ADMINISTRATIONprovincial configuration in the late Sasanian period. 'Abdullah ibn
Mu'tamm, who conquered Takrit in 637, was put in charge of the
war and khariij of as much of the province of "Mawsil" as had been
occupied up to that time, while 'Arfaja ibn Harthama was put in
charge of the khariij of Takrit. When 'Abdullah retired to Kufa the
following year, he left Muslim ibn 'Abdullah as his lieutenant over
"Mawsil."41 The administrative subordination of Takrit to Mawsil is
definitely indicated by the fact that when al-Muhallab was governor
of Mawsil in 687 he had an 'iimi! at Takrit.^42
All of these districts of Ard Mawsil continued to be organized to-
gether with Iraq immediately after the Islamic conquest because they
were occupied by Muslim forces coming from that direction. Their
conquest was accomplished in two campaigns. The first was that of
'Abdullah ibn Mu'tamm, who moved up the Tigris in 637 to cover
the left flank of the Muslim vanguard commanded by Hashim ibn
'Utba, which was pursuing the Persians eastward from Mada'in, and
took the town of T akrit. At the same time, forces under Hashim ibn
'Utba moved through southern Bajarma as far as Khanijar. The fol-
lowing year, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Itban raided up the Tigris
to (the province of) Mawsil, crossed over to Balad, and reached Na-
sibin.^43 The second campaign was that of 'Utba ibn Farqad in 641,
who raided across Bajarma, took the eastern fortress at Nineveh,
crossed the Tigris, took the "opposite fortress" (Syr.J:lesnii 'Ehhrayii,
Ar.J:li$n Akar) on terms which allowed the inhabitants to make peace
in return for tribute (jizya). He permitted those wishing to leave to
do SO,44 founded the town of Mawsil at the site of some Sasanian
gardens, and conquered the districts of Marj, ar4 Bahudhra, Ba'adhra,
Hibtun, Hanaya, Ma'alia, Ramin, the forts of the Kurds, and Ban'atha
of Hazza.^45 The momentum of this campaign carried 'Utba up the
Greater Zab as far as western Azerbayjan, and for a while the khariij
of several districts in Azerbayjan belonged to the province of Mawsi1.^46
4\ TabarI, Ta'rlkh, I, 2477, 2481, 2485.
42 Ibid., 11, 774.
43 Ibid., I, 2507.
44 Baladhurl, Futu~, pp. 249, 331-33; Scher, "Histoire nestorienne," 11(1), 200-201;
11(2), 628; Yaqiit, Buldan, 11, 346. The earliest occurrence of the name of Mawsil
appears to be in the oldest of the minor Syriac chronicles (Guidi, Chronica Minora I,
I, 20; 11, 23).
45 Baladhurl, Futu~, p. 332.
46 Ibid.