Editing Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (section)

===Saffarids===

[[File:Saffarid dynasty 861-1003.png|thumb|400px|Saffarid rule at its greatest extent under Ya'qub b. al-Layth al-Saffar]]

====Ya'qub b. al-Layth====

The Tahirid rule was overthrown by [[Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar]] of Sistan, the first independent Iranian ruler in the post-Islamic era. He also fought against the Abbasid Caliphate.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwd5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|title=Continuity in Iranian Identity: Resilience of a Cultural Heritage|author=Fereshteh Davaran|publisher=Routledge|page=153|isbn=9781134018314|date=2010-02-26}}</ref> He joined the [[Ayyār|'ayyar]] band of Salih b. al-Nadr/Nasr, who was recognised as Bust's amir in 852. al-Nasr aimed at taking over whole of Sistan and drove out the Tahirid governor in 854, with Sistan ceasing to be under the direct control of the Caliphate. al-Nasr himself was overthrown by Dirham b. Nasr who was overthrown by Ya'qub in 861.<ref name=Bayne>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA109|title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4|author=William Bayne Fisher|page=109|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521200936|date=1975-06-26}}</ref> Ya'qub and his brother [[Amr ibn al-Layth|Amr]] advanced as far as [[Baghdad]] and to Kabul itself in eastern Afghanistan with their dynamism, advancing along the historic route taken by the modern [[Highway 1 (Afghanistan)|Lashkargah-Qandahar-Ghazni-Kabul road]]. Their eastern campaigns are documented by Arabic sources of [[Al-Masudi]]'s ''[[The Meadows of Gold|Murūj adh-dhahab]]'', [[Ibn al-Athir]]'s ''[[The Complete History|al-Kāmil fi't-tā'rīkh]]'' and ''[[Tarikh-i Sistan|Tarikh-e-Sistan]]''. The Persian historian [[Gardizi]]'s ''Zain al-akhbār'' also mentions the [[Saffarid]] campaigns.<ref name="Clifford Edmund Bosworth 300">{{cite book|title=The Medieval History of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|page=300|publisher=Variorum Reprints|author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth}}</ref>

Salih fled to ar-Rukhkhaj or Arachosia, where he received the help of the Zunbil. Both Salih and the Zunbil were killed by Ya'qub in 865.<ref name=Bayne/> [[Abu Sa'id Gardezi]] mentions that Ya'qub advanced from Sistan to Bust and occupied the city. From here he advanced to [[Panjwayi|Panjway]] and Tiginabad (two of the chief towns of Arachosia), defeating and killing the Zunbil, though the date is not given. This account matches with that of ''Tarikh-e-Sistan''.<ref name=IsMEO/> [[Satish Chandra]] states that, "We are told that it was only in 870 AD that Zabulistan was finally conquered by one Yakub who was the virtual ruler of the neighbouring Iranian province of Siestan. The king was killed and his subjects were made Muslims."<ref name= "Satish1">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA17|title= Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One|publisher=Har-Anand Publishers|author=Satish Chandra|page=17|author-link= Satish Chandra|isbn= 9788124110645|year= 2004}}</ref>

[[Muhammad Aufi]]'s ''[[Jawami ul-Hikayat]]'' meanwhile states that during his invasion of Zabul, Yaqub employed a ruse to surrender after being allowed to pay homage to the ruler along with his troops, lest they disperse and become dangerous to both sides. Yaqub's troops "carried their lances concealed behind their horses and were wearing coats of mail under their garments. The Almighty made the army of Rusal (probably Rutbil), blind, so that they did not see the lances. When Yaqub drew near Rusal, he bowed his head as if to do homage, but raised a lance and thrust it in the back of Rusal so that he died on the spot. His people also fell like lightning upon the enemy, cutting them down with their swords and staining the earth with the blood of the enemies of the religion. The infidels when they saw the head of Rusal upon the point of a spear took to flight and great bloodshed ensued. This victory, which he achieved, was the result of treachery and deception, such as no one had ever committed."<ref name=Ashirbadi>{{cite book|title=The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D.: Including the Arab Invasion of Sindh, Hindu Rule in Afghanistan and Causes of the Defeat of the Hindus in Early Medieval Age|author=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava|page=33|publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala|author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava}}</ref>

[[Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava]] states that after this victory by Yaqub over Zabul, the position of Lallya alias Kallar, the Brahmin minister who had overthrown the last Kshatriya king of Kabul Lagaturman, seems to have become untenable. He shifted his capital to [[Attock Khurd|Udhaband]] in 870 AD. Lallya, credited as an able and strong ruler by [[Kalhana]] in ''[[Rajatarangini]]'', was driven out by Ya'qub from Kabul within a year of his usurpation according to Srivastava.<ref name=Ashirbadi/>

Gardezi states that after defeating the Zunbil, Yaqub then advanced into Zabulistan and then Ghazni, whose citadel he destroyed and forced Abu Mansur Aflah b. Muhammad b. Khaqan, the local ruler of nearby [[Gardez]], to tributary status. ''Tarikh-e-Sistan'' however in contrast states that he returned to Zarang after killing Salih. This campaign may be related to Gardizi's account of a later expedition in 870 where he advanced as far as Bamiyan and Kabul.<ref name=IsMEO>{{cite book|title=Sīstān Under the Arabs: From the Islamic Conquest to the Rise of the Ṣaffārids (30-250/651-864)|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|page=120|publisher=IsMEO|author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth}}</ref> Salih b. al-Hujr, described as a cousin of the Zunbil, was appointed as the Saffarid governor of ar-Rukhkhaj, but rebelled two years after Zunbil's death and committed suicide to avoid capture.<ref name=IsMEO/>

Ya'qub had captured several relatives of the Zunbil's family after defeating Salih b. al-Nasr. Zunbil's son escaped from captivity in 869 and quickly raised an army in al-Rukhkhaj, later seeking refuge with the Kabul-Shah.<ref name=Bayne2>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA111|title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4|author=William Bayne Fisher|page=111|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521200936|date=1975-06-26}}</ref> Per Gardizi, Ya'qub undertook another expedition in 870 which advanced as far as Kabul and Bamiyan.<ref name=IsMEO/> According to ''Tarikh-e-Sistan'', Bamiyan was captured in 871<ref name=Bayne2/> and its idol-temple was plundered.<ref name="Clifford Edmund Bosworth 300"/> Ya'qub defeated Kabul in 870 and again had to march there in 872 when the Zunbil's son took possession of Zabulistan. Ya'qub captured him from the fortress of Nay-Laman where he had fled.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Medieval History of Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|page=121|publisher=Variorum Reprints|author-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth}}</ref> In 871, Ya'qub sent 50 gold and silver idols he gained by campaigning from Kabul to Caliph [[Al-Mu'tamid]], who sent them to Mecca.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA112|title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4|author=William Bayne Fisher|page=112|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521200936|date=1975-06-26}}</ref>

According to Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, Ghor, which was ruled by [[Amir Suri]] in the 9th century, entered into a war against Ya'qub, but escaped conquest due to its difficult and mountainous terrain.<ref name="Nab"/>

====Amr b. al-Layth====

After Ya'qub's death in 879, Al-Mu'tamid recognised his brother and successor 'Amr b. al-Layth (r. 879–902), as governor of Khorasan, [[Isfahan province|Isfahan]], [[Fars province|Fars]], Sistan and Sindh.<ref name=Bayne1>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R63ACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA816|title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4|author=William Bayne Fisher|page=112|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9781317451587|date=June 2015}}</ref> The caliph however announced divesting him of all his governorships in 885 and reappointed Muhammad b. Tahir as the governor of Khorasan.<ref>{{cite book|title=Persian historiography to the end of the Twelfth century|author=Julie Scott Meisami|page=121|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|year=1999}}</ref> He was reappointed governor of Khorasan in 892 by [[Al-Mu'tadid]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ca4ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT127|title=A History of Afghanistan: Volumes 1 and 2|author=Percy Sykes|page=127|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=9781317845867}}</ref>

Amr led an expedition as far as Sakawand in the [[Logar River|Logar Valley]], between Ghazni and Kabul, described as a Hindu pilgrimage-centre. In 896, he sent idols captured from Zamindawar and the Indian frontier, including a female copper idol with four arms and two girdles of silver set with jewels and pulled on a trolley by camels, to Baghdad.<ref name=Bayne1/> [[Abu'l-Fadl Bayhaqi|Al-Baihaki]] mentions Sakawand as a pass from Kabul to India. It was situated at or near [[Jalalabad]].<ref name=culture/> The idol taken from somewhere in eastern Afghanistan by Amr was displayed for three days in Basra and then for three days in Baghdad. [[Jamal J. Elias]] states that it may have been of [[Lakshmi]] or Sukhavati at Sakawand. Al-Masudi emphasises the attention it received as a spectacle, with crowds gathering to gawk at it.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/aishascushionrel0000elia|url-access=registration|title=Aisha's Cushion: Religious Art, Perception, and Practice in Islam|author=Jamal J. Elias|page=[https://archive.org/details/aishascushionrel0000elia/page/116 116]|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2012|author-link=Jamal J. Elias|isbn=9780674067394}}</ref>

Aufi states that Amr had sent Fardaghan as the prefect over Ghazni and he launched the raid on Sakawand, which was a part of the territory of Kabul Shahi and had a temple frequented by Hindus. The Shah of Kabul at this time was Kamaluka, called "Kamalu" in Persian literature. Fardaghan entered it and succeeded in surprising Sakawand.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sraddhānjali, Studies in Ancient Indian History: D.C. Sircar Commemoration Volume|author1=Dineshchandra Sircar|author1-link=Dineshchandra Sircar|author2=Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta|author3=Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya|author4=Rabin Dev Choudhury|page=162|publisher=Sundeep Prakashan |year=1988}}</ref> Sakawand was plundered,<ref name=culture>{{cite book|title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The age of imperial Kanauj|author=R.C. Majumdar|page=113|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1964|author-link=R.C. Majumdar}}</ref> and its temple destroyed.<ref name=Kamalu>{{cite book|title=Central Asia|page=142|publisher=Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar |year=1982}}</ref>

Kamalu counter-attacked Fardaghan, who realising his forces were no match for his, resorted to spreading a false rumour that he knew his intentions and had organised a formidable army against him with 'Amr on the way to join him. The rumour had the desired effect and the opposing army slowed its advance, knowing that they could be ambushed and slaughtered if they advanced impetuously into the narrow defiles. Meanwhile, Fardaghan received reinforcements from Khorasan according to Aufi.<ref name=Quaid>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of Central Asia|volume= 1|issue= 1|pages=97–98|publisher=Centre for the Study of the Civilizations of Central Asia, [[Quaid-i-Azam University]]|year=1978|title=Kamalu's invasion of Ghazna|author=Abdur Rahman}}</ref> According to Aufi, he cleverly averted the danger.<ref name=Kamalu/>

''Tarikh-e-Sistan'' does not mention any attack by Fardaghan on Sakawand however, instead beginning with the attack by Kamalu. Per it, when Amr was in [[Gurgan]], he heard that ''Nasad Hindi'' and ''Alaman Hindi'' had allied and invaded Ghazni. The Saffarid governor 'Fard 'Ali was defeated and fled.<ref name=Quaid/>