Abu Muslim Khorasani Abū Muslim ' Abd ar - Rahmān ibn Muslim Khorāsānī ( , ; c . 700 – 755 ) , or Al - Khorāsānī , was an Abbasid general from the Khorasan region who led the Abbasid Revolution that toppled the Umayyad dynasty . Origin and name . According to the " Encyclopedia Iranica " , " sources differ regarding his original name and his origin . Some make him a descendant of Gōdarz and of the vizier Bozorgmehr and call him Ebrāhīm ; some name him Behzādān , son of Vendād Hormoz ; and others relate him to the ʿAbbasids or to ʿAlī ’ s family . These suggestions are all doubtful " . Crushing a Shiite rebellion in Bukhara . There was an Arab by the name Sharik ibn Shaikh al - Mahri in Bukhara , who wanted to spread Shia Islam firmly and oppose anyone against him . Soon , he got the support of several local rulers and many local people . When this news reached Abu Muslim ( Khorasani ) , he along Ziyad ibn Salih came there to find out what the details , and soon they got involved in a fight . Abu Muslim fought Sharik ibn Shaikh al - Mahri and his Shiite supporters for thirty - seven days with no victory , everyday Abu Muslim ' s side was losing soldiers and several taken as prisoners . . After that , all of a sudden Sharikh ibn Shaikh ( Shiite leader ) died , and his supporters started to crumble & fear , but they were still hostile . The rebellion was eventually crushed and most of the Shia supporters were hanged . Rise and revolution . Abu Muslim was a major supporter of the Abbasid cause , having met with their Imam Ibrahim ibn Muhammad in Mecca , and was later a personal friend of Abu al - ' Abbas Al - Saffah , the future Caliph . He observed the revolt in Kufa in 736 tacitly . With the death of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al - Malik in 743 , the Islamic world was launched into civil war . Abu Muslim was sent to Khorasan by the Abbasids initially as a propagandist and then to revolt on their behalf . He took Merv in December 747 ( or January 748 ) , defeating the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar , as well as Shayban al - Khariji , a Kharijite aspirant to the caliphate . He became the de facto Abbasid governor of Khorasan , and gained fame as a general in the late 740s in defeating the peasant rebellion of Bihafarid , the leader of a syncretic Persian sect that were Mazdaism . Abu Muslim received support in suppressing the rebellion both from purist Muslims and Zoroastrians . In 750 , Abu Muslim became leader of the Abbasid army and defeated the Umayyads at Battle of the Zab . Abu Muslim stormed Damascus , the capital of the Umayyad caliphate , later that year . His heroic role in the revolution and military skill , along with his conciliatory politics toward Shia , Sunnis , Zoroastrians , Jews , and Christians , made him extremely popular among the people . Although it appears that Abu al - ' Abbas trusted him in general , he was wary of his power , limiting his entourage to 500 men upon his arrival to Iraq on his way to Hajj in 754 . Abu al - ' Abbas ' s brother , al - Mansur ( r . 754 - 775 ) , advised al - Saffah on more than one occasion to have Abu Muslim killed , fearing his rising influence and popularity . It seems that this dislike was mutual , with Abu Muslim aspiring to more power and looking down in disdain on al - Mansur , feeling al - Mansur owed Abu Muslim for his position . When the new caliph ' s uncle , Abdallah ibn Ali rebelled , Abu Muslim was requested by al - Mansur to crush this rebellion , which he did , and Abdallah was given to his nephew as a prisoner . Abdallah was ultimately executed . Relations deteriorated quickly when al - Mansur sent an agent to inventory the spoils of war , and then appointed Abu Muslim governor of Syria and Egypt , outside his powerbase . After an increasingly acrimonious correspondence between Abu Muslim and al - Mansur , Abu Muslim feared he was going to be killed if he appeared in the presence of the Caliph . He later changed his mind and decided to appear in his presence due to a combination of perceived disobedience , al - Mansur ' s promise to keep him as governor of Khorasan , and the assurances of some of his close aides , some of whom were bribed by al - Mansur . He went to Iraq to meet with al - Mansur ' s in Madain in 755 . al - Mansur proceeded to enumerate his grievances against Abu Muslim , who kept reminding the Caliph of his efforts to enthrone him . Against al - Muslim were also charges of being a zindiq or heretic . al - Mansur then signaled five of his guards behind a portico to kill him . Abu Muslim ' s mutilated body was thrown in the river Tigris , and his commanders were bribed to acquiesce to the murder . Death . His murder was not well received by the Kurds , particularly not by the residents of Khorasan and Kurdistan , and there was resentment and rebellion among the population over the brutal methods used by al - Mansur . He became a legendary figure for many in Persia , and several Persian heretics started revolts claiming he had not died and would return ; the latter included his own propagandist Ishaq al - Turk , the Zoroastrian cleric Sunpadh in Nishapur , the Abu Muslimiyya subsect of the Kaysanites Shia , and al - Muqanna in Khorasan . Even Babak claimed descent from him . Books . At least three epic romances were written about him :