) in the late 9th century In early 694, Abd al-Malik sent al-Hajjaj to govern Iraq. This involved combining the governorships of Kufa and
Basra, which had not been done since the days of
Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan twenty years earlier. The caliph had previously appointed his brother
Bishr ibn Marwan governor of Kufa, but this "experiment in family rule" (
Hugh N. Kennedy) had not been a success and when he died in early 694, al-Hajjaj, whose ability and loyalty had been amply demonstrated, was appointed to the crucial office. The governorship of Iraq was indeed "the most important and responsible administrative post of the Islamic state" (A. Dietrich), as it comprised not only Iraq proper, but also included the lands conquered by troops from the two 'garrison towns' () of Kufa and Basra, i.e.
Persia,
Khurasan and the other eastern provinces of the Caliphate. The governor of Iraq was therefore in charge of a huge super-province or vice-royalty stretching from
Mesopotamia to the still expanding borders in
Central Asia and the
Indian subcontinent, comprising half of the Caliphate's territory and producing more than half its income. In addition, the post was of particular political sensitivity due to the long history of
Kharijism and political dissent in Iraq, particularly in Kufa. This discontent was driven by tribal, economic, and political factors. The population of Kufa contained people from almost all Arab tribes, but also many of those undesired elsewhere, such as the vanquished of the
Ridda wars. Although it dominated the fertile lands of the
Sawad, many of these were assigned by the Umayyads to princes of the
dynasty, while the average Kufan was given land as a stipend for military service; but as the size of the stipend was determined by the earliness of conversion to Islam, many received only minuscule grants. Finally, the Kufans were largely left out of the spoils of conquest in the East; it was the Basrans who secured the lion's share, taking over far more extensive and richer territory like Khurasan or Sindh, while the Kufans were left with the mountains of
Jibal and central Persia as their city's sole dependencies. Al-Hajjaj's purview originally excluded Khurasan and
Sistan, which were governed by the largely ineffectual Umayyad prince
Umayya ibn Abdallah ibn Khalid ibn Asid, but in 697/8 he received these two provinces as well, expanding his rule over the entire eastern half of the Caliphate. He remained in this post until his death in 714, and throughout this period, encompassing the remainder of Abd al-Malik's reign and most of that of his successor
al-Walid I (), he would be "the dominant feature in the sources" (
G. R. Hawting).
Relations with the caliphs dirham minted by al-Hajjaj in 695 Al-Hajjaj was, in the words of A. Dietrich, "the most loyal servant that a dynasty could wish for", and his loyalty was reciprocated by Abd al-Malik with his full trust. The relationship was further strengthened through family ties: al-Hajjaj's daughter wed
Masrur, a son of al-Walid, while the daughter of his brother Muhammad was wed to the future caliph
Yazid II (); the latter named his first-born son after al-Hajjaj, who in turn named three of his sons after members of the dynasty. Abd al-Malik also named one of his sons al-Hajjaj. This close relationship is further evidenced by the many surviving letters exchanged between al-Hajjaj and Abd al-Malik. Al-Hajjaj's relationship with the latter was much different than with al-Walid, with whom correspondence was restricted to official functions. On the other hand, while Abd al-Malik restrained his over-zealous governor whenever he was "extortionate in the raising of taxes, was too liberal with public resources, or was shedding more blood than was necessary", al-Walid considered himself in al-Hajjaj's debt because he had championed the succession of al-Walid against Abd al-Malik's brother and the viceroy of Egypt
Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. Al-Walid allowed his al-Hajjaj free rein and relied heavily on his counsel even in the appointment and dismissal of officials. Though his meddling in the succession secured him the favour of al-Walid, it also caused the declared enmity of al-Walid's brother
Sulayman (). Sulayman furthermore championed the cause of
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, whom al-Hajjaj had imprisoned. The possibility of Sulayman's accession so frightened al-Hajjaj that he wished not to outlive al-Walid.
Ibn al-Ash'ath's revolt and aftermath Arriving at Kufa, al-Hajjaj gave an inaugural sermon at the local mosque that has become famous and is "often cited as an example of Arab eloquence" (G. R. Hawting). The situation he found there was one of disorder. The troops of Basra and Kufa, ostensibly garrisoned at
Ramhurmuz under
al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra had instead, upon the death of Bishr, left the camp and were idling in the cities. In order to restore discipline, al-Hajjaj announced that any man who did not within three days return to the camp would be put to death and his property be left open to plunder. This proved effective, but when he went to the troops to distribute the pay, al-Hajjaj faced another mutiny under Ibn al-Jarud for making pay cuts that the troops refused to accept. These problems overcome, al-Hajjaj sent the troops against the Kharijites. In 696 al-Muhallab defeated the
Azariqa who had rallied around
Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a as their anti-caliph, and in spring 697 another Kharijite leader,
Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani, was defeated on the
Dujayl river in
Khuzistan with the aid of Syrian troops. In the same year, al-Hajjaj suppressed the rebellion of the governor of
Mada'in, al-Mutarrif ibn al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, who had allied with the Kharijites. These campaigns eradicated the Kharijite rebellion, but came at a cost to his relationship with the Iraqis: the campaigns against the Kharijites were extremely unpopular, and measures like the reductions in pay, according to Kennedy, "[seem] almost to have goaded the Iraqis into rebellion, as if looking for an excuse to break them". The explosion came in 699: when he had been conferred the governorships of Khurasan and Sistan, al-Hajjaj had given it to al-Muhallab, but in Sistan, the situation was far more unstable, and the country had to be essentially reconquered. An army under the local governor
Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Bakra had suffered a heavy defeat against the ruler of the kingdom of
Zabulistan, known as the
Zunbil, and now al-Hajjaj ordered
Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, the most pre-eminent member of the Kufan aristocracy (the ) to lead an army against the Zunbil. This army was drawn from the Kufan soldiery, and such was the splendour of its equipment, or perhaps the "proud and haughty manner of the Kufan soldiers and who composed it" (Hawting), that it became known in history as the "Peacock Army". This expedition marked the beginning of a rebellion that came close to destroying not only al-Hajjaj's, but also Umayyad, power in Iraq. Ibn al-Ash'ath led his army to Sistan, and, as Dietrich writes, "at first carried out his campaign carefully and according to orders; he pacified each territory as it was conquered, ensured supplies and accustomed his troops gradually to the different climatic conditions". Al-Hajjaj, however, sent letter after letter to his commander, demanding an immediate assault against the Zunbil. The tone of these letters was extremely offensive, and he threatened to dismiss Ibn al-Ash'ath and appoint his brother Ishaq to command the expedition instead. Al-Hajjaj's harsh tone and unreasonable demands, as well as the army's evident reluctance to continue such a protracted and arduous campaign so far from their homes, provoked a widespread mutiny, led by Ibn al-Ash'ath. The rebel army marched back to Iraq, growing to over 100,000 strong in the process as they were joined by other malcontents. It transformed from a mutiny against al-Hajjaj, denounced as an enemy of God and a latter-day
Pharaoh, to a full-blown anti-Umayyad movement. Al-Hajjaj tried to stop the rebels at
Tustar, but the rebels were victorious (early 701). Al-Hajjaj abandoned Basra to the rebels, and Ibn al-Ash'ath entered the city in triumph. Reinforced with Syrian troops, al-Hajjaj managed to score a minor victory, after which the bulk of the rebel army left Basra for their natural stronghold, Kufa. Al-Hajjaj recaptured Basra and pursued Ibn al-Ash'ath to Kufa, encamping near the city. Ibn al-Ash'ath's progress had sufficiently alarmed the Umayyad court that they sought a negotiated settlement, even though they kept sending Syrian reinforcements to al-Hajjaj. Abd al-Malik offered to dismiss al-Hajjaj, appoint Ibn al-Ash'ath as governor over one of the Iraqi towns, and raise the Iraqis' pay so that they received the same amount as the Syrians. Ibn al-Ash'ath was inclined to accept, but the more radical of his followers, especially the scholars known as , refused, believing that the offered terms revealed the government's weakness, and pushed for outright victory. The two armies met in the
Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim in April 701, and al-Hajjaj and his more disciplined Syrians scored a crushing victory. Kufa surrendered afterward, and al-Hajjaj further undercut Ibn al-Ash'ath's support by promising amnesty to those who surrendered, providing however that they acknowledged that their rebellion had been tantamount to renouncing Islam; those who refused were executed. The remnants of the rebel army fled to Basra, but were soon evicted and pursued by the Syrians to Khuzistan and Sistan. There Ibn al-Ash'ath sought refuge with the Zunbil, but was either assassinated by the latter or committed suicide to avoid being surrendered to al-Hajjaj. Most of his remaining followers tried to reach
Herat, but were defeated by al-Muhallab's son, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, who surrendered those of north Arab provenance (
Mudaris) but let the southern Arab (
Yamani) go. The failure of Ibn al-Ash'ath's revolt led to the tightening of Umayyad control over Iraq. In 702 al-Hajjaj founded the city of
Wasit, situated midway between Basra and Kufa, where he moved his seat. There he gathered all Syrian troops present in Iraq, ostensibly in order to rein in the Syrians and prevent excess at the expense of the populace, but in reality his aim was to isolate the Syrians from the locals and solidify their loyalty to him. Henceforth, Iraq passed under virtual Syrian occupation, and the Iraqis, regardless of social status, were deprived of any real power in the governance of the region. Al-Hajjaj was now the undisputed master not only of Iraq, but of the entire Islamic East; only the governor of Khurasan, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, retained some autonomy. Although Yazid was able to refuse several summons to Wasit, in 704 al-Hajjaj persuaded Abd al-Malik to dismiss him, and Yazid was imprisoned.
Campaigns of expansion As governor of Iraq and viceroy of the East, al-Hajjaj supervised a major wave of expansion. He appointed his kinsman
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqafi to lead the conquest of
Sindh (northwestern India),
Qutayba ibn Muslim to conquer
Transoxiana (Central Asia), and
Mujja'a ibn Si'r to
Oman. Although al-Hajjaj himself undertook no campaign during these years, his role was essential: not only did he select the generals who carried out these campaigns, but also "prepared them very carefully, sparing no expense, since he calculated that with victory he would recover his expenses many times over" (A. Dietrich). The relationship between al-Hajjaj and Muhammad ibn al-Qasim has always been one of great debate. Many accounts list al-Hajjaj as being his uncle or father-in-law. According to the
Chach Nama, the oldest chronicle of the Arab conquest of Sindh, the primary reason al-Hajjaj ordered an expedition against the region's ruler
Raja Dahir, was the pirate raid off the coast of
Debal, resulting in the capturing of gifts to the caliph from the king of
Serendib (modern Sri Lanka) as well as the female pilgrims on board who were captured. Upon hearing of the matter, al-Hajjaj wrote a letter to the Raja, and upon its unsuccessful resolution, launched a military expedition. Other reasons attributed to al-Hajjaj's interest was gaining a foothold in
Makran (
Balochistan) and Sindh, protecting the maritime interests of the caliphate, punishing the armies of Sindh for participating alongside the Persians in various battles such as those at
Salasal,
Qadisiyya and
Nahawand, and also the granting of refuge to fleeing rebel chieftains.
Domestic government and reforms Already in 695, al-Hajjaj began minting the new gold and silver coins, which superseded the Byzantine and
Sasanian coins still used until then. He established mints at Kufa and later in Wasit and decreed strict punishments for counterfeiters. The new coins contained the name of
Allah, and hence were initially opposed by many theologians who argued that they would also be used by non-Muslims, but they quickly became a success and "helped to promote the circulation of money and the stabilization of economic conditions" (Dietrich). Al-Hajjaj also ordered the translation of the tax registers () into Arabic from the
Persian in which it had hitherto been kept, so that he could supervise it personally. Following his victory over the Iraqis, al-Hajjaj began a series of reforms aimed at restoring tranquility and prosperity to the troubled province after almost twenty years of civil war and rebellions. He invested much effort in reviving agriculture, especially in the Sawad, and thereby increasing revenue through the (land tax). He began to restore and expand the network of canals in lower Iraq. According to the 9th-century historian
al-Baladhuri, he spared no expense to repair embankments when they broke, awarded uncultivated lands to deserving Arabs, and took measures to reverse the flow of the rural population to the cities, especially the new converts (). According to the 9th-century historian
Ibn Abd al-Hakam, al-Hajjaj, with the support of Abd al-Malik, was the first to collect the
jizya (poll tax) from the , despite its imposition being traditionally restricted to non-Muslims in the Caliphate.
Uniformity of the Quran and grammatical reforms Some Western Orientalists believe that as part of his efforts to strengthen uniformity in the state, he also tried to introduce a definitive, uniform version of the
Quran so as to eliminate theological quarrels. Al-Hajjaj's version also probably included new
vowel diacritics. they also argue that he declared this version to be the only valid one, while prohibiting the use of
Ibn Mas'ud's (). On the other hand, a number of authors argue that it is difficult to assess any role had by al-Hajjaj, though they argue for the plausibility of a widely known account that has him ordering the grammarian and
Nasr ibn Asim al-Laythi to introduce new vowel diacritics, a story that is unchallenged, despite the strong enmity of the Muslim traditional sources towards al-Hajjaj. The orientalist
Arthur Jeffery argued that al-Hajjaj seemed "to have made an entirely new recension of the Qur'an", basing his argument on a Muslim source and two Christian sources. The Muslim source is a hadith report in
Sunan Abu Dawood, which details eleven changes. Researcher Umar Ibn Ibrahim Radwan, argues that the changes could be categorised as differences in the . Doubting the authenticity of the hadith report, Radwan argues that the codex of Uthman, a caliph favored by al-Hajjaj, had already been memorised by thousands of Muslims and that the
Abbasid dynasty, which was known for polemically showcasing the negative aspects of Umayyad rule, would have taken the opportunity to show that the Umayyads had corrupted the Quran. One of the Christian sources was a letter reported by the 8th-century Armenian priest
Levond to have been written by the Byzantine emperor
Leo III addressed to Caliph
Umar II. Jefferey notes the authenticity of the letter is disputed by historians, including
John Wansbrough, who denied that Levond had reported it. Neal Robinson argues that even if the letter was authentic, the activity of al-Hajjaj would have been limited to destroying sectarian writings and early codices which preserved the
suras (Quranic chapters) in a different order. The other Christian source is an
apologetic letter attributed to
Abd al-Masih al-Kindi. The dating of the letter is disputed, the Arabist
Paul Kraus concluding that its composition dated to the beginning of the 10th century. Moreover, other authors have rejected that the letter had any factual basis, arguing that it was a polemical work. According to the Islamic historical tradition, in , al-Hajjaj improved written Arabic by adding diacritical marks to the bare ('script') of early "defective" Arabic so that consonants such as these five letters ـبـ ـتـ ـثـ ـنـ ـيـ (y, n, th, t, b) could be distinguished from one another. However, some historians believe these language reforms occurred earlier in Syria or Iraq before the advent of Islam. ==Death and legacy==