In A.H. 86 (705), as we have seen, `Abd el-Melik died. He was succeeded in the Caliphate by his son Welīd, and in the same year Kutayba ibn Muslim made a triumphal entry into Merv as governor of Khorāsān. On arriving at Merv, Kutayba called together the inhabitants, and urged them to join a Holy War, emphasising his trumpet-call by quotations from the Koran. The fierce Arabs swarmed to his standard, and Kutayba soon found himself at the head of an army animated with the keenest enthusiasm, to whom he distributed pay sufficient to maintain their families during their career of conquest. The military and civil administration of the oasis during his absence was delegated by him to trusted lieutenants. Having thus organised victory, he set out in a westerly direction across the desert. The first town which he reached was Tālikān.[107] Here he was received by the _dihkans_[108] and chief men of Balkh, who escorted him across the Oxus. He was met on the right bank by the king of the Chaghāniān, who brought presents and a golden key, and invited him to enter his capital. Kutayba accepted his submission, and allowed him to remain in office under the Caliph’s suzerainty. He then marched to Akhrun and Shūmān, and after levying tribute on their chief, returned to Merv. Some authorities relate that Kutayba, before crossing the Oxus, made an expedition into Balkh, and there crushed a rising among the inhabitants, who were attempting to rid themselves of the Arab yoke.[109] In the same year he concluded a peace with Nīzek, Tarkhūn of Bādghīs. In the following year, A.H. 87 (705), Kutayba set out for Transoxiana. During his march thither he passed through Merv er-Rūd, Āmul, and Zamīn; and, crossing the Oxus, sat down before Baykand. This place was, according to Tabari, the Bokhārān town nearest to the great river, and lay at the edge of the desert. It was known far and wide as the “City of Merchants,” and was equally renowned for the strength of its fortifications. The inhabitants, on learning Kutayba’s approach, put their town into a state of defence, and sent messengers into Soghdiana imploring aid. The call was obeyed, and Kutayba’s little force was soon hemmed in on all sides by numerous and determined foes. For a space of two months so closely was he pressed that he was unable to send a messenger to Hajjāj, whose consequent anxiety led him to order prayers for the army in all the mosques. Tabari tells us that Kutayba had in his employ a Persian spy, named Tandar, whom the Bokhārāns bribed to induce his master to retire from their country. Tandar obtained a private audience of Kutayba, which was attended only by a certain Dhirār ibn Hasan. He told the Amīr that his patron Hajjāj had lost his office, and that a new governor had arrived to replace the former. Kutayba called one of his slaves named Siyāh, and ordered him to strike off Tandar’s head. When this had been done, he turned to Dhirār and said: “No one knows of this affair except you and myself.