The Khāqānid Families of the Early ʿAbbasid Period

The present article seeks to tally the known members of two prominent families of the early ʿAbbasid caliphate, and to identify their ethnic origins. All indications are that the family of Khāqān ʿUrṭūj was of Turkish origins but that the family joined the ʿAbbasid military voluntarily. The family of Yaḥyā b. Khāqān, by contrast, probably was of Iranian origin, and there is compelling evidence that Yaḥyā and his offspring were members of the Abnāʾ of Baghdad.