Ishaq ibn Kundaj

Ishaq ibn Kundaj
Diedc. 891
Al-Jazira, Abbasid Caliphate
AllegianceAbbasid Caliphate
Service/branchAbbasid Turkic regiment
Years of servicec. 873 – 890
Battles/warsZanj Rebellion
ChildrenMuhammad

Ishaq ibn Kundaj (Arabic: إسحاق بن كنداج) or Kundajiq, was a Turkic military leader who played a prominent role in the turbulent politics of the Abbasid Caliphate in the late 9th century. Initially active in lower Iraq in the early 870s, he came to be appointed governor of Mosul in the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia, in modern northern Iraq) in 879/80. He ruled Mosul and much of the Jazira almost continuously until his death in 891, despite becoming involved in constant quarrels with local chieftains, as well as in the Abbasid government's rivalry with the Tulunids of Egypt. On his death he was succeeded by his son, Muhammad, but in 892 the Abbasid government under Caliph al-Mu'tadid re-asserted its authority in the region, and Muhammad went to serve in the caliphal court.