Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar

Ya'qūb-i Layth-i Saffār
یعقوب لیث صفاری
Amir of the Saffarid dynasty
Ya'qub ibn Layth standing on the roof in full armour, folio from a manuscript of Husayn Kashifi's Akhlaq-i Muhsini. Created in Shiraz, Safavid Iran, 16th century
Reign861–879
SuccessorAmr ibn al-Layth
Born25 October 840
Karnin (near Zaranj), Tahirid Khorasan, Abbasid Caliphate
Died5 June 879 (aged 38)
Gundeshapur, Saffarid State
Burial
Tomb of Yaghub Leys Safari, Gundeshapur, Dezful, Khuzestan, Iran
HouseSaffarid
FatherLaith

Ya'qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār (Persian: یعقوب لیث صفاری; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879),[1] was a coppersmith and the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). Under his military leadership, he conquered much of the eastern portions of Greater Iran consisting of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan as well as portions of western Pakistan[2][3] and a small part of Iraq. He was succeeded by his brother, Amr ibn al-Layth.

  1. ^ C. E. Bosworth. The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. XI. p. 255. The provincial Persian Ya'kub, on the other hand, rejoiced in his plebeian origins, denounced the Abbasids as usurpers, and regarded both the caliphs and such governors from aristocratic Arab families as the Tahirids with contempt. – Ya'kub b. al-Layth al Saffar
  2. ^ "Yaʿqūb ibn Layth al-Ṣaffār". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  3. ^ "Saffarid Dynasty". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 15 July 2007.