Yaqub Leis Saffarid

(840 –879), a Persian coppersmith, was the founder of the Saffarid dynasty in Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). He ruled territories that are now in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as portions of western Pakistan and a small part of Iraq. In Iranian folklore, Ya’qub is sometimes regarded as an Iranian Robin Hood because according to legend he stole from the wealthy and helped the poor.