Yahya was the son of the Persian mawla Mu'adh ibn Muslim, a distinguished member of the Khurasaniyya, who served the early Abbasids as governor and general.
[1] In 806, Caliph Harun al-Rashid sent Yahya to Syria to suppress the bandit leader Abu al-Nida.
[1] When the civil war with al-Amin broke out, he was offered the position of vizier to al-Ma'mun but refused—the post went to al-Fadl ibn Sahl—and remained uninvolved in the conflict.
[1] After the end of the civil war he served as governor of the Jazira and of Armenia, and took the field against the Khurramites of Babak Khorramdin.
[1] His sons, Ahmad, Ishaq, and Sulayman, also held governorships and senior positions in the caliphal court.