Sa'id ibn Salm al-Bahili

Sa'id ibn Salm al-Bahili was an Arab governor and military commander of the early Abbasid Caliphate.

Sa'id ibn Salm al-Bahili سعيد بن سالم البحيلي
Abbasid governor of Jazira
In office 796–797
Monarch	Harun al-Rashid
Abbasid governor of Arminiya
In office 796–797
Monarch	Harun al-Rashid
Preceded by	Ahmad ibn Yazid ibn Usayd al-Sulami
Succeeded by	Nasr ibn Habib al-Muhallabi
Abbasid governor of Mosul
Monarch	Harun al-Rashid
Abbasid governor of Tabaristan
Monarch	Harun al-Rashid
Abbasid governor of Sind
In office 780s–780s
Monarch	Harun al-Rashid
Deputy	Kathir ibn Salm al-Bahili
Personal details
Died	Abbasid Caliphate
Parent	Salm ibn Qutayba
Relatives	Amr (brother) Muthanna (brother) Ibrahim (brother) Kathir (brother)
Known for	Companion of Caliph al-Hadi
Military service
Allegiance	Abbasid Caliphate
Branch/service	Abbasid army
Battles/wars	Arab–Khazar wars

Life

Sa'id was the scion of a prominent family of the Bahila tribe: his father, Salm ibn Qutayba, had served both the Umayyads and the Abbasids as governor of Basra, and his grandfather had been the distinguished general Qutayba ibn Muslim. Several of Sa'id's brothers and uncles also held high office.^[1]

In 776/7, he campaigned against Yusuf al-Barm in Khurasan.^[2] Sa'id was a close friend and boon-companion of Caliph al-Hadi (r. 785–786).^[3] He was with al-Hadi at Jurjan when news came of the death of his father, Caliph al-Mahdi, and al-Hadi's accession; together the two rode for Baghdad, where al-Hadi ascended the throne.^[4] According to an account preserved by al-Tabari, Sa'id held the highest rank at court under al-Hadi, succeeding his own brother Ibrahim.^[5]

Under Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) he was appointed to several provincial governorships.^[2] He was appointed to the Jazira in 796/7,^[6] and was governor of Arminiya in 799, during a Khazar raid into Abbasid territory. One account holds that the raid was provoked by Sa'id executing al-Munajjim al-Sulami—probably the local ruler of Derbent—prompting his son to go to the Khazars and ask for their help in obtaining revenge. The Khazars defeated Sa'id, who fled before them. It was only after Harun sent Khuzayma ibn Khazim and Yazid ibn Mazyad to the province that the Khazars were expelled and order restored.^[7] He also served as governor of Mosul, Tabaristan, and Sind (where he sent his brother Kathir as his deputy).^[2]

In 807, Harun appointed him as commandant of the fortress town of Mar'ash, at the border with the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines raided the area and took several captives, but Sa'id did not move to oppose them.^[8][9] He is last attested in al-Tabari in 808/9.^[10]

References

1. Crone 1980, pp. 136–137.
2. Crone 1980, p. 137.
3. Bosworth 1989, pp. 59 (note 243), 84.
4. Bosworth 1989, p. 59.
5. Bosworth 1989, p. 68.
6. Bosworth 1989, p. 163.
7. Bosworth 1989, pp. 170–171.
8. Bosworth 1989, p. 268.
9. Crone 1980, p. 138.
10. Bosworth 1989, pp. 331–332.

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXX: The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Mūsā al-Hādī and Hārūn al-Rashīd, A.D. 785–809/A.H. 169–192. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
• Crone, Patricia (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52940-9.