When the armies converged upon Tabaristan they took the province, laid siege to the Ispahbadh, and forced him back into his citadel, whereupon he sued for peace and handed over all the treasures it contained. Al-Mahdī reported the matter to his father, and the Ispahbadh withdrew into the land of Daylam, where he died. The Muslims also crushed the king of the Turks known as al-Maṣmaqān and carried off great numbers of women and children. Such was the first conquest of Tabaristan.

In that same year construction of al-Maṣīṣah was completed under the supervision of Jibrīl ibn Yaḥyā al-Khurāsānī, and Muḥammad ibn ʿIbrāhīm al-Imām stood on frontier garrison duty in the region of Malatya.

During that year al-Manṣūr dismissed Ziyād ibn ʿUbayd Allāh from the governorship of the Ḥijāz and appointed Muḥammad ibn Khālid al-Qasrī over Medina; he arrived there in the month of Rajab. He put Mecca and al-Ṭāʾif in the charge of al-Haytham ibn Muʿāwiyah al-ʿAkkī. That same year Mūsā ibn Kaʿb—who commanded al-Manṣūr’s police—died. Egypt at first remained under the same governor as the previous year, after which al-Manṣūr appointed Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath, then dismissed him and installed Nawfal ibn al-Furāt in his stead.

That year the pilgrimage was led on behalf of the people by Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAlī, who also served as deputy over Qinnasrīn, Ḥimṣ, and Damascus, while the other provinces remained in the hands of those already mentioned. Allah knows best.

Those who died in that year included:
• Abān ibn Taghlib;
• Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, the author of the Maghāzī;
• and, according to one report, Abū Isḥāq al-Shaybānī. Allah, exalted is He, knows best.

Then the year 142 AH began.

In that year ʿUyaynah ibn Mūsā ibn Kaʿb, the governor of Sind, revolted against the caliph. The caliph therefore dispatched forces against him with ʿUmar ibn Ḥafṣ ibn Abī Ṣufrah, appointing ʿUmar over Sind and Hind. ʿUmar engaged him, defeated him utterly, and took the land from him.

That year as well, the Ispahbadh of Tabaristan broke the treaty he had concluded with the Muslims and killed a number of those residing in Tabaristan. The caliph sent armies against him led by Khāzim ibn Khuzaymah and Rawḥ ibn Ḥātim, together with Marzūq Abū al-Khaṣīb, a client of al-Manṣūr. They besieged him for a long time, and when the fortress he occupied proved impossible to storm, they resorted to stratagem.

Abū al-Khaṣīb said, “Beat me and shave my head and beard.” They did so, and he went to the Ispahbadh feigning anger at the Muslims. The Ispahbadh rejoiced at his arrival, honored him, and drew him near. Abū al-Khaṣīb continued to display loyalty and service until he had thoroughly deceived him and attained great favor, so much so that he was counted among those entrusted with opening and closing the fortress gate. When he had thus secured control