Al-Afshin

Khaydhar ibn Kawus
Nickname(s)	al-Afshin
Born	8th century Osrushana
Died	June 841 Samarra
Allegiance	Abbasid Caliphate
Service/branch	Abbasid army
Rank	General

Ḥaydar ibn Kāwūs (Arabic: حيدر بن كاوس‎‎), better known by his hereditary title of al-Afshīn (الأفشين), was a senior general of Iranian descent at the court of the Abbasid caliphs and a vassal prince of Oshrusana. He played a leading role in the campaigns of Caliph al-Mu'tasim, and was responsible for the suppression of the rebellion of Babak Khorramdin and for his battlefield victory over the Byzantine emperor Theophilos during the Amorium campaign. Eventually he was suspected of disloyalty and was arrested, tried and then executed in June 841.

Afshin is a hereditary title of Oshrusana princes at the time of the Muslim conquest of Persia. The term is an Arabic form of the Middle Persian Pishin and Avestan Pisinah, a proper name of uncertain etymology. Minorsky suggests that the title Afshin was of Sogdian origin.

At the time of the first Arab invasion of Transoxiana (including Oshrusana) under Qutayba ibn Muslim (94-5 AH/712-14 CE), Ushrusana was inhabited by Iranians, who were ruled by their own princes who bore the traditional title of Afshin.

Afshin is generally considered an Iranian, and although two classical sources (and some modern authors) have called him a Turk. He came from an Iranian cultural region and was not usually considered Turkish. The confusion comes from the fact that the term “Turk” was used loosely by Arab writers of the time to denote the new troops of the caliph despite the inclusion among them of some elements of Iranian origin, including Ferghana and Oshrusana.

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