Little is known of Ishaq's early life, other than that he was possibly born in 793. He first appears[2] in ca. 822 when he was appointed over the shurtah and revenue districts of Baghdad on behalf of his first cousin 'Abdallah ibn Tahir,[3] following the latter's departure to the Jazirah to combat the rebel Nasr ibn Shabath al-Uqayli, and this event marked the beginning of his long career in Baghdad.[4]