PERSIANSanonymous, but it is suggested by the accounts of several persons.
Riizbih, son of Buzurjmihr, son of Sas an, was a native of Hamadan
who had been assigned to the Byzantine border at the end of the
Sasanian period but had begun to smuggle weapons across the border
to the west. Fearing he was about to be discovered, he went over to
the Byzantines, but after the Islamic conquest he felt it was safe again,
returned to Iraq, and joined Sa'd at Kufa where he is given credit for
building the citadel (qa~r) and masjid.1^11 The inclusion of lower-class
Persians in this movement is suggested by a reference to a Persian 'ilj
who went to Basra sometime before 683, converted to Islam, and
became associated with the Khawarij.ll2 But such migration did not
always involve conversion to Islam. There were Magian butchers at
Basra, and a Persian called Bar Sahde, who died in 745 at the age of
ninety, is said to have migrated from Istakhr to Basra, where he re-
ceived instruction in the Nestorian Christian schools and became a
monk.I13
SURVIVAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE
These dislocations and shifts in the pattern of Persian settlement
and distribution in Iraq following the conquest were balanced by the
way significant portions of the Sasanian landed aristocracy managed
to survive by coming to terms with and even aiding the conquerors.
In KhaJid's first raid through lower Iraq, he made terms with the people
of Nahr Mar'a,114 imposed tribute on the people of Hira in return for
a peace treaty,llS and allowed Ziidh ibn Buhaysh to make terms for
Furat Sirya.u^6 An annual tribute was imposed on the people of Anbar
in return for peace following the departure of the garrison.^117 During
Abii 'Ubayd's follow-up campaign, the people of Ullays avoided a
repetition of what had happened during Khalid's raid and exchanged
tribute for peace.llS Following Abii 'Ubayd's victory over local forces
at Kaskar in 634, several dahaqtn also made peace for their districts
111 Tabarl, Ta'rtkh, I, 2494-95.
112 Ibid., n, 461. See also Ibn an-Nadlm, Fihrist, I, 88.
1\J Chabot, "Chastete," pp. 5, 230-31.
114 Baliidhuri, Futub, pp. 340, 342.
115 Ibid., p. 243; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 2017-19, 2044-45, 2350; Yal;1ya ibn Adam,
Khariij, p. 47; Ya'qiibi, Ta'rtkh, n, 147.
116 Tabari, Ta'rtkh, I, 2050-51.
117 Yiiqiit, Buldiin, I, 368.
118 Tabarl, Ta'rtkh, I, 2019; Yal;1yii ibn Adam, Khariij, p. 26.