The Kharijite Rebellions were a series of major Kharijite uprisings against the Abbasid Caliphate between 866 and 896. Centered in the districts of Mosul and Diyar Rabi'a in the province of al-Jazira (upper Mesopotamia), the rebellion lasted for approximately thirty years, despite numerous attempts by both the central government and provincial authorities to quell it. It was finally defeated in 896 after the caliph al-Mu'tadid (r. 892–902) undertook several campaigns to restore caliphal authority in the region.
The uprising was initially led by a local Kharijite named Musawir ibn Abd al-Hamid al-Shari. Following Musawir's death in 877, he was eventually succeeded by Harun ibn Abdallah al-Bajali, who remained in command until the end of the rebellion.
Background
The Kharijite movement was a prominent religious sect in early Islamic history, known for its members' fanaticism and staunch opposition to the Muslim ruling establishment. The Kharijites' views on the nature of the caliphate caused them to reject the legitimacy of the rule of the Alids, Umayyads and Abbasids alike, and over the course of the seventh through ninth centuries they were responsible for numerous rebellions against the established government. Few of these attempts proved to be successful, but the Kharijites' continual presence in many Muslim-held regions meant that they were a near-constant source of trouble for the caliphs' governors.
In the caliphal province of al-Jazira, Sufri Kharijism had enjoyed a strong following since the late seventh century, particularly among the Arabs of the Rabi'a tribe. Between 750 and 865 more than a dozen Kharijite revolts were launched in this region, although most of them were easily put down by the Abbasid government. The most recent uprising had occurred in 862, approximately four years before Musawir's revolt.
Beginning in 861 the Abbasid Caliphate entered a period of severe weakness, during which the central government in Samarra was paralyzed by a vicious struggle between the caliphs and the military establishment for control. Over the course of the 860s the government was repeatedly beset with financial difficulties, riots in the capital and rebel movements in multiple provinces. These problems were exacerbated in 865, when the rival caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz fought a civil war in central Iraq, which left thousands dead and caused major economic damage to the region. Even after the end of the war in early 866, the instability continued unabated, with troop riots repeatedly occurring in both Samarra and Baghdad.
Outbreak of the rebellion
According to the historian Ibn al-Athir, the immediate cause of the rebellion was the authorities' arrest and detention of a young man in al-Haditha. This individual was a son of Musawir ibn 'Abd al-Hamid, who was a dihqan of the town of al-Bawazij. When he learned of his son's incarceration, he responded angrily to the news and gathered a number of supporters, who pledged allegiance to him. The group marched on al-Haditha and entered it; the chief of police there was forced to go into hiding, and Musawir's son was freed from prison.
Support for Musawir quickly grew, with Bedouin Arabs and Kurds of the region flocking to his side. Following an aborted advance on the district capital of Mosul, the rebels advanced south toward the Khurasan Road between Baghdad and Hulwan in autumn 867. When the governor of Baghdad sent two commanders to protect the road, Musawir engaged one of them in battle, killing him and several hundred of his men, and forced the other one to retreat back to Baghdad. He then followed up on this victory by proceeding to Hulwan, where he fought and killed more than four hundred of its defenders.
Inside the city of Mosul, various governors succeeded one after other: in the begin of the rebellion, the Khuza'i governor Aqaba ibn Muhamed was deposed by the Taghlibi Arab leader Ayyub ibn Ahmad, who put his own son Hasan as governor. In early 868, in response to the growing power of the rebels, the deputy governor of Mosul, the Azdi Allah ibn Sulayman, raised an army and headed for Musawir in the vicinity of the Zab Rivers. The two sides encountered each other in May 868, and engaged in battle in the middle of a valley. After heavy fighting the rebels emerged victorious; the loyalist army suffered heavy casualties and the deputy governor Allah ibn Sulayman fled to Irbil. This victory increased Musawir's authority in the region, and in the following year he undertook an expedition against Mosul itself. Due to the weakness of the defenders he was able to enter the city without opposition. He remained in Mosul for a short time, during which he conducted the Friday prayers, and then withdrew to al-Haditha. After this, the Abbasid caliph named the Turkish Azkutigin as governor of Mosul. He sent his son Azkutigin in 874 as deputy, but he was expelled by the citizens of the city, Azkutigin sent two more deputies Hytham ibn Abd Allah and the Taghlibi Ishaq ibn Ayyub, but they were expelled too. Over the course of the next several years, Musawir remained active within a large portion of the district of Mosul, together with part of northern Iraq. Lieutenants were sent to administer the areas under his control; they established garrisons and collected taxes from local residents. Travel through the region became difficult for government agents, who risked being captured and killed by Musawir's partisans. He also received support from nearby Arab and Kurdish tribes, who sympathized with his cause and fought against the government.
Abbasid campaigns against Musawir
Beginning in 867, the Abbasid government in Samarra undertook a series of military campaigns in an effort to suppress the Kharijite rebellion. These operations began under the caliph al-Mu'tazz (r. 866–869), whose forces however had little success against the rebels. He initially sent Satikin and Khutarmish. Satikin was an officer in the service of Bugha al-Saghir; and Khutarmish against Musawir; the latter was defeated in the district of Jalula in December. In September 868 Nushara ibn Tajibak, a lieutenant in Salih ibn Wasif's service, managed to inflict a defeat on Musawir and killed a large number of his followers. In the following year, Yarjukh was sent against the rebel, but he was defeated and forced to flee to Samarra.
Following the overthrow and death of al-Mu'tazz, his successor al-Muhtadi (r. 869–870) continued the campaigns. Upon receiving reports in January 870 that Musawir was attacking the town of Balad, the caliph ordered the commanders Musa ibn Bugha, Muflih and Bayakbak to proceed against him; a political crisis in the capital, however, resulted in this expedition's postponement. After a delay of several months, Musa and Bayakbak reassembled their troops and departed for al-Jazira on April 6. The army set up a base at al-Sinn and Muflih proceeded to pursue Musawir, eventually engaging the rebel on a mountain near al-Haditha. The battle proceeded poorly for Musawir, whose forces were weakened from a recent battle against a dissident Kharijite, and he eventually ordered a retreat. Muflih then advanced to various cities in Diyar Rabi'a, in an effort to reestablish order.
The caliphal forces remained at al-Sinn for some time, but in early June Musa and Muflih were made aware of a plot by al-Muhtadi to either have them assassinated or imprisoned; they immediately responded by abandoning al-Jazira and withdrawing toward the Khurasan Road. At Khanaqin Musa encountered Musawir, who had a strong numerical advantage, but in spite of this the Kharijites were routed and suffered severe losses., sourcing Ibn Khaldun, claims that Musawir was actually the winner of this battle After al-Muhtadi was killed on June 17 and replaced with al-Mu'tamid (r. 870–892), Muflih resumed his offensive against the Kharijites. He initially succeeded in forcing Musawir to abandon al-Haditha, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts to defeat the rebel and eventually returned to Samarra in August, allowing Musawir to regain his authority in the region.
Muflih again went on campaign in around early 872; he proceeded to Takrit and fought some Arab tribesmen that were reportedly sympathetic to Musawir. Later that year, Masrur al-Balkhi undertook two expeditions against Musawir; in the first, he installed a lieutenant in al-Haditha and captured a number of Kharijites, bringing them back to Samarra; in the second, he advanced to al-Bawazij and defeated Musawir in combat, capturing a number of his followers in the process, before departing for the capital around the end of October. Masrur undertook further campaigns in 874 and 875, both times in response to the killing of government officials by Musawir's followers; on the latter occasion he was assisted by al-Mu'tamid's brother Abu Ahmad (the future al-Muwaffaq).
Musawir's death and succession disputes
Musawir died in ca. 877, shortly after he had set out from al-Bawazij to meet yet another government army. Following his death, the Kharijites sought to find someone to succeed him. They initially called upon Muhammad ibn Khurzad of Shahrazur to assume the leadership, but he turned down their request, so they turned to another man named Ayyub ibn Hayyan al-Wariqi al-Bajali and gave the oath of allegiance to him instead.
Ibn Khurzad subsequently regretted his decision and requested that he be reconsidered as leader, but the Kharijites refused to go back on their choice. In response, Ibn Khurazd gathered a number of men loyal to him and attacked Ayyub ibn Hayyan, killing him. Following this, the Kharijites threw their support behind Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Yahya al-Wariqi, but he ended up being killed by Ibn Khurzad as well. The Kharijites finally selected Harun ibn Abd Allah al-Bajali, who soon gained a large number of supporters. Ibn Khurzad decided not to fight against Harun, and the latter assumed Musawir's former position within the district of Mosul.
Despite Harun's apparent victory in the succession dispute, however, his relationship with Ibn Khurzad remained poor. In ca. 881 Ibn Khurzad decided to make a move against Harun; he gathered his supporters and advanced against him. Harun assembled his own followers in response, and the two sides encountered each other near Mosul. In the ensuing battle, Harun was defeated and two hundred of his men were killed. He soon regained control of the situation, however, by soliciting the support of the local Taghlib Arabs and writing offers to Ibn Khurzad's followers, urging them to defect to his side. Most of them agreed to do so, and Ibn Khurzad's position quickly deteriorated as a result. He was eventually killed in Shahrazur, and Harun became the undisputed head of the Kharijite rebels.
Kharijites under Harun
Under Harun's command, the Kharijites continued their activities in the area around Mosul. They subdued numerous villages and rural districts adjacent to the Tigris River, putting deputies over these territories and levying taxes and tithes from the inhabitants. Harun also established an alliance with Hamdan ibn Hamdun, a Taghlibite chieftain and the eponymous founder of the Hamdanid dynasty, and over the course of the next several years the two leaders jointly conducted a number of campaigns within the Mosul district.
In ca. 885 Harun and Hamdan decided to march on Mosul; they entered the city and Harun led the people in the prayers in the jama masjid (congregational mosque). News of this incident was reported to Baghdad. A short time later, the district began to suffer from raiding activities by the Banu Shayban; in response, Harun and Hamdan assembled their forces in an effort to stop them. The two leaders met and advanced against the Arabs, but the Shaybanis defeated them in battle and forced them to fall back.
Harun undertook another advance against Mosul four years later, after he received word that Ishaq ibn Kundaj, the city's governor, had killed a local Kharijite. He summoned his followers in al-Haditha and marched against the city, intending to attack its people in revenge. The city notables, however, managed to convince Harun to back down after they disassociated themselves from the governor's actions and apologized for the killing.