Al-Afshin

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Al-Afshin, Haydar b. Kawuz (d. May or June 841) was a Ninth Century Prince of Ushrusanah and leading Abbasid general.

Contents 1 Earlier Years 2 Babak Khorramdin 3 Byzantine Invasion 4 Downfall 5 Tribute 6 Bibliography

[edit] Earlier Years

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records (v. 32, p. 135) that in A.H. 207 caliph al-Ma'mun sent Ahmad ibn Abi Khalid to Khurasan. That commander acquired control of the Transoxanian principality of Ushrusanah for the Abbasid caliphate. Al-Afshin's father, Kawus ibn Kharakhurah, submitted. Kawus and his son Fadl went to al-Ma'mun. Although Fadl's brother Haydar is not named in the entry under this year, he is one who played a very prominent role on behalf of the Abbasids.

In 216 and 217 (831-833), he suppressed uprisings in Egypt from remote regions to Alexandria. On June 2, 832 the news was proclaimed of his great success in taking Bima in Egypt. It surrendered to al-Afshin's extension of al-Ma'mun's promise of safe conduct.

[edit] Babak Khorramdin

In A.H. 220 (835), Caliph al-Mu'tasim appointed al-Afshin governor of Jibal and sent him against the Iranian seccessionist leader Babak. Babak was one of a series of such opponents to the Arab empire and he in particular had been especially challenging for the caliph's armies. That year al-Afshin met Babak in battle, defeated him and inflicted heavy losses. Babak escaped. The next year, al-Afshin avoided the traps Babak planned and instead surprised Babak, captured his camp and drove off his forces.

In A.H. 222, al-Mu'tasim sent reinforcements to al-Afshin. The general, followed the caliph's instructions to be prudent and patient. He succeeded in seizing Babak's major stronghold of Badbhbh (Babak Castle). Ya'qubi (Tarikh II, 579) records al-Afshin freeing 7,600 Muslim prisoners from this fortress. Al-Afshin destroyed Badhbh. He wrote to the Armenian ruler advising him that Babak was heading his way.

Al-Afshin received a letter of safe conduct for Babak from al-Mu'tasim. Al-Afshin forced some of Babak's supporters to take it to Babak. Babak was furious and rejected it. However, the Armenian leader Sunbat handed Babak to al-Afshin. After granting Babak a night to wander ruined Badhdh, al-Afshin brought his prisoner to the caliph in Samarra. He arrived on January 4, 838. Babak was executed.

On March 14, 838, al-Mu'tasim rewarded his general for this outstanding success. He granted al-Afshin a crown, two jeweled belts, twenty million dirhams and an appointment as governor of Sind. At this celebratory event the caliph had court poets sing al-Afshin's praises, including one who referred to him as "the stallion of the east." (al-Tabari 33 p. 92)

[edit] Byzantine Invasion

In that same year al-Afshin joined his caliph in al-Mu'tasim's striking response to a Byzantine attack against the caliphate. John Bagot Glubb (p. 345) cites Masudi for claiming this was the largest army, two hundred thousand strong, any caliph had led against the Byzantines. The Caliph led one prong of this retaliatory invasion, al-Afshin the other.

As the two prongs entered Byzantine territory separated by a hundred and fifty miles, Theophilos (emperor) decided to hit one of the portions of the Muslim army, before the entire invasion force joined together. It was al-Afshin the emperor attacked. Al-Afshin steadied his troops. His men met the Byzantines' full force as commanded by their emperor. Al-Afshin's men held. He counter-attacked. This battle, on July 21, 838, was a decisive Muslim victory. Al-Afshin triumphed. The emperor and his surviving soldiers withdrew in disorder. They did not interfere as al-Afshin continued on to Ankyra meeting up there with al-Mu'tasim.

From Ankyra, the full Muslim force advanced on the Byzantine stronghold of Amorium. A Muslim captive escaped from that city and disclosed the weakness of a section of its walls. The caliph concentrated his bombardment on this section. A breach was made. Amorium was captured.

[edit] Downfall

Al-Afshin seems not to have been involved in the major conspiracy that cost many commanders of that Byzantine expedition their lives. Indeed, in A.H. 224 (838-839) he had a magnificent celebration of his son Hasan's wedding. Caliph al-Mu'tasim personally provided for the guests. However, al-Afshin, wishing to replace Abdallah ibn Tahir as governor of Khurasan, had begun intriguing with Mazyar ibn Qarin, a prince in the Caspian region. Mazyar rebelled and was defeated. In Adharbayjan, al-Afshin's kinsman Minkajur rebelled.

These rebellions caused al-Afshin to fall from favour. His situation was made worse by the finding of alleged correspondence between him and Mazyar. Further, the Khurasanian governor, Abdallah ibn Tahir, alleged that he had intercepted some of Babak's wealth al-Afshin had obtained in that campaign and was seeking to transfer secretly to al-Afshin's lands in Ushrusanah. When Mazyar arrived in Samarra, al-Afshin was arrested.

Mazyar participated in the interrogation of the former general, asserting that al-Afshin had conspired with him. Others present raised additional questions concerning the sincerity of al-Afshin's conversion to Islam. Al-Afshin had answers to all the allegations. He claimed that Zoroastrian artefacts and books in his possession were family heirlooms from before he had become Muslim. He explained that when he punished a pair of Muslim fanatics destroying idols in Ushrusanah he was exercising reasonable leadership aimed at maintaining the harmony of his religiously diverse territory. He told his detractors that the formulaic address his people used in writing to him in Persian as "Lord of lords," was simply a tradition and did not invalidate his personal belief in one God. (al-Tabari v. 33, p. 187f)

All such replies were unsuccessful. Al-Mu'tasim had a special prison built for al-Afshin. It was known as "The Pearl" and was in the shape of a minaret. There he spent the final nine months of his life and there he passed away in May or June of 841.

[edit] Tribute

Perhaps, a fitting conclusion of an article on al-Afshin is found in some of the poetry that was composed about him. Al-Tabari (v. 33, p. 120-121) quotes these lines of al-Husayn ibn al-Duhhak al-Bahili:

• All glory falls below that which he established/ for the house of Kawus, the lords of the Persians.

• Al-Afshin is nothing but a sword drawn/ by God's power in the hand of al-Mu'tasim.

• He left no inhabitant of al-Badhdh/ except for images like those of Iram.

• Then he brought forward as a present its ruler Babak as a captive...

• And he pierced Theophilus with a well aimed lance thrust/ which shattered both his armies together

• and routed him.

[edit] Bibliography

• Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari History v. 32 "The Reunification of the Abbasid Caliphate," SUNY, Albany, 1987; v. 33 "Storm and Stress along the Northern Frontiers of the Abbasid Caliphate," transl. C.E. Bosworth, SUNY, Albany, 1991
• John Bagot Glubb, The Empire of the Arabs, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1963