Utba ibn Farqad's Khabis Baskets

خبيص عتبة بن فرقد

Umar sent his Azerbaijan governor Utba ibn Farqad a hamper of khabis-sweets among the felt-rolls; Utba asked if it was money, then had it sent back. Utba later made two baskets of khabis wrapped in hides and felt, sent by his mawla Suhaym — Umar tasted, 'fine indeed; did the Emigrants eat their fill of it? It is yours alone' — and wrote back: 'it is not your toil nor your mother's nor your father's; eat nothing but what fills the Muslims in their camps'.

Overview

Al-Baladhuri relates that Umar sent to the governor of Azerbaijan, Utba ibn Farqad, some sweet khabis, and then wrote to him reminding him that he should eat only what the Muslims could be satisfied with. ¹

The report

Umar sent Utba a sweet of khabis wrapped in cotton cloth. When it arrived, Utba asked whether it was money, and they said no, so he returned the gift. ¹

Then Utba made two baskets of khabis, wrapped them in leather and felt, and sent them to Umar with his client Suhaym. Umar tasted the khabis and asked whether the emigrants had eaten of it until they were satisfied. ¹

The letter

Umar wrote to him that this was not from his labour nor from the labour of his mother or his father, and ordered him to eat only what the Muslims could be satisfied with in their camps. ¹

The date and page numbers are not in the data and need an additional source.

Conquest of Azerbaijan

Al-Mughira came to Kufa as Umar's governor carrying a letter appointing Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman 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.

Utba ibn Farqad's Khabis Baskets

At a glance

In space

Overview

The report

The letter

Connections

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Conquest of Azerbaijan