Hajjaj bin Yūsuf (or otherwise transliterated), also known more
fully as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Kulayb or al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
al-Thaqafi[1])
(born early June AD 661 / AH 40 – AD 714 / AH 95) was a controversial[1]
Arab administrator,
politician and minister of defence of the Umayyad
caliphate.
Al-Hajjaj was
an intelligent and tough ruler. He has also been described as draconian,
although modern historical treatments acknowledge the influence of later
Abbasid historians and biographers who were opposed to the fiercely loyal and
pro-Umayyad al-Hajjaj.[1]
Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef played a crucial role in the selection of military
commanders. He instilled discipline in the soldier ranks which led to the
successful expansion of the Islamic empire to its farthest extent. He ensured
all important records were translated into Arabic, and for the first time he
convinced caliph Abd Al-Malik to adopt a special currency for the Muslim world.
This led to war with the Byzantine Empire under Justinian
II. The Byzantines were led by Leontios at the
Battle of Sebastopolis in 692 and were
decisively defeated.
Early life
Al-Hajjaj was
born (661 AD) in the city of Ta'if in the Hijaz, in modern-day Saudi
Arabia. His name at birth was Kulayb, but later he changed
it to al-Hajjaj. He was a teacher of Quran to young students in Al-Taif. He
migrated away from his city towards Damascus later on during his early life.
Career
Soldier
Al-Ḥajjāj first
came to notice in the early years of the reign of Abd al-Malik when he set out from aṭ-Ṭā’if to Damascus to
serve in the shurta
"police force" under Rawh ibn Zinba' al-Judhami, vizier of the
Caliph. He attracted the attention of ‘Abd al-Malik because he rapidly restored
discipline among the mutinous troops with whom the Caliph was about to set out
for Iraq against Mus’ab ibn al-Zubayr.
During the
campaign against Mus'ab, al-Ḥajjāj seems to have led the rearguard and to have
distinguished himself by some feats of valour. After the victory over Mus’ab at
Maskin
on the Dujayl (Little
Tigris River) in 72 AH/691, on the Caliph's orders he set out from Kufa in the same month
at the head of about 2000 Syrians against Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. He advanced
unopposed as far as his native aṭ-Ṭā’if, which he took without any fighting and
used as a base.
The Caliph had
charged al-Ḥajjāj first to negotiate with ibn al-Zubayr and to assure him of
freedom from punishment if he capitulated but, if the opposition continued, to
starve him out by siege, but on no account to let the affair result in
bloodshed in Mecca. Since the negotiations failed and al-Ḥajjāj lost patience,
he sent a courier to ask ‘Abdu l-Malik for reinforcements and also for
permission to take the city by force.
Al-Ḥajjāj
received both. Angered at being prevented by Ibn al-Zubayr from performing
Hajj, al-Ḥajjāj bombarded Mecca, going so far as to target the Ka’bah and its
pilgrims during the Hajj.
After the siege had lasted seven
months and 10,000 men (among them two of ibn az-Zubayr's sons) had gone
over to al-Ḥajjāj, Ibn al-Zubayr and loyal followers, including his youngest
son, were killed in the fighting around the Ka’bah on Jumadah I 73 AH/October 692 AD.[2]
Al-Ḥajjāj's siege of the Hijaz resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent
inhabitants. While subsequently governing the Hijaz, al-Ḥajjāj was known for
his severe rule.
Governor of Iraq
In AH 75/AD
694, Caliph Abd al-Malik sent al-Ḥajjāj to govern Iraq.[3]
Al-Ḥajjāj continued to be viewed as cruel and his reputation was not helped
when he fought and eventually crushed a Kharijite rebellion under Abd
al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath from 699-701 CE.
For his
considerable successes, al-Ḥajjāj was also made governor of some provinces in Persia, where he
was again tasked with putting down rebellions. However, his severe tactics led
him to make many enemies, who would come to power after his death.
With the ascent
of Al-Walid
I, Ḥajjāj's reputation grew due to the selection and deployment of numerous
successful generals who expanded the empire. He was given these powers due to
his high status in the Umayyad government and he exhibited a lot of control
over the provinces that he governed.
Among these
generals was the teenaged Muhammad ibn-Qasīm, who in 712 was sent to Sindh in Pakistan and Qutayba ibn Muslim who was sent to conquer Turkestan,
which he did.
Al-Ḥajjāj's
most successful general was Mūsā
ibn Nusayr, who consolidated control over North Africa and sent Tariq
ibn Ziyād to conquer Spain.
Al-Ḥajjāj died
at Wasit, in Iraq, in 714. The year
after, al-Walid died as well, and his brother Sulayman ibn ‘Abdi l-Malik came to power.
Sulayman was indebted to many opponents of al-Ḥajjāj for their political
support in getting him elected Caliph, so he recalled all of al-Ḥajjāj's
generals and had them tortured to death in prison.
The
relationship between al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf and Muhammad ibn Qasīm has always been
one of great debate. Many accounts list al-Hajjāj as being his uncle or
father-in-law.
Asia
Reign as
recounted in the Chach Nama
The Chach Nama
is the oldest chronicle of the Arab
conquest of Sindh.
The primary
reason noted in the Chach Nama for the expedition by al-Hajjaj against Raja
Dahir, was the raid by pirates off the coast of Debal, resulting in
the capturing both gifts to the caliph from the King of Serendib (modern Sri Lanka)
as well as the female pilgrims on board who were captured.[4]
The Chach
Nama reports that upon hearing of the matter, al-Hajjaj wrote a letter to
the Raja, and upon unsuccessful resolution being reached, launched a military
attack. Other reasons attributed to al-Hajjaj's interest was in (1) gaining a
foothold in the Makran,
Balochistan and Sindh regions, (2)
protecting the maritime interests, and (3) to teach the armies from Sindh a
lesson, for participating alongside Persians in various battles such as those
at Nahawand, Salasal
and Qādisiyyah and the granting of refuge to
fleeing rebel chieftains.
There is
another untold history that al-Hajjaj's decision to send a powerful army of
soldiers, commanded by his nephew, Muhammadibn Qasim, was actually an act of
revenge which was spurred by Raja Dahir's refusal of handing over some Arab
exiles who had fallen out of favour with Hajjaj and had taken asylum in Sindh.
Palestine
The two sons of
al-Muhallab, an Azdi former governor
of Khorasan and a military commander under al-Hajjaj,
took refuge in Palestine with two Azdi retainers of the governor
there, finding themselves now hounded angrily[5]
by al-Hajjaj against a background of inter-tribal rivalry and accused by him of
embezzlement.[5]
The caliph, al-Walid
I, issued an order to his brother, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, the pro-Azdi
governor of Palestine, to send the sons of al-Muhallab to Damascus.
Sulayman sent the elder brother, Yazid,[6]
and his own son in chains to the caliph, who, however, showed them mercy.[5]
Negative portrayal
Al-Hajjaj
killed the last companion of the Prophet Muhammad, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah. He is recorded by Tha'ālibī
(Laţ'āif, 142) as one of the four men to have killed more than one
hundred thousand men (the others being Abu Harb, Abu Muslim and Babak).[7]
Cultural influence
Linguistic reform
Al-Ḥajjāj bin
Yūsuf's period saw the Arabs on their zenith and he played an essential part in
it. He is also credited for introducing the diacritic points
to the Arabic script and for the first time Al-Ḥajjāj
convinced the caliph to adopt a special currency for the Muslim world. This led
to war with the Byzantine Empire under Justinian
II. The Byzantines were led by Leontios at the
Battle of Sebastopolis in 692 in Asia Minor
and were decisively defeated by the Caliph after the defection of a large
contingent of Slavs.
The Islamic currency was then made the only currency exchange in the Muslim
world. Also, many reforms happened in his time as regards agriculture and
commerce.
The
administrative language of Iraq officially changed from Middle
Persian (Pahlavi) to Arabic during his governorship. The records of
administrative documents (diwans) of Iraq transferred from Pahlavi to
Arabic.
Al-Hajjaj was
not happy with the prevalence of the Persian
language in the dīwān
and ordered the official language of the conquered lands to be replaced by
Arabic.[8]
When Qutaibah bin Muslim under the command of
Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf was sent to Khwarazmia
with a military expedition and conquered it for the second time, he swiftly
killed whoever wrote the Khwarazmian native language that knew of the
Khwarazmian heritage, history, and culture. He then killed all their Zoroastrian
priests and burned and wasted their books, until gradually the illiterate only
remained, who knew nothing of writing, and hence their history was mostly
forgotten.[9]
It is written
that Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf once entered a city. There was an elder cleric whose
prayers were widely believed to bring blessings. He asked the cleric to recite
a prayer for him. The cleric prayed: "O God, take his life away!"
Al-Ḥajjāj, startled, burst out: "Old man, what kind of prayer is this that
you recite for me?!" The old man replied: "It is for your own good
and the benefit of the people."[10]
Coinage
Al-Hajjaj was
instrumental to the development of coinage in the Islamic world, entrusting the
first Islamic mint, at Wasit
in Iraq.[11]
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