Origins & Early Life

Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi (c. 658–714), known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, was a governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), who successively promoted him as the head of the Caliph's shurta (select troops), the governor of the Hejaz (western Arabia) in 692–694, and the practical viceroy of a unified Iraqi province and the eastern parts of the Caliphate in 694.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Al-Hajjaj retained the last post under Abd al-Malik's son and successor al-Walid I (r. 705–715), whose decision-making was heavily influenced by al-Hajjaj, until his death in 714. As the governor of Iraq and the east, al-Hajjaj instituted key reforms. Among these were the minting of silver dirhams with strictly Muslim religious formulas instead of the coins' traditional, pre-Islamic Sasanian design; changing the language of the diwan (tax registers) of Iraq from Persian to Arabic. To revive agricultural production and increase tax revenue, al-Hajjaj expelled non-Arab, Muslim converts from the garrison cities of Kufa and Basra to their villages of origin and collected from them the jizya (poll tax) nominally reserved for non...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

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