Taher Zul Yaminayn

Tahir ibn Husayn known as “Taher Zul Yaminayn”, (775 - 822) was a general and governor during the Abbasid caliphate. Specifically, he served under al-Ma'mun and led the armies that would defeat al-Amin, making al-Ma'mun the caliph. He was born in Phoshang which is a village in ancient city of Herat. Afterwards, Tahir was made governor of the eastern Abbasid lands, effectively making him governor of Persia. Tahir later declared independence from the Abbasid empire in 822 by omitting any mention of al-Ma'mun during a Friday sermon. However, he died the ####same night and al-Ma'mun appointed Tahir's son to continue at his father's post. This established the Tahirid dynasty, which ruled a semi-autonomous state in eastern Persia. Tahir commissioned the Christian theologian, Theodore Abu-Qurrah (d. c. 830) to translate the pseudo-Aristotelian De virtutibus animae into Arabic from Greek.