Conquest of Azerbaijan

فتح أذربيجان

Al-Mughira came to Kufa as Umar's governor carrying a letter appointing Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman (may God be pleased with him) to Azerbaijan; he marched to Ardabil — the province's city, seat of its marzban and its kharaj — where the marzban had gathered fighters from Bajirwan, Maymadh, al-Narir, Sarat, al-Shiz, al-Miyanij and beyond; they fought the Muslims hard for days, then the marzban treated for all Azerbaijan at eight hundred thousand dirhams weight-eight — no one killed, none captive, no fire-temple razed, and no exposure to the Kurds of Balasajan, Sabalan and Satrudan, nor barring the people of al-Shiz from their feast-music and wonted display; he then raided Muqan and Jilan to tribute. Umar dismissed him for Utba ibn Farqad, who found Ardabil on the covenant but its borderlands in breach — he campaigned, won and plundered. Variants: Waqidi has al-Mughira storm it in 22, Abu Mikhnaf in 20 then al-Ash'ath ibn Qays re-conquering on the same terms, and al-Zuhri gives a hundred-thousand treaty. Umar wrote them to eat only dhabiha and wear only pure fur in that carrion-mixed land. Al-Walid ibn Uqba's dismissal of Utba brought another breach, his 25 AH campaign restoring Hudhayfa's terms; when it rose against al-Ash'ath ibn Qays he hunted it 'meadow by meadow' — the han of their speech — resettled Arab stipendaries to preach Islam, and Sa'id ibn al-As's raids on Muqan and Jilan ended with Jarir al-Bajali crucifying the Armenian-Azerbaijani chief on Bajirwan's keep.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Rashidun Caliphate
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In space

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates that al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba came to Kufa as governor on Umar's behalf, with a letter for Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman appointing him over Azerbaijan. Hudhayfa marched to Ardabil, and its people fought him for days, and then he made peace with the marzban for eight hundred thousand dirhams. ¹

Terms of the peace

The conditions were that none of them be killed or enslaved, that no fire-temple be demolished, that the Kurds of al-Blasjan, Sabalan and Satrudan not be molested, and that the people of al-Shiz not be prevented from dancing at their festivals. Hudhayfa then raided Muqan and Jilan and made peace with them for a tribute. ¹

Governors after him

Umar dismissed Hudhayfa and appointed Utba ibn Farqad. He found the people of Ardabil keeping to the covenant, and he raided the districts that had broken it. al-Waqidi relates that al-Mughira conquered it by force in 22 AH, and Ibn al-Kalbi says that he conquered it in 20 AH. When al-Walid ibn Uqba dismissed Utba, they broke the covenant, and he raided them in 25 AH and made peace with them on the terms of Hudhayfa. ¹

Afterwards they broke it again under al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, and he pursued them district by district and settled Arabs from the stipend-holders there. Then Sa'id ibn al-As raided them and struck Muqan and Jilan. ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant: Abdallah ibn Shibl al-Antamasi· Amr ibn Utba the Ascetic· Bukayr ibn Shaddad· Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman· Utba ibn Farqad al-Sulami· al-Walid ibn Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt· al-Ash'ath ibn Qays· Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Umayya
Occurred at: Azerbaijan

People and things also explored

Salman al-Khayl's Reinforcement and the Spoils Dispute· Utba ibn Farqad's Khabis Baskets· Uthman's standardization of the mushaf· al-Walid ibn 'Uqba's dismissal from Kufa (30 AH)· Banu Umayya ibn Abd Shams· Kufa· al-Nusayr and Hudhayfa's Raid toward Tikrit· Ali carries out the drinking penalty on al-Walid ibn Uqba

Sources

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Conquest of Azerbaijan”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/conquest-of-azerbaijan/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Time

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Salman al-Khayl's Reinforcement and the Spoils Dispute

In al-Baladhuri: when Habib ibn Maslama's letter reached Uthman with word of the Armeniakos patrikios's host, he wrote to Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Sa'id ibn al-As ibn Umayya — his governor of Kufa — ordering him to reinforce with an army under Salman ibn Rabi'a al-Bahili, that is Salman al-Khayl, a good, virtuous raider, who marched to him with six thousand Kufans; the Romans and their allies had come and camped on al-Fudhat — the reinforcement slow — and the Muslims night-attacked and overran them; then Salman arrived when the Muslims were done with their enemy, and the Kufans asked to be given a share in the spoils, which was refused until Habib and Salman exchanged hard words and some Muslims threatened Salman with death, the poet saying 'if you kill Salman we kill your Habib, and if you march home the son of Affan's affair marches too'; he wrote of it to Uthman, who wrote that the spoils were cold — free — for the Syrians, and wrote to Salman ordering him to raid Arran; some also relate that Salman ibn Rabi'a went to Armenia in Uthman's caliphate, took captives and spoils, and returned to al-Walid ibn Uqba at Hadithat al-Mawsil in year 25, where Uthman's letter reached him: Mu'awiya had written of a great Roman massing, asking aid and ordering eight thousand sent under Salman ibn Rabi'a al-Bahili, while Mu'awiya dispatched Habib ibn Maslama al-Fihri with a like number — the two took fortresses and captives and disputed the command, the Syrians threatening Salman, whence the same verse — but the first report is sounder, transmitted to me by several shaykhs of Qaliqala and written to me by al-Attaf ibn Sufyan Abu al-Asbagh its qadi.