This is a list of governors of the Umayyad province of Iraq.
Overview In medieval history, Iraq ( ) was the area comprising the lower parts of Mesopotamia, being roughly equivalent in size and shape to the ancient region of Babylonia.Le Strange, p. 24 It was bounded to the northwest by al-Jazira, to the north by Adharbayjan (the Sassanid Aturpatakan), to the northeast by al-Jibal, to the east by al-Ahwaz, to the southeast by the Sea of Fars (the Persian Gulf), and to the southwest by the desert of Arabia.Le Strange, Map 1
In the administrative structure of the Umayyad Caliphate, Iraq was at first not a unified province; rather, it was divided between the governors of the important garrison towns of Basra and Kufa. The two towns were united for the first time in 670 AD, when the caliph Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan gave control of both to Ziyad ibn Abihi.Shaban, p. 87; Morony, pp. 72-73 After Ziyad's death the two towns were again separately administered, but subsequent caliphs were to repeat the combination and from the reign of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan on, Iraq was usually in the hands of a single governor.
The governor of Iraq was an extremely powerful individual within the administrative hierarchy of the Umayyad government. In addition to Iraq itself, he was frequently granted the responsibility for the provinces of the empire that had originally been conquered with Basran or Kufan troops, including al-Ahwaz, al-Jibal, Fars, Kerman, Khurasan, Sijistan, Makran, al-Sind, and Jurjan. He was furthermore given authority over the provinces of eastern Arabia, namely al-Bahrayn, al-YamamahAl-Askar, pp. 133-36 and Oman.Al-Rawas, pp. 62 ff. In total, these provinces constituted almost half of the entire empire and produced a substantial amount of the revenues collected by the central government in Damascus. The governor had the power to appoint and dismiss sub-governors to each of these provinces, and each of his sub-governors reported directly to him, rather than to the caliph.Blankinship, pp. 57, 60-63
Governors who were appointed to Iraq all took up residence within the province during their tenure of office; the specific seat of government, however, tended to change over time. Under Ziyad ibn Abihi, Basra and Kufa served as twin capitals and he stayed at both towns during each year of his governorship.Morony, p. 73 Basra subsequently edged out Kufa as the chief town of the province, and served as the seat of the governors for the remainder of the seventh century. The famous governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi ordered the construction of a third garrison town, that of Wasit, which he then used as his residence for the remainder of his life. Thereafter, Wasit was often used by the governors as their primary residence, although they continued to sporadically move to other towns, such as Kufa and al-Hirah.Morony, p. 158; Djaït, p. 271
Iraq remained as an Umayyad province until the year 749/750, when an Abbasid army besieged Wasit and forced the last governor of Iraq, Yazid ibn Umar al-Fazari, to surrender.Kennedy, pp. 49 ff. Following their victory over the Umayyads, the Abbasids abolished the governorship of Iraq and resumed the practice of appointing separate governors to the individual districts of the region.Morony, p. 163; Crone, p. 61
List of governors Only governors that were in control of both Basra and Kufa at the same time appear in this list.For a summary of when these towns were administratively united under the Umayyads, see Blankinship, p. 296 n. 75 Name Start End Nature of Termination Notes661670n/aBasra and Kufa were under separate governors during this periodAl-Tabari, v. 18: pp. 20-21, 70, 75-78, 87, 90, 92-93, 95Ziyad ibn Abihi670673Died in officeAppointed by the caliph Muawiyah IZiyad may have been given control of Kufa as early as 669. Al-Tabari, v. 18: pp. 96-97, 103, 164-67; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "'Ziyad b. Abihi" (I. Hasson); Shaban, p. 87None673680n/aBasra and Kufa were under separate governors during this periodAl-Tabari, v. 18: pp. 171, 179, 181-82, 187, 191, 198, 207; v. 19: p. 1'Ubaydallah ibn Ziyad680684ResignedSon of Ziyad ibn Abihi. Appointed by the caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiyahAl-Tabari, v. 19: pp. 18, 90, 194, 200; v. 20: pp. 5-6; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "'Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad" (C. F. Robinson)None684691n/aIraq was outside of Umayyad control for most of the second fitna. From 686 to 691, the Zubayrid Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr was in control of Basra and Kufa.Al-Tabari, v. 20: pp. 123, 176, 182 ff.; v. 21: pp. 67, 83-84, 85 ff., 118-22, 153, 168, 170, 171 ff.; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Mus'ab b. al-Zubayr" (H. Lammens-[Ch. Pellat])691693n/aBasra and Kufa were under separate governors during this periodAl-Tabari, v. 21: pp. 191, 193, 212Bishr ibn Marwan693694Died in officeBrother of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, who appointed himAl-Tabari, v. 21: 233-34; v. 22: pp. 3, 11, 13; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Bishr b. Marwan" (L. Veccia Vaglieri); Shaban, pp. 101-02Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi694714Died in officeAppointed by 'Abd al-Malik ibn MarwanAl-Tabari, v. 22: pp. 12-13, 92, 175-76, 181, 186, 195; v. 23: pp. 13, 34, 71, 76, 115, 130, 139, 145, 148, 181, 183, 202, 214, 216-17; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Al-Hadjdjadj b. Yusuf" (A. Dietrich); Shaban, pp. 102, 119Yazid ibn Abi Kabshah al-Saksaki714715DismissedAppointed by the caliph al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-MalikAl-Tabari, v. 23: p. 217; Crone, p. 96Yazid ibn al-Muhallab al-Azdi and Salih ibn Abd al-Rahman715717DismissedYazid was appointed governor for military and religious affairs and Salih was appointed governor in fiscal affairs by the caliph Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-MalikAl-Tabari, v. 24: pp. 4-5, 29, 38, 60, 75; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Muhallabids" (P. Crone); Shaban, pp. 127-28, 132-33None717720n/aBasra and Kufa were under separate governors during this periodAl-Tabari, v. 24: pp. 75, 88, 126Maslama ibn 'Abd al-Malik720721DismissedBrother of the caliph Yazid ibn 'Abd al-Malik, who appointed himAl-Tabari, v. 24: pp. 148, 162-3; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Maslama b. 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan" (G. Rotter); Shaban, pp. 136-37'Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari721724DismissedAppointed by Yazid ibn 'Abd al-MalikAl-Tabari, v. 24: pp. 163, 165, 167, 191; v. 25: p. 4; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Ibn Hubayra" (J.-C. Vadet); Crone, p. 107; Shaban, pp. 137, 139Khalid ibn 'Abdallah al-Qasri724738DismissedAppointed by the caliph Hisham ibn 'Abd al-MalikThere is some disagreement on the exact year of Khalid's appointment. Al-Tabari, v. 25: pp. 4, 7, 23, 28, 32, 44, 63, 68, 94, 96, 98-100, 110, 122-23, 130, 166, 172 ff.; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Khalid b. 'Abd Allah al-Kasri" (G. R. Hawting); Crone, p. 102; Shaban, pp. 139, 143Yusuf ibn 'Umar al-Thaqafi738744DismissedAppointed by Hisham ibn 'Abd al-MalikAl-Tabari, v. 25: pp. 178 ff., 187, 194; v. 26: pp. 35, 55, 65, 69, 125, 195 ff.; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "Al-Thakafi" (G. R. Hawting); Shaban, pp. 143, 159Mansur ibn Jumhur al-Kalbi744744DismissedAppointed by the caliph Yazid ibn al-WalidAl-Tabari, v. 26: pp. 195 ff., 219-20; Crone, p. 158; Shaban, p. 159'Abdallah ibn 'Umar744745DismissedSon of the caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz. Appointed by Yazid ibn al-Walid'Abdallah refused to accept his dismissal and became a rebel. Al-Tabari, v. 26: pp. 219-20; v. 26, pp. 12 ff.; Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. "'Abd Allah b. 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz" (K. V. Zettersteen); Shaban, pp. 159, 161-62Al-Nadr ibn Sa'id al-Harashi745745ResignedAppointed by the caliph Marwan ibn MuhammadAl-Nadr was never able to effectively establish his rule in Iraq and eventually returned to Syria. Al-Tabari, v. 26: pp. 12 ff., 23-24, 27; Crone, p. 144; Shaban, pp. 161-62Yazid ibn Umar al-Fazari745750KilledSon of 'Umar ibn Hubayra. Appointed by Marwan ibn MuhammadWhile Yazid was appointed in 745, it took two years and several military campaigns for him to secure his hold over the country. Al-Tabari, v. 27: pp. 24-26 52, 56-57, 92, 123, 133, 185 ff., 191-92; Crone, p. 107
See also List of Umayyad governors of al-Andalus List of Umayyad governors of Arminiyah List of Umayyad governors of Egypt List of Umayyad governors of Ifriqiyah List of Umayyad governors of Madinah List of Umayyad governors of Sind
Notes
References Al-Askar, Abdullah. Al-Yamama in the Early Islamic Era. Reading, UK: Ithaca Press, 2002.
Djaït, Hichem. Al-Kufa: Naissance de la Ville Islamique. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 1986. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Ed. 12 vols. with supplement and indices. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–2005. Kennedy, Hugh. The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History. London: Croom Helm, 1981.
Al-Rawas, Isam. Oman in Early Islamic History. Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing Limited, 2000. Shaban, M. A. The 'Abbasid Revolution. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1970.