approach of the
Musulmans, shut himself up in a stronghold which crowned a mountain
top, and was accessible by one road only. Here he held out for seven
months against Yezīd; but the latter enticed the garrison from their
retreat by a ruse, and made prisoners of them all. Their punishment
enabled the ruthless conqueror to fulfil his pledge.
Yezīd now returned to Merv, and sent a highly coloured report of his
successes to his master the Caliph. His career, however, was not
destined to be a long one, for in the following year, A.H. 99 (717),
Sulaymān died, and was succeeded by `Omar ibn `Abd ul-`Azīz. Yezīd
received at the hands of the new Caliph treatment very similar to that
meted out to Kutayba by Sulaymān. He was summoned to appear at Basra,
and after a brief interview with the sovereign he was thrown into
prison. The government of Khorāsān was at the same time transferred to
Jarrāh, son of `Abdullah. The ostensible reason alleged for Yezīd’s
disgrace was his retention of the immense booty of which, in his report
to the preceding Caliph, he had boasted as the fruit of the Jurjān
campaign. `Omar’s real motive was more creditable to him. Yezīd had
been accused by Mohammedan converts from Khorāsān of harshness and
caprice, and `Omar stood alone among the Eastern Caliphs in pursuing
a policy of moderation in propagating his creed.[145] This wise
monarch died in A.H. 101 (719), and was succeeded by Yezīd ibn `Abd
el-Melik. On his accession Yezīd ibn Muhallab effected his escape from
prison, raised the flag of revolt against the new Caliph, one of his
bitterest enemies, and made himself master of Basra. The movement
spread over most of the Eastern provinces, and was not crushed until
the end of the following year, A.H. 102 (720), when Maslama, who held
the viceroyalty of the two `Irāks,[146] defeated and slew Yezīd in a
fierce battle fought near Kūfa on the banks of the Euphrates. In the
same year Maslama appointed a new governor of Khorāsān in the person
of Sa`īd ibn `Abd ul-`Azīz. This step was followed by a general rising
of the inhabitants of Khojend and Farghāna. The tributary Soghdians,
being thus threatened on their eastern frontier, asked help from Merv,
but the new governor, who was of a weak and vacillating disposition,
delayed so long in sending reinforcements that the Soghdians made
overtures to the Turks. When at length the Arabs arrived they were
joined by the former; but disputes arose, which ended in the slaughter
of the Soghdians to the number of 3000. Throughout the reign of Yezīd
II. the Moslem Far East was plunged in continual warfare, with no
very marked results; for the army of `Irāk was fully occupied with
operations against the Khazar and Kipchāk tribes occupying Armenia,
which were, for the most part, attended by ill-success. In A.H. 102
(720) Yezīd II. dismissed Maslama from his post, on the ground that
his leniency had led to a serious falling off in the revenues from
`Irāk and Khorāsān. `Omar ibn Hobayra replaced him. In the following
year Sa`īd, “the Effeminate,”[147] while fighting beneath the walls of
Samarkand, received the news of his dismissal. He was superseded in the
governorship by a namesake, Sa`īd ibn `Amr el-Harashī.[148] El-Harashī
at once set out for Farghāna by way of Bokhārā and Samarkand,[149] and
on reaching Farghāna besieged the king in one of his fortresses. The
king at last came to terms and paid an indemnity of 100,000 direms,
besides surrendering many slaves. During the following night, while
most of the Musulmans were asleep, the treacherous chief, at the head
of 10,000 men, fell upon them and slew a great number. The main body,
however, on receiving the alarm, hastily mounted and charged the
infidels fiercely, putting them to rout and killing the king with 2000
of his followers. In the same year, A.H. 104 (722), El-Harashī was in
his turn deposed,[150] and Muslim ibn Sa`īd, the Kilābite, put into his
place as generalissimo of the Eastern army.
The Mohammedans meanwhile had their hands full in reducing disorders in
Transcaspia, and their ill-success accounts for the perpetual changes
made in the leaders of their troops. The Turks, indeed, were yearly
growing in power and insolence. Muslim ibn Sa`īd suffered a series
of defeats at their hands which culminated in an utter rout of the
Mohammedan army, the survivors escaping with difficulty across the
river of Balkh. In A.H. 105 (723) Yezīd II. died, and was succeeded by
his brother Hishām, who at once appointed Khalid ibn `Abdullah al-Kasrī
governor of the two `Irāks, while he despatched Khālid’s brother Asad
with a powerful army to bring the Turks into subjection. He failed
as miserably as his predecessor; for thrice in successive years he
crossed the Balkh River and marched into Soghdiana, as often to retreat
with severe losses. Enraged by his continued misfortunes, he called
together his generals and roundly accused them of being the cause.
He then had them stripped, bastinadoed, and shaved, and sent them in
chains to his brother Khālid.[151] This outrageous behaviour disgusted
the Caliph, who dismissed Asad and gave the command of the Eastern
army to Ashras ibn `Abdullah.[152] The new general was held in high
esteem by his followers, and received the title of “the Perfect.” He
made great efforts to induce the Christians of Central Asia to embrace
Islām, by promising them exemption from the capitation tax. He appears,
however, not to have abided by his word, but to have reimposed the tax,
with the result that many of the recent converts rose in rebellion and
attached themselves to the Khākān. But Ashras, too, met with a crushing
defeat at the hands of the Turks, and was consequently recalled. In the
person of his successor, Junayd ibn `Abd er-Rahmān,[153] we find a man
more fit for supreme command than those who had preceded him. In his
first engagement with the Turks he defeated the Khākān with a force of
170,000 men, of whom the Musulmans killed about 3000.[154] Junayd then
retired across the Balkh River to Merv, where he wintered.
In the following spring he crossed the Oxus with his whole force,
and on gaining the right bank divided it into three corps. The first,
consisting of 10,000 men, he sent under Saura ibn el-Hurr to occupy
Samarkand. The second division was ordered to Tokhāristān under Omāra
ibn Horaym, who quickly reduced the whole province; while Junayd
himself took command of the remainder.
The accounts of the fighting that ensued, as given by the two versions
of Tabari, offer great discrepancies. The Arabic original, which in
this case seems the most trustworthy source, points to an almost
total defeat of the Mohammedan forces in the first instance, while
the Persian translation, in abridging this account, omits many of the
details of disaster. According to the Arabic, Junayd was marching
on Tokhāristān when news reached him that Saura was hard pressed
in Samarkand by the Khākān of the Turks, whereupon Junayd resolved
to march to his relief. But his forces were so scattered that he
was obliged to set out with the small contingent under his personal
command. When about half-way he was surrounded by the Turkish hordes,
and a fearful struggle ensued in which hundreds of his brave Arabs were
slain. At last he withdrew to a defile,[155] threw up entrenchments,
and called a council of war. His officers pointed out to him that
either he or Saura must perish. He therefore sent word to Saura[156]
to march out of Samarkand, which with much reluctance he did at the
head of 12,000 men. Saura set out in the direction of Junayd’s camp,
and had nearly reached it when he was suddenly attacked by the Turks.
So great was the slaughter that of the 12,000 we are told only three
finally escaped,[157] Saura himself perishing with his army. Having
created this diversion, Junayd thought fit to sally from his retreat,
but only to find himself again outnumbered by the Khākān’s forces. He
now promised freedom to the slaves of his camp if they would fight
for him,[158] and by the valour of these impromptu auxiliaries he was
able to push his way through to Samarkand. When the Caliph Hishām
received Junayd’s report[159] of what had passed he sent him larger
reinforcements of men from Basra and Kūfa, numbering in all some
25,000. When Junayd had been four months in Soghdiana, tidings were
brought to him that the Khākān was threatening Bokhārā; he thereupon
set out from Samarkand, leaving there a garrison in charge of Nasr ibn
Sayyār. In the course of two years Junayd appears to have restored
order in Transoxiana, and with the help of his new reinforcements to
have driven out the Turks. The `Abbāsid faction, which a little later
brought about the downfall of the Umayyad dynasty, in the year 113
began to send emissaries into Khorāsān; Tabari tells us that Junayd
seized one of these men and put him to death. But, apart from this
fact, Tabari has scarcely anything to relate of Junayd between the
years 113 and 116.
In A.H. 116 (734) Junayd, in spite of his great services, was dismissed
from his post by the Caliph for having married the daughter of Yezīd
ibn Muhallab, and `Āsim ibn `Abdullah was appointed in his stead. He
died of dropsy before his successor reached Merv. By his cruelty and
injustice to all who had held office under Junayd, `Āsim incurred the
bitter hatred of his people.
A certain Hārith ibn Surayj rose against him, took possession of many
towns in Khorāsān, such as Merv er-Rūd, Balkh, and Bab-el-Abwāb, and
gathered a crowd of soldiers of fortune to his banner by distributing
amongst them the tribute levied from his acquisitions. `Āsim, failing
to crush this revolt, was dismissed by the Caliph, and Asad el-Kasrī
was reinstated in the governorship of Khorāsān.[160] Asad at once
advanced against Hārith at the head of a large army, drove him to
Turkestān, where he entered into league with the Khākān, who assigned
him and his followers the town of Fārāb as a residence.
In A.H. 118 (736) Balkh became temporarily the Mohammedan capital of
Central Asia. In the same year Asad planned a campaign into Khottal,
but the Khākān took measures to forestall him. Asad’s advance column
was taken completely by surprise, and his camp and harem were captured.
A parley ensued without result, after which he returned to Balkh, while
the Khākān again withdrew to Tokhāristān. But in the following spring
Asad attacked and completely routed the Khākān and rescued all the
Moslem provinces.[161] The Turk fled back to Tokhāristān, and shortly
afterwards, while on his way to attack Samarkand, he was waylaid and
killed by a rebellious follower.