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Governor of Syria (Bilad al-Sham) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Malik ibn Tawk ibn Malik ibn 'Attab at-Taghlibi (Arabic: مالك بن طوق التغلبي) (died 873) was an Arab Abbasid official during the reigns of caliphs al-Wathiq (r. 842–847) and al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). He is best known as the founder of the fortress town of al-Rahba on the western banks of the Euphrates, part of the present-day Syrian town of Mayadin.
Malik ibn Tawk ibn Malik ibn 'Attab at-Taghlibi مالك بن طوق بن مالك بن عتاب التغليبي | |
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Governor of Damascus and Jordan | |
In office 847 – 850 | |
Monarch | Al-Mutawakkil |
Preceded by | Rija ibn Ayyub al-Hadari (841–847) |
Succeeded by | al-Mu'ayyad |
Governor of Mosul | |
In office 829 – 831 | |
Monarch | al-Mamun |
Preceded by | Muhammed ibn al-Sayyid ibn Anas (827–828) |
Succeeded by | Mansur ibn Bassam (c.834–838) |
Personal details | |
Died | 873 |
Parent | Tawk ibn Malik ibn Attab at-Taghlibi |
Malik ibn Tawk belonged to the Arab tribe of Banu Taghlib and traced his lineage to the 6th-century Taghlibi poet warrior Amr ibn Kulthum.[1] His father, Tawk ibn Malik, served as governor of Diyar Rabi'a, the district of the eastern Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) under the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).[2] He also served as a general under al-Ma'mun's predecessor, Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809),[1] Some Muslim sources have often incorrectly made the son Malik ibn Tawk to have been the one in the service of Harun and al-Ma'mun instead of his father.[2] Malik ibn Tawk served under the caliphs al-Wathiq (r. 842–847) and al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) as the governor of Jund al-Urdunn (military district of Jordan) and Jund Dimashq (military district of Damascus).[2]
Sometime in the latter half of the 9th century, Malik convinced his kinsman, Sahl ibn Bishr, a great-grandson of the 7th-century Taghlibi poet al-Akhtal, to convert to islam from Christianity along with the other direct descendants of al-Akhtal.[2] Malik founded the Euphrates Valley fortress of al-Rahba and became its lord. The fortress town was since alternatively known as "Rahbat Malik ibn Tawk".[1] He died in 873.[1] His son Ahmad succeeded him as the lord of al-Rahba, but was forced out of the town in 883 by the lord of al-Anbar, Muhammad ibn Abi'l-Saj.[3]
The al-Rahabi clan of the Euphrates basin, claims descent from Malik ibn Tawk.