Tahir ibn Abdallah

Tahir ibn Abdallah
Governor of Khurasan
In office 845 – 862
Monarchs	Al-Wathiq, Al-Mutawakkil, and Al-Muntasir
Preceded by	Abdallah ibn Tahir
Succeeded by	Muhammad ibn Tahir
Personal details
Born	unknown date
Died	862 Khurasan, Abbasid Caliphate
Children	Muhammad ibn Tahir
Parent	Abdallah ibn Tahir

Tahir ibn 'Abdallah (died 862) was the Tahirid governor of Khurasan from 845 until 862. He was the governor for seventeen years under Abbasid caliph al-Wathiq, al-Mutawakkil and al-Muntasir.

During his father 'Abdallah's lifetime, Tahir was sent into the steppes to the north in order to keep the Oghuz Turks in line; he probably received Samanid assistance in this venture. When 'Abdallah died in 844, the Caliph al-Wathiq originally appointed another Tahirid, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Mus'ab, as his successor in Khurasan, but then reversed this decision and confirmed Tahir as governor.

Little is known about Tahir's rule, although there was unrest in some of the outlying provinces. Sistan, for example, was lost to the Tahirids when the 'ayyar leader Salih ibn al-Nadr drove out Tahir's governor and took power there himself. Tahir died in 862; his will stated that his young son Muhammad should succeed him as governor, and this was honored by the caliph.

Sources

• Bosworth, C. E. (1975). "The Ṭāhirids and Ṣaffārids". In Frye, Richard N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–135. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
• Gordon, Matthew S. (2001). The Breaking of a Thousand Swords: A History of the Turkish Military of Samarra (A.H. 200–275/815–889 C.E.). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-4795-2.