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Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura عبد الرحمن بن سمرة
KunduzSamarkandHeratTOKHARA YABGHUSBalkhKARKOTASNEZAK HUNSBamiyanKandaharZamindawarBostGhazniKabulWESTERN TURKSGilgitPATOLA SHAHIS653665class=notpageimage| Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura invaded the territory of Zamindawar, in the vicinity of Kandahar.
Died	c. 670 Basra
Allegiance	Rashidun caliphate Umayyad Caliphate
Battles / wars	Umayyad campaign against the Kingdom of Kapisa and Turk Shahis

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Samura (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن سمرة, died c. 670 in Basra) was a general of the Rashidun caliphate and the succeeding Umayyad Caliphate, and caliphal governor of Sijistan in the 7th century CE.

Biography

According to Ibn Manzur, Ibn Samura was a Qurayshite. His father was Samura ibn Habib ibn Rabi'a ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy ibn Kilab.

Ibn Samura participated in the Battle of Mu'tah in 629. After Khalid ibn al-Walid managed to organise the safe retreat from the abortive battle, Khalid sent Ibn Samura in advance as a messenger to Medina, capital of the nascent Muslim state, to report the battle result to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

By 652, Ibn Samura replaced Rabi ibn Ziyad al-Harithi as the governor of Sistan.

During the Muslim conquest of Sistan, Ibn Samura was sent by governor of Basra, Abdallah ibn Amir to Sistan, and then initiated the Muslim conquest of Khorasan, where he first secured peace in a place named "land of al-Dawar".

Capture of Zamindawar (653)

In 653-4, an army of around 6,000 Arabs was led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura, and seized Rukhkhaj and Zamindawar. In the shrine of Zoon in Zamindawar, it is reported that Ibn Samura "broke off a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the marzbān of Sīstān" that the idol was worthless. Ibn Samura explained to the marzbān: "my intention was to show you that this idol can do neither any harm nor good." Bost and Zabul submitted to the Arab invader by treaty in 656 CE.

It is then recorded by Abu Labid that when the army was trying to get their hands on the spoils of war, Ibn Samura stood up and warned them by narrating a hadith he heard from Muhammad that the Prophet forbade the seizing of spoils of war before it is distributed first according to the rule of Sharia. Then those who took the booty returned what they had taken, he then distributed it among them.

Then Ibn Samura sent the spoils of war to Abdullah ibn Amir. Bost (Sīstān) and Zabulistan submitted by a treaty of capitulation, also signed with the marzban of Kerman before the death of Caliph Uthman in 656. The Muslims soon lost these territories during the First Civil War (656-661).

Upon the caliph's death, he returned to Basra, where its governor Abd Allah ibn Amir was dismissed by the new Caliph Ali. He joined Mu'awiya I after the Battle of the Camel, and was sent as one of the envoys to Hasan ibn Ali in 661. Abdallah ibn Amir was reappointed as governor in Basra by Mu'awiya, and Samura was sent along with Abd Allah ibn Khazim al-Sulami to restore Arab rule in eastern Khurasan and Sīstān. He introduced the office of ṣāḥib al-shurṭa (chief of police) to Sīstān and built a mosque in Zaranj.

Capture of Kabul (665)

The territories Ibn Samura had conquered had to be reclaimed by force or by treaty. He launched an expedition to Arachosia and Zabulistan, recovering Bust and other cities. Kabul was occupied in 665 after a siege of a few months. Kabul soon revolted but was reoccupied after a month-long siege. He managed to convert 12,000 inhabitants of Kabul to Islam before leaving the city according to Firishta. Mu'awiya personally confirmed him as governor dependent on the caliph. Ibn Samura's capture and plunder of Kabul put an end to the rule of the Nezak Hun king Ghar-ilchi. The Nezak ruler was succeeded by the powerful Turk dynasty of the Turk Shahis: Barha Tegin, the first Turk Shahi ruler took the throne in 665-666 and soon recaptured the territory as far as Kandahar and Bost.

After Mu'awiya deposed Ibn Samura from Sīstān in 665, he retired to Basra where the slaves he had brought from Kabul built a mosque in his house in the building style of Kabul. He died in Basra in 670.

References

1. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib: Part 6. p. 190.
2. ^ Hawramani, Ikram (1311). "عبد الرحمن بن سمرة بن حبيب بن ربيعة" [Abdul Rahman bin Samra bin Habib bin Rabiah]. Hawramani.com. Ikram Hawramani. Retrieved 5 December 2021. Ibn Manẓūr (d. 1311 CE) - Mukhtaṣar Tārīkh Dimashq; Brief history of Damascus
3. Marshak & Negmatov 1996, p. 450.
4. ^ Daryaee, Touraj; Daryāyī, Tūraǧ (16 February 2012). The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-19-973215-9.
5. André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990. p 120
6. "Amir Kror and His Ancestry". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
7. al-Khattabi, Abd al-Karim. "Awn Ma'bud Sunan Abu Dawud Chapter on the prohibition of looting if there is a shortage of food in the enemy's land". Retrieved 5 December 2021. Al- Khattabi said : Al- Nahbi is a noun based on an act of plundering, such as desiring out of desire. What is meant by looting is taking the money of the spoils without divisionAbu Dawud, Sulaymān; Al-Albani, Nasiruddin. "Sunan Abu Dawud, book 15 Jihad (Kitab Al-Jihad) Chapter on the prohibition of looting if there is a shortage of food in the enemy's land". sunnahweb. Retrieved 5 December 2021. حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ حَازِمٍ - عَنْ يَعْلَى بْنِ حَكِيمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي لُبَيْدٍ، قَالَ كُنَّا مَعَ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ سَمُرَةَ بِكَابُلَ فَأَصَابَ النَّاسُ غَنِيمَةً فَانْتَهَبُوهَا فَقَامَ خَطِيبًا فَقَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَنْهَى عَنِ النُّهْبَى . فَرَدُّوا مَا أَخَذُوا فَقَسَمَهُ بَيْنَهُمْ . graded authentic by al-Albani
8. Baumer, Christoph (18 April 2018). History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 978-1-83860-868-2.

Sources

• Marshak, B.I.; Negmatov, N.N. (1996). "Sogdiana". In Litvinsky, B.A.; Guang-da, Zhang; R. Shabani, Samghabadi (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Paris: UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 92-3-103211-9.

• 7th-century military personnel
• Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate
• 7th-century Arab people