Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah

Who is Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah?

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah was the Arab general of the early Caliphate. He may have been the brother of Salman ibn Rabiah, the military governor of Armenia under Caliph Umar I. He was charged with the task of conquering the Khazars and invaded the northern Caucasus for this purpose in the late 640s CE. In 652, outside Balanjar, Abd ar-Rahman and his army met a Khazar force and were annihilated. According to Arab historians such as al-Tabari, both sides in the battle used catapaults against the other.