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Rutbil's Refusal of the Governors' Tribute

امتناع رتبيل عن أتاوة العمال

To Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik's men Rutbil paid nothing. Asked what had become of the folk who used to come 'hollow-bellied, faces blackened by prayer, sandals of palm-fibre' — 'they are gone' — 'those were your betters in covenant and might, though you have fairer faces'. And why he paid al-Hajjaj but not them: 'al-Hajjaj never looked at what he spent once he won his purpose, though not a dirham returned; you never spend a dirham unless you hope ten come back for it'. Neither Umayyad nor Zubayrid governors of Sijistan took that atawa from him.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Al-Baladhuri relates that Rutbil gave nothing of the tribute to the agents of Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik. 1

What he was told

Rutbil was asked about a people who used to come to him with empty bellies, dark faces from prayer, and sandals of palm fibre. He was told they had died out, and he said they had been more faithful in covenant and more fierce in might than you. 1

He was asked why he gave tribute to al-Hajjaj and not to them. He answered, according to the account, that al-Hajjaj does not consider what he spends once he has gained his aim, and they spend no dirham except in hope of ten. 1

Al-Baladhuri says that he gave none of that tribute to any of the agents of the Umayyads or the agents of Ibn al-Zubayr in Sistan. 1

What the narrator understood from the story, and the year in which it happened, need an additional source.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Rutbil (the Zunbil)

People and things also explored

Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah ibn Amir's Sijistan· Abdullah ibn Umayya's Truce with the Second Rutbil· Ibn al-Ash'ath's End at Sijistan· Ma'n ibn Za'ida's Campaign on Rutbil· Qutayba's Coming to Sijistan· Rutbil's War and al-Rabi' ibn Ziyad· Ubaydallah ibn Abi Bakra's Peace with Rutbil· Ubaydallah ibn Abi Bakra's Second Disaster

Sources

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

islam.museum contributors. “Rutbil's Refusal of the Governors' Tribute”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/rutbil-umayyad-defiance/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah ibn Amir's Sijistan

Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdallah ibn Amir came governing Sijistan for al-Quba' — al-Harith ibn Abdallah ibn Abi Rabi'a al-Makhzumi — in Ibn al-Zubayr's days; they brought him into Zaranj and warred on Rutbil, whom Abu Afra'a Umayr al-Mazini killed as the unbelievers routed. Abdullah ibn Nashira al-Tamimi counselled Abd al-Aziz to take all the treasury and leave — then came himself and entered Zaranj; Waki' ibn Abi Sud alone stood by Abd al-Aziz, got him back in when the gates opened to the Khatiban, and expelled Ibn Nashira, who gathered a host and fought — his horse stumbled and he was killed, mourned in Abu Huzaba's (or Hanzala ibn Arada's) elegy 'no youth after Ibn Nashira the youth'.