Siyah al-Uswari

Siyah, known in Arabic sources as Siyah al-Uswari ("Siyah the horseman"; also spelled al-Aswari) was an Iranian nobleman, who served as the commander of a faction of the Sasanian asvaran unit, but later defected to the Rashidun Caliphate, where he continued serving as the commander of the asvaran (which became known as the Asawira).

Biography

Siyah was a native of Spahan or Khuzestan. During the Arab invasion of Iran, the Sasanian king Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651) sent 300 men under Siyah al-Uswari to defend Khuzestan.^[1] However, during the siege of Shushtar (641-642), Siyah and his men defected to the Arabs.

The reason for their defection was in order to preserve their status and wealth. However, according to the Khuzestan Chronicle, Siyah and his men first defected to the Arabs after they entered Shushtar.^[2] They thereafter settled in Basra, where they received salary. Furthermore, they also converted to Islam and allied themselves with the Banu Tamim of southern Iraq.^[3] However, the story about them converting to Islam is most likely inacurate, since 15 years later, some members still appear with pure Zoroastrian Middle Persian names, such as a certain Mah Afridhan.^[4] Siyah is thereafter no longer mentioned; his son Yazid ibn Siyah al-Uswari continued the family's service in the Asawira.^[5]

References

1. Zakeri 1995, p. 114.
2. Jalalipour 2014, pp. 12-13.
3. Bosworth 1987, pp. 706-707.
4. Pourshariati 2008, p. 240.
5. Zakeri 1995, p. 193.

Sources

• Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
• Jalalipour, Saeid (2014). The Arab Conquest of Persia: The Khūzistān Province before and after the Muslims Triumph (PDF). Sasanika.
• Bosworth, C. E. (1987). "ASĀWERA". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 7. pp. 706–707.
• Morony, Michael G. (2005) [1984]. Iraq After The Muslim Conquest. Gorgias Press LLC. ISBN 978-1-59333-315-7.
• Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 1–391. ISBN 3447036524.