Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

586 Governors at the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib
Sijistan was one of the regions bordering Khorasan; both
regions were to some extent connected to the governor of Basra, and
there was usually an administrative connection between the two
regions. The sources mentioned some of the governors of Sijistan at
the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Taih (&), one of whom was 'Abdur-
R&mh ibn Juz' at-~~i.'~~ 'Ali (&) sent him to Sijistan after the
Battle OF the Camel, but he was killed by some Arab thugs who
spread mischief in the land. Then 'Ali (&) wrote to Ibn 'Abbb in
Basra, instructing him to send another amir to Sijistan. Ibn 'Abbis
sent Rib'i ibn Ka's al-'Anbari, who managed to put an end to the
revolution of the thugs and kill their leader, thus restoring order to the
land. He stayed there until 'Ali ibn Abi Taib (4) was martyred.'08
Hamadhh was one of the eastern border regions. During the
caliphate of 'Uthmh (&), it was distinguished by the presence of
an independent governor. At the time of 'UtkmWs death, its
governor was Jareer ibn Abdullah al-Bajali. After allegiance was
sworn to 'Ali(4)
as caliph and he reached Iraq, he sent word to
Jareer ibn Abdullah in Hamadhh, instructing him to receive the oath
of allegiance to 'Ali (&) as caliph from the people in this region and
then to come to him.^' He sent this letter with a reliable man and
said: "I have sent so-and-so to you, so ask him whatever you want to
ask him and read this letter of mine to the ~uslims."'~~ Jareer came
to 'Ali (&) ,. in Knfah, and he sent him to Mu'gwiyah in Syria. Then
he went back and was exposed to some insults from some of the
troops of 'Ali (&), including al-Ashtar and others, so Jareer gave up
his governorship and went and joined Mu'2wiyah in Syria. That
happened just before the battle of ~iffeen.'~'
1.10.3. Azerbaijan
Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays was in charge of Azerbaijan when
'Uthmh ibn 'Af% died. When allegiance was sworn to 'Ali ibn Abi