Al-Husayn ibn Jamil

Al-Husayn was a mawla ("client"), being described as "mawla amir al-mu'minin" and "mawla Abi Ja'far al-Mansur."[1] During the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) he appears to have been appointed as governor of Basra at an unspecified date.[2] In 806 he was appointed over Egypt, arriving in the province in July of that year. Initially his mandate was limited to matters of prayers and security (salah) but at a later date he was granted control over the provincial finances (kharaj) as well.[3]

During al-Husayn's governorship, the residents of the Hawf district refused to pay their taxes and rose up in rebellion. A thousand men under Abu al-Nida cut off the road to Ayla and advanced into the region of Syria, where they proceeded to engage in looting and killing. The disturbances eventually grew serious enough for the caliph to dispatch Yahya ibn Mu'adh ibn Muslim with an army to quell the uprising. After arriving in Palestine Yahya received reinforcements sent by al-Husayn, and soon afterwards the Egyptian forces were able to defeat the rebels in battle and capture Abu al-Nida. Yahya then proceeded to the Hawf and took up residence in Bilbays, where he reimposed order and ensured the resumption of tax payments.[4]

In 808 al-Husayn was dismissed from his position and replaced with Malik ibn Dalham al-Kalbi.[5]

• 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.
• Ibn Taghribirdi, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf (1930). Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira, Volume II (in Arabic). Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya.
• Kennedy, Hugh (1998). "Egypt as a province in the Islamic caliphate, 641-868". In Petry, Carl F. (ed.). Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume One: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–85. ISBN 0-521-47137-0.
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
• Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.). The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
• Morimoto, Kosei (1981). The Fiscal Administration of Egypt in the Early Islamic Period. Kyoto: Dohosha.