page_title: Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri
section_title: First governorship of Khurasan
hierarchical_section_title: Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri / First governorship of Khurasan
caption_attribution_description: English: ISLAMIC, Umayyad Caliphate. temp. Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik. AH 105-125 / AD 724-743. AR Dirhem (27mm, 2.92 g, 9h). al-Mubaraka (Balkh) mint. Dated AH 108 (AD 726/7). Klat 571.b1; Album 137. VF, areas of faint porosity.
context_page_description: Asad ibn Abdallah ibn Asad al-Qasri was a prominent official of the Umayyad Caliphate, serving twice as governor of Khurasan under the Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. The descendant of a prominent Arab family, he was the brother of Khalid al-Qasri, the powerful governor of Iraq for most of Hisham's reign. Asad's first tenure as governor in 724–727 came in the wake of the "Day of Thirst", a severe defeat at the hands of the Türgesh Turks in Transoxiana. Asad tried to reconcile the local Soghdians to Muslim rule, initiated tax reforms to address the grievances of the native converts to Islam, and enjoyed good relations with many local nobles, who began to convert to Islam under his influence. His military expeditions during his first tenure were targeted mainly against restive local princes, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Türgesh.
  After his dismissal, his successors reversed his policy of reconciliation, resulting in a large-scale anti-Arab rebellion among the Soghdians.
context_section_description: In 724, immediately after Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) ascended the throne, Asad's brother Khalid al-Qasri was appointed to the important post of governor of Iraq, with responsibility over the entire Islamic East, which he held until 738. Khalid in turn named Asad as governor of Khurasan. The two brothers thus became, according to the historian Patricia Crone, "among the most prominent men of the Marwanid period" of the Umayyad Caliphate. Asad's arrival in Khurasan found the province in peril: his predecessor, Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi, had just attempted a campaign against Ferghana and suffered a major defeat, the so-called "Day of Thirst", at the hands of the Türgesh Turks and the Soghdian principalities of Transoxiana that had risen up against Muslim rule.
  According to the historian H.A.R. Gibb, this Muslim defeat "marks a period in the history of the Arab conquests. It was practically the last aggressive expedition of the Arabs into Transoxiana for fifteen years, but of much greater importance was the blow which it struck at Arab prestige. The roles were reversed; from now onwards the Arabs found themselves on the defensive and were gradually ousted from almost every district across the Oxus." In this situation, Asad followed a policy of consolidation and limited military activity, focusing on enforcing Muslim control in the minor local potentates and avoiding a direct confrontation with the Muslims' main enemy, the Türgesh. Thus in 107 AH (725 or 726 AD) Asad campaigned against Namrun, King of al-Gharshistan (northeast of Herat), whom he forced to submit and convert to Islam, before going on to subdue the region of Ghur (central Afghanistan). The next year, Asad campaigned in Khuttal in Tokharistan, where he was confronted by the khagan, who was called upon for aid by the local ruler, al-Sabal. One tradition holds that Asad retreated over the Oxus and went on to campaign with success in Ghur in the next year, but according to another he suffered a heavy defeat by the Türgesh. In either case, Asad's military ventures were only moderately successful, and most importantly failed to address the growing danger of the Türgesh, who with the support of the local princes threatened to expel the Arabs back beyond the Oxus.
  At the same time, Asad tried to conciliate the local population, hoping to prevent them from supporting the Türgesh. He continued his predecessor's policy of appointing men known for their honesty as his fiscal agents. His reforms aimed to stop discrimination against the mawali, the native converts to Islam, by ceasing the collection of the jizya from them. This measure was vehemently opposed by the Arab settlers of Khurasan, but according to Khalid Yahya Blankinship "it may have helped to discourage the Turks for a couple of years by keeping the Transoxianans on the Muslims' side". Despite Asad's efforts and his good relations with the local Iranian land-owning class, the dihqans, taxation remained a heavy burden for the subject populations, and the greed and cruelty of Arab and Iranian tax collectors alike meant that Khurasan became a fertile field for the Shi'ite and Abbasid missionaries (da'wa). Among the local nobility, Saman Khuda, the ancestor of the Samanid dynasty, is said to have been converted to Islam by Asad at this time, and Saman's eldest son was named Asad in the governor's honour.
  In 726 Asad rebuilt the city of Balkh, which had been destroyed by Qutayba ibn Muslim following a revolt, and transferred there the Arab garrison troops from nearby Barukhan. Asad also resumed, after almost a decade, the practice of sending envoys to the Chinese court. This move was clearly linked to the Türgesh threat, as the Turks were Chinese vassals and were regarded by the Transoxianians as the agents of the Chinese emperor, sent to deliver them from Arab rule. Asad is also said to have built the village of Asadabad near Nishapur, which his descendants held until Tahirid times.
  Asad was dismissed from his office in Ramadan 109 AH (December 727 or January 728 AD), when in an outburst of anger he had t
caption: Silver dirham minted in Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik's name at the mint of Balkh, 108 AH (726 or 727 AD)
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