Ustrushana

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Ustrushana (Sudujshana, Usrushana, Eastern Chao) was a nation in Transoxiana. The Ustrushana were situated northeast of Samarkand and south of the Syr Darya river.

During the time when the first Arab invasion of the country took place under Qutayba b. Muslim (94-5/712-14), Ushrusana was inhabited by an Iranian population, ruled by its own princes who bore the traditional title of afshin.[1] The first invasion by the Arabs did not result in them controling the area.[2]

According to the Encyclopedia of Islam:[3]:

“ In 119/737 the Turkish enemies of the governor Asad b. Abd Allāh al-Ghasrī fell back on Usrūshana (al-Tabarī, ii, 1613). Nasr b. Sayyār subdued the country incompletely in 121/739 (al-Balādhurī, 429; al-Tabarī, ii, 1694), and the Afshin again made a nominal submission to Mahdī (al-Yaqūbī, Tarīkh , ii, 479).

Under al-Mamūn, the country had to be conquered again and a new expedition was necessary in 207/822. On this last occasion, the Muslim army was guided by Haydar, the son of the Afshīn Kāwūs, who on account of dynastic troubles had sought refuge in Baghdād. This time the submission was complete; Kāwūs abdicated and Haydar succeeded him, later to become one of the great nobles of the court of Baghdād under al-Mutasim, where he was known as al-Afshīn. His dynasty continued to reign until 280/893 (coin of the last ruler Sayr b. Abd Allāh of 279 [892] in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg); after this date, the country became a province of the Sāmānids and ceased to have an independent existence, while the Iranian element was eventually almost entirely replaced by the Turkish.

 ”

Kawush's son, Khaydar, became a general in the Abbasid army and fought against Khurramite rebels in South Caucasus and northwestern Persia (816-837). In 841 he was arrested in Samarra on suspicion of plotting against the Caliphate and was subsequently hanged next to Babak.

There are indications that semi-autonomous Afshins continued to rule over the Ustrushana after control of the region was wrested from the Abbasids by the Saffarids and, soon after, the Samanids.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Kramers, J.H. "Usrūshana." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007
  2. ^ Kramers, J.H. "Usrūshana." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007
  3. ^ Kramers, J.H. "Usrūshana." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007
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