Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar

Ya'qūb ibn al-Layth al-Saffār (Persian: یعقوب لیث صفاری; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879) was a coppersmith and the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). Under his military leadership, he conquered much of the eastern portions of Greater Iran consisting of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan as well as portions of western Pakistan and a small part of Iraq.

Quotes

 * After this  we  read  nothing  of  Kabul  till  the  time  of  the  Saffarides — A.H.  256 A.D.  868-9.'  In  the  succeeding  year  Ya'kiib  Lais  took Kabul,  and  made  its  prince  a  prisoner.  The  king  of  Ar Rukhaj was  put  to  death,  and  its  inhabitants  forced  to  embrace  Islam. Ya'kiib  returned  to  his  capital  loaded  with  booty,  and  carrying  with him  the  heads  of  three  kings ;  and  many  statues  of  Indian  divinities, which  were  amongst  the  booty,  were  sent  to  Baghdad  for  presentation to  the  Khalif.'
 * Elliot and Dowson, p 419


 * “He first took Bãmiãn, which he probably reached by way of Herãt, and then marched on Balkh where he ruined (the temple) Naushãd. On his way back from Balkh he attacked Kãbul… “Starting from Panjhîr, the place he is known to have visited, he must have passed through the capital city of the Hindu Šãhîs to rob the sacred temple - the reputed place of coronation of the Šãhî rulers-of its sculptural wealth… “The exact details of the spoil collected from the Kãbul valley are lacking. The Tãrîkh [-i-Sistãn] records 50 idols of gold and silver and Mas’udî mentions elephants. The wonder excited in Baghdãd by elephants and pagan idols forwarded to the Caliph by Ya’qûb also speaks for their high value. “The best of our authorities put the date of this event in 257 (870-71). Tabarî is more precise and says that the idols sent by Ya’qûb reached Baghdãd in Rabî’ al-Ãkhar, 257 (Feb.-March, 871). Thus the date of the actual invasion may be placed at the end of AD 870.”
 * Balkh and Kabul (Afghanistan) Tãrîkh-i-Tabarî, Cited by Abdur Rahman, The Last Two Dynasties of the Shãhîs, Delhi Reprint, 1988, pp. 102-4