Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi

[1] They were the Basran branch of a clan of the Kilab tribe that was mostly concentrated in the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) (see Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi).

[4][5] He took office at a sensitive time, as widespread unrest among the native Iranian and Turkic populations of newly conquered Transoxiana had been brutally suppressed by al-Harashi.

The campaign faced difficulties already in its early stages, when the news arrived of the accession of a new Caliph, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, and the appointment of a new governor of Iraq, Khalid al-Qasri.

[9][2][4] Al-Kilabi moved his army up the Jaxartes valley to Ferghana and laid siege to its main settlement, but news of the approach of the Türgesh forced him to hastily retreat south.

In the so-called "Day of Thirst", the Arabs were forced to break through the enemy lines to cross the Jaxartes and reach safety, suffering heavy casualties in the process.

Muslim had a distinguished ancestry, being a descendant of a family of chieftains from the Amr branch of the Banu Kilab . He and his grandfather Aslam ibn Zur'a served as governors of Khurasan under the Umayyads