Al - Jarrah ibn Abdallah Abu ʿUqba al - Jarrah ibn ʿAbdallah al - Hakami ( ) was an Arab nobleman and general of the Hakami tribe . During the course of the early 8th century , he was at various times governor of Basra , Seistan and Khurasan , Armenia , and Arran . He was celebrated for his exploits with the sobriquets " hero of Islam " ( " Baṭal al - Islām " ) and " Cavalier of the Syrians " ( " Fāris Ahl al - Shām " ) , and is best known for his campaigns against the Khazars on the Caucasus front , culminating in his death in the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730 . Early career . Al - Jarrah , whose name means " the surgeon , " was born in the latter part of the 7th century . His father was Abdallah al - Hakami , a member of a highly regarded tribe within the Umayyad Caliphate . Under Caliph al - Walid I ( r . 705 – 715 ) , al - Jarrah served as governor of Basra in Iraq . In 717 , Umar II ( r . 717 – 720 ) appointed him as governor of Khorasan and Seistan , but was dismissed after a 17 months in office because of his harsh treatment of the native converts ( " mawali " ) . While in Khorasan he fought a series of campaigns against the remnants of the Göktürk Khaganate over Transoxiana , imposing the jizya on the conquered population . In the Caucasus . In spring 722 , following the defeat of the Arab governor of Armenia at the hands of the Khazars , Yazid II ( r . 720 – 724 ) named al - Jarrah in his stead , placing him in command of the Umayyad offensive against the Khazars and their allies . In summer 722 and 723 , Al - Jarrah led an army of 25 , 000 Syrians across the Caucasus and fought his way north along the coast of the Caspian Sea , sacking the Khazar capital Balanjar , although he failed to destroy the Khazar army itself . The Khazars retaliated by invading the Muslim - controlled southern Caucasus in the winter of 723 / 724 , but in February 724 al - Jarrah inflicted a crushing defeat on them in a battle between the rivers Cyrus and Araxes that lasted for days . In the same year , al - Jarrah captured Tiflis and brought Caucasian Iberia , as well as the Alans under Muslim suzerainty , in the process becoming the first Muslim commander to campaign through the Darial Pass . This secured the Muslim ' s own flank against a possible Khazar attack through the Darial , while conversely it gave the Muslim army a second invasion route into Khazar territory . In 725 , however , Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al - Malik ( r . 724 – 743 ) replaced al - Jarrah with his own brother Maslamah . Recall and death . In 729 , the Umayyad army suffered a series of defeats in the Caucasus at the hands of the Khazar commander Barjik . Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al - Malik ( r . 727 – 743 ) recalled al - Djarrah and restored him to the governorship of Armenia , which was in the process of being overrun by the Khazars . In 730 , a Khazar army led by Barjik invaded northeastern Persia , including the provinces of Arran and Djibal . At the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730 al - Jarrah was defeated and killed by the Khazars , who thereafter captured the city of Ardabil . Al - Jarrah ' s head was mounted on Barjik ' s throne . Aftermath . Al - Jarrah was replaced first by his brother Hajjaj ibn Abdallah and subsequently by Maslamah ibn Abd al - Malik and Marwan ibn Muhammad .