MUHALLAB IBN ABI SUFRA, AL-

born c. 630, , Arabia died February 702 Arab general in the service of the Umayyad caliphate and an important participant in the political developments of his time. Al-Muhallab first served under the caliph Mu'awiyah, campaigning in India and raiding the country between Kabul and Multan. Later he was stationed in the eastern provinces, leading expeditions against the Central Asian city of Samarkand for the governors of Khorasan. Soon after the death of Mu'awiyah (680), the Islamic community was convulsed by civil wars. During this time al-Muhallab deserted the Umayyads and sided with the anti-caliph 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr, who appointed him governor of the eastern province of Khorasan. Before he could assume his responsibilities, however, he was forced to undertake several campaigns against the Azraqis, a fanatical Muslim sect that made war on all who would not join them. He eventually pursued them into Persia and was able to break their power after a religious schism divided their ranks. Al-Muhallab finally assumed his duties in Khorasan and began to launch campaigns deeper into Central Asia, in the course of which he met his death.