According to al-Tabri, when Yusuf ibn Umar became governor of Iraq in 738, he considered making Salm governor of Khurasan, but Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik rejected his choice, and Nasr ibn Sayyar was appointed instead.[4][5] During the civil war, he served as governor of Basra under Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra.[5][6] In September/October 749, as the forces of the Abbasid Revolution entered Iraq, the Abbasid commander al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba appointed Sufyan ibn Mu'awiyah ibn Yazid ibn al-Muhallab as governor over Basra and sent him to take over the city.