Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

The Forced Taking of Istakhr

فتح أصطخر عنوة

Istakhr

Ibn Amir marched on Istakhr in 28h — Mahak truced for its folk, he left for Jur, and they broke and killed his agent; Jur fallen, he returned and took Istakhr by storm after heavy fighting and mangonels — forty thousand Ajam killed, most house-holders and asawira chiefs who had sheltered there destroyed, some say near a hundred thousand. On his vanguard Ubaydallah ibn Ma'tar al-Taymi had met them at Bramjard and fallen, buried in Bramjard's garden; Ibn Amir hurried — Abu Barza al-Aslami right, Ma'qil ibn Yasar left, Imran ibn al-Husayn horse, Khalid ibn al-Mu'ammar foot — and drove them inside. In another telling they betrayed under Ibn Abbas's Iraq governorship for Ali and were reconquered.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Abd Allah ibn Amir went to Istakhr in 28 AH, and Mahak made peace with him on behalf of its people. Then they broke the covenant, and he returned to them and took it by force after hard fighting. 1

Peace, then breach

Mahak made peace on behalf of the people of Istakhr, and Ibn Amir set out for Jur. When he had left, its people killed his governor over them. When he took Jur, he came back to them. 1

The fighting

Ibn Amir's vanguard was Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'tar al-Taymi. The people of Istakhr met him at Barajird and fought him and killed him, and he was buried in the orchard of Barajird. 1

Ibn Amir hurried, and set Abu Barza al-Aslami on his right wing and Ma'qil ibn Yasar on his left. Over the horse was Imran ibn al-Husayn, and over the foot Khalid ibn al-Mu'ammar. He routed them until he drove them into Istakhr. 1

He set up catapults against it. The report says that he killed forty thousand of the non-Arabs, and it is also said about a hundred thousand. 1

Another account

The sources also relate that the people of Istakhr broke faith during the governorship of Abd Allah ibn Abbas over Iraq for Ali, and it was taken again. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Abd Allah ibn Amir· Mahak· Ubaydallah ibn Ma'tar al-Taymi
Occurred at
Istakhr

People and things also explored

Conquest of Jur· the conquest of Khurasan (30 AH)· Conquest of Surraq· Conquest of Tabaristan· The Death of Yazdgard ibn Shahriyar· Digging of the Ubulla Canal· The Conquest of Naysabur· Hakim ibn Jabala's Report on the Indian Frontier

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Forced Taking of Istakhr”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/fall-of-istakhr/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Time

Eras, timelines, this day in history, any year in the Islamic world. Related

Conquest of Jur

Jur, Ardashir-Khurra's city, where Harim ibn Hayyan stood — the Muslims besieged it and came away to besiege Istakhr, raiding the countryside as if broken. When Ibn Amir sat before it they fought then fortified, and he took it by the sword in 29h; another telling: raided for years until they entered by a hidden way they held to till the city fell. Ibn Amir also took al-Karyan and Fashjan of Darabjird — neither had joined the Hirbadh's sulh, and both had breached.