Khalid al-Qasri, the Viceroy of the East The later Umayyad Caliphs were the partisans of either the Modharite or the Yamanite tribes of the Arabs, and Hisham was no exception. Yazid II favoured the Modhar while Hisham became the champion of the Yamani tribes. Hence, his first act was to break the supremacy of the Modhar, by dismissing the Modharite, Umar bin Hubair from his office of the Viceroy of the East at Kufa. In his place he appointed Khalid bin Abdullah al-Qasri who was an old officer of Hajjaj bin Yusuf, and was brought up in Hajjaj’s tradition of firm administration. He, however, endeavoured to maintain a balance between the two rival tribal groups. Hence, during fifteen years of his administration, there was hardly a collision between the Modhar and the Himyar.
