User:HistoryofIran/Amr ibn al-Layth

Amr ibn al-Layth or Amr-i Laith Saffari was the second amir of the Saffarid dynasty from 879 to 901. He was the son of a whitesmith and the younger brother of the dynasty's founder, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar.

Biography
Amr and his elder brother Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar were born in Karnin, a district of the city of Zarang, which was situated in Sistan (early Arabic Sijistan), a region in eastern Iran. The region was then part of the Abbasid Caliphate, located on its eastern edge. Tensions had been growing the region since the pre-Abbasid times, under the Umayyad Caliphate. Arab settlers and the native Iranian population disliked each other, which led to the increasing support of the sectarian Kharijites by the latter. In order to combat the Kharijites, the governors and local groups assembled vigilante bands, such as the ayyar and mutatawwi. These groups of people, infuriated at failure of the Tahirid governors to protect Sistan from Kharijite attacks, had in 861 established their rule over the whole region.

Reign
After the Saffarid plan to attack Baghdad had been disrupted by an Abbasid victory at the Battle of Dayr al-Aqul in 8 April 876, Amr left Sistan and rejoined his Ya'qub in Jundishapur. They remained together until Ya'qub's death by illness in 879. A brief dynastic struggle subsequently ensured between Amr and his brother Ali, with the former emerging victorious due to support by the military officers. Ali was imprisoned.