A Greater Dar al-Islam and an Ever Shrinking Dar al-Harb / a resurgent Islam TL

I wonder if Qarulamun or his successors might appeal to the Abbasids to have Aquitaine elevated to a separate province under them? I probably imagine that they are somewhat resentful over becoming a vassal of a vassal and being forced to renounce their claims on the rest of Aquitaine and other Frankish territory. The Abbasids want
 
I wonder if Qarulamun or his successors might appeal to the Abbasids to have Aquitaine elevated to a separate province under them? I probably imagine that they are somewhat resentful over becoming a vassal of a vassal and being forced to renounce their claims on the rest of Aquitaine and other Frankish territory. The Abbasids want
It will happen but is unlikely to do so while both while al-Qasim and Qarulamun are both governors, due to their friendship.
 
Oh certainly. At some point the non-Arab Muslims will chafe under Arab rule, just as they did OTL, and begin to assert their own power with regard to the Abbasid Caliphate. While it may not be Qarulamun himself, his descendants will certainly be involved in this trend.
Yeah wonder how this Will change thing later on plus Is not like akuitane and neustria border Will stay static long enough.

A loophole abuse...when they did barred from other thrones.. but never say if His own annex other or a revived Francia/Faranj one... ;)
 
Muhammad ibn Yusuf chose a site just to the east of Bordeaux between the Dordogne and the Garonne,[2] and planned the districts for the soldiers and their families to be based on ethnicity: Arab, Berber, muwalladun, and Christian Frankish. In addition to these there were districts for local artisans, merchants, outfitters, and the various other camp followers that attach themselves to armies. The name of the new town was Rabat al-Faranj to emphasise its frontier nature.
Given the large presence of Jews in southern France at the time it might also make sense to build a Jewish district as well.
 
PART 1 - The Death of Abu Muslim, Reorganisation of the East, and War with the Romans
The Death of Abu Muslim, Reorganisation of the East, and War with the Romans

Abu Muslim Abd al-Rahman ibn Muslim al-Khurasani, wali of Khurasan and Fararud, supreme commander of the Abbasid Revolution, member of the triumvirate which decreed the new caliphal succession, and undisputed ruler of the eastern Dar al-Islam, died peacefully of natural causes in 777 CE. The amir’s political career began with ghulat Shia movements in Kufa and from there he attached himself to the nascent Abbasid movement.[1] During the Abbasid Revolution Abu Muslim and his colleagues proselytised their message in a way that appealed to the various denominations of non-Muslims and the recently converted in Khurasan while tolerating some of their pre-Islamic beliefs. As a result, many in the Khurasani army held syncretic and heterodox beliefs, often with strong messianic attachment to Abu Muslim and the Abbasid dynasty.[2] For the sake of the regime’s stability, Abu Muslim knew that he had to weaken the power of the heterodox troops though without provoking rebellion or neutralising them entirely. His solution was to disperse them throughout the Dar al-Islam, rather than leave them concentrated in Khurasan and Fararud. Whenever the caliphal government in Iraq organised armies for new expeditions Abu Muslim assigned the most extreme of his soldiers. The hope was that surrounded by orthodox Muslims and a foreign environment the heterodox troops would moderate their beliefs. In some cases this plan worked, while in others it didn’t. The policy did achieve its primary aim though, as the Islamic East remained quiescent following the amir’s death.

To many contemporary historians the death of Abu Muslim marked the end of the Abbasid Caliphate’s opening era. Ultimately though Caliph al-Rashid’s policies remained the same and his gubernatorial appointments in the east mostly reflected a continuity with Abu Muslim’s tenure. Khalid ibn Barmak, the patriarch of the Muslim side of the Barmakid family,[3] was reappointed to his position as the wali of Fars. Stability in governance of the province was vital due to its substantial wealth, in part a result of the jizya collected from the still majority Zoroastrian population. On the other hand Kirman, though also a wealthy province, was home to unruly semi-nomadic Baluchi and Kufichi populations. Governorship was thus granted to Abu’l-Abbas Fadl ibn Sulayman al-Ta’i al-Tusi, a veteran Khurasani commander who fought during the Abbasid Revolution. Appointed to the provinces of Jibal and Azarbayjan were, respectively, Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan and Jibril ibn Yahya al-Bajali, both prominent Khurasani commanders. The matter of Abu Muslim’s successors in Khurasan and Fararud were more delicate however. Caliph al-Rashid was aware of the heterodox elements of Abu Muslim’s following and knew that making appointments that appeared to ignore their interests could cause them to rebel. For Khurasan Mu’adh ibn Muslim, a native of Khuttal in the far frontier of Khurasan, was appointed as governor, while Fararud was granted to Hashim ibn Hakim, a commander and bureaucrat who had thrived under Abu Muslim’s administration.[4]

On the other hand, khalifah al-Rashid’s policy towards Sind was a substantial break from Abu Muslim. The Muhallabid governors of Sind had been far too sympathetic towards the large Shia community, so al-Rashid dispatched Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn al-Mansur to assert himself as the new governor and supress the Shia. The Abbasid prince raised an army of Arabs from al-Sham and departed by ship from Iraq. When Abu Abdallah Muhammad arrived at the port of Daybul [Karachi] he sent a message to the incumbent governor, Umar ibn Hafs Hazarmard al-Muhallabi, demanding that he step down and return to Baghdad. In response Umar ibn Hafs declared his allegiance to the Shia Imam Abdallah al-Ashtar ibn Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and summoned an army to the provincial capital of al-Mansurah. Included in the rebel army were the tributary Indian rajas and their soldiers, many of whom had converted to Shi’ism under the auspice of Abdallah al-Ashtar. The Abbasid army marched towards al-Mansurah and were attacked by the more numerous rebels just after the former had crossed the Indus. The Abbasids suffered devastating losses and retreated back to Daybul, where they were placed under siege by the rebel army. Fortunately for the defenders of Daybul, the rebels had no naval capacity and so could not fully blockade the city. Abu Abdallah Muhammad dispatched messengers to the neighbouring province of Kirman and to Iraq demanding reinforcements.

Abu’l-Abbas Fadl ibn Sulayman al-Ta’i al-Tusi mobilised his army and left his deputy to govern Kirman in his absence, as he transited to Daybul. The Abbasid central government were unable to aid their forces in Sind however due to an invasion of al-Sham ordered by the new Roman Emperor Leo IV. Caliph al-Rashid ordered the governors of al-Sham to repel the invaders, while he personally raised an army drawn from Iraq, Iran, Arabiyya, and Misr. The Romans began their invasion with a siege of Marash, which was known to them as Germanikeia. The garrison managed to bribe the Roman commander Michael Lachanodrakon into lifting the siege, though he went on to raid the countryside and deport many of the Syriac population to Anatolia, from where they were eventually sent to Thrake. The Abbasid army of al-Sham attempted to stop Lachanodrakon’s raiding but other Roman armies converged on the area and soundly defeated the Muslims. Soon afterwards al-Rashid and his grand army reached Marash inducing the Romans to retreat and regroup at Koukousos [Goksun]. The Abbasid army pursued the Romans to Koukousos and defeated them there; the Shia rebellion had been all but forgotten by the khalifah as he appeared to have the Romans on the run. As the Roman army fled west, al-Rashid put Koukousos to siege and had conquered the town in early 779 CE. The Muslim army divided so it could simultaneously besiege the towns of Komana and Kiskisos, which surrendered in short order. The two armies then merged and marched toward the major fortress of Kaisereia [Kayseri].

byzantine.jpg

Later depiction of the Roman and Muslim cavalry in combat

With the eastern frontier of his empire under serious threat for the first time in decades, Emperor Leo took command of his armies himself and moved to confront the Abbasids. The Roman army was bolstered with new troops from the western themes, in addition to mercenaries from the Slavic tribes which occupied former Roman territory in the southern Balkans. The Abbasids had failed to take Kaisereia before the Roman army arrived and the two sides engaged in battle just outside of the city. The result was a close victory for the Romans though both armies suffered significant casualties. The Abbasid army retreated to Komana while the Romans took what was supposed to be a short break in Kaisereia. However the rough conditions of the campaign had affected the emperor’s health, which was already weak due to his chronic tuberculosis. Leo’s physicians forced him to rest and recuperate but their efforts were in vain as his condition worsened, leading ultimately to his death in 779 CE. The commanders of the Roman army travelled back to Konstantinoupolis to partake in the politicking to choose a new emperor. Some of the army was left to reinforce the garrison of Kaisereia, but the war was otherwise temporarily forgotten. Leo was survived by his eight year-old son Constantine, who had been declared co-emperor two years previously. The declaration had however instigated a plot by Leo’s two brothers Nikephoros and Christopher; the plot was discovered and thwarted but the brothers were merely pardoned. With the current state of war, many nobles were less supportive of a regency for the young Constantine and instead supported a strong, decisive ruler. Leo’s eldest brother was thus enthroned as Nikephoros I, though not without opposition as Leo’s wife Irene wielded substantial political influence. Her power proved insufficient though and she was exiled to a convent in Thrake.

In the meantime the Abbasids besieged Kaisereia again. This attempt was far more successful however, as a group of Syriac civilians, angered by Roman iconoclasm and the deportation of Syriacs from the frontier, managed to open the gates to the besiegers. The Abbasid army entered Kaisereia and overwhelmed the surprised garrison, all of whom were executed; no further action was taken against the city’s population however. A Muslim garrison was established in the city following which the rest of the army marched west towards Nyssa. After the succession was concluded in Konstantinoupolis the Roman army reconstituted itself, though some of the partisans of Irene and the young Constantine found excuses to withhold their troops from the army. The Roman army confronted the Abbasids as they were besieging Nyssa. In a reverse of their last meeting, the Abbasids emerged as the victors yet it was a close battle with many casualties on both sides. The siege of Nyssa was continued while the Romans retreated to Ankyra. Back in Konstantinoupolis opposition to Nikephoros had increased after his failure to decisively beat the Muslims; erstwhile supporters defected to the camp of Irene, resulting in her being liberated from exile. Upon hearing this news Nikephoros initiated peace negotiations with Caliph al-Rashid in 780 CE. The Roman Empire would cede the fortresses of Koukousos, Arabissos, Kiskisos, Komana, Tzamandos, Kyzistra, and Kaisereia,[5] in return for a large one-time indemnity. The khalifah agreed to the terms and set about garrisoning the new fortress-towns. The newfound peace gave Nikephoros the freedom to race back to Konstantinoupolis and have Irene and many of her co-conspirators arrested and executed.

The forgotten conflict in Sind had progressed significantly less favourably towards the Abbasid Caliphate however. The rebel army had abandoned their siege of Daybul due to their inability to enforce a naval blockade. Instead part of the army retreated to Armabil [Bela] to prevent Abbasid reinforcements arriving by land through Makran, while the rest of the rebels returned to al-Mansurah. The Abbasid prince Abu Abdallah Muhammad insisted that the Abbasid army pursue the rebels to Armabil, but Abu’l-Abbas Fadl ibn Sulayman pointed out that not only would a pursuit leave Daybul vulnerable, but they themselves could also be pursued and surrounded outside of Armabil. The argument between the two governors almost reached physical violence, prevented only by the intervention of their commanders. As a result Abu’l-Abbas Fadl ibn Sulayman gathered his army and returned to Kirman by ship. With the rest of the caliphate embroiled in a war against the Romans, the deteriorating situation in Sind was ignored so Abu Abdallah Muhammad pushed forward with his ill-advised strategy. The small Abbasid army besieged Armabil and, as expected, the main rebel army reoccupied Daybul with minimal resistance. Through sheer luck the Abbasids managed to quickly conquer the town, but it soon proved to be a poisoned chalice: the nearest port, Daybul, was in enemy hands; to the north and east were rebels or governors who had so far stayed out of the conflict; and to the west was the unforgiving Makran desert. Refusing to return to Baghdad in disgrace Abu Abdallah Muhammad decided to make his last stand in Armabil. Little did he know that the rebels had no intention of granting him his wish.

[1] Ghulat Shia, both OTL and TTL, are “extremists” who generally believe that the Imams are essentially the reincarnation of God.
[2] OTL the murder of Abu Muslim by al-Mansur induced a lot of these groups to rebel. Needless to say, without the murder these revolts do not occur ITTL.
[3] The other side of the family remained Buddhist and retained their position as pramukhas (abbots) of the monastery in Balkh.
[4] Yes, Hashim ibn Hakim is the OTL infamous al-Muqanna who led one of the heterodox revolts. ITTL the long and peaceful rule of Abu Muslim has led to him becoming more orthodox in his beliefs.
[5] I used this map for reference.
 
Last edited:
PART 1 - The Consolidation of Shi’ism in Sind
The Consolidation of Shi’ism in Sind

The Abbasid army of Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn al-Mansur remained encamped in Armabil for some time. The siege by the rebels which they had been preparing for never came. Instead the Abbasid garrison was worn down by raids from Kufichi and Indian tribes from the north and west. As a result desertion from the army became a serious problem, to which the Abbasid prince had no solution. By 781 CE the Abbasid expedition was a shadow of its former self and would have had no hope against rebel besiegers. In addition to this, tensions between the soldiers and the local civilians, mostly over the army’s requisition of food, grew over time. The local population were mostly non-Muslim Indians and Iranians who were ambivalent to the rebellion and Abbasid rule; the Arab settler population was almost non-existent meaning that almost all of the town’s Muslim populace were Persians from central Iran and Khurasan whose loyalty was suspect in the eyes of the failing governor. The situation became so grave that in the end, Abu Abdallah Muhammad and his men withdrew from the town and began the long westward march through the Makran desert. After losing even more men the army eventually arrived at the port of Tis, from where they sailed to Iraq. When he arrived at the caliphal court in Baghdad Abu Abdallah Muhammad prostrated himself before Caliph al-Rashid and begged forgiveness for his failures. With the recent conquests in Rum the khalifah was noticeably more forgiving than he may otherwise have been; Abu Abdallah Muhammad was sacked from his position as governor of Sind and sent to Misr to assist wali Ibrahim ibn Salih ibn Ali al-Abbasi. In his place was appointed Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Abbasi, the current second heir to Abbasid Caliphate.

Following the rejection of Abbasid authority the rebels could begin to reorganise the former province into an independent Shia state. The elderly Imam Abdallah al-Ashtar moved to the capital of al-Mansurah where he was officially proclaimed as the Imam and amir al-mu’minin. Umar ibn Hafs Hazarmard al-Muhallabi was in turn appointed by the Imam as the amir al-umara (commander of commanders). From then on the khutbah featured their two names first. Even though the Shia rebellion had abandoned the region of Makran, which thus comprised the rump Abbasid province of Sind, the new state’s territory stretched from Armabil in the southwest to Multan in the northeast. All of the governors and Indian tributary rulers were summoned to al-Mansurah to give bay’ah to Abdallah al-Ashtar; only a few were recalcitrant and they were visited by Umar ibn Hafs and his army. Shia communities throughout the Dar al-Islam were energised as the news of the Abbasid failure to crush the rebellion spread. Many Zaydis migrated en masse to Sind to support the new Imam, yet most of the followers of Muhammad ibn Ismail and Musa al-Kadhim stayed where they were to plot rebellions in favour of their own claimants. Abdallah al-Ashtar’s government welcomed the Shia migrants and settled them throughout Sind.

The Imam’s time in Sind prior to the rebellion was well spent. Initially he spent time hunting and partaking in the pleasures of the local raja’s court. Soon however he embraced an ascetic and Sufi lifestyle which actually endeared him more to the Hindu and Buddhist natives. Abdallah al-Ashtar’s host had already expressed admiration for the Prophet Muhammad and his family, so a formal conversion to Islam was sealed by the Imam’s display of personal devotion and piety. The Imam travelled to the courts of other rajas, accompanied by an ever increasing following, where he further evangelised Islam among all the people he came across. Those rulers who didn’t formally convert were nevertheless impressed by tales of the Prophet and the piety of Abdallah al-Ashtar, promising him their protection. After his death hagiographical works, some of which were authored by native converts, attributed miracles and other such fantastical feats to the Imam. On the other hand there was a degree of continuity in Islamic rule compared to the previous Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms in Sind: the Brahmin caste were integrated into the provincial administration, while a portion of taxes were allotted to mendicant and monastic groups. Even though the Muslim administration did not need the legitimacy of the dhimmi religious authorities, it certainly contributed to the stability of their rule. Such policies were continued under the rule of the Imam.

The new Abbasid governor of Sind, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Abbasi, established his capital at Tis with his main priority being to secure Abbasid rule over Makran. To that end proper fortifications were constructed around Tis and the town’s port was expanded. Rather than opt for the glory-seeking route of pitched battles and seemingly overwhelming force, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim’s strategy was one of long-term attrition warfare against the Shia. A central pillar of the strategy was a naval campaign that aimed to cut off both trade and the pilgrimage route to and from Sind; the wali hoped that such a manoeuvre would erode the Imam’s support. The initial phase of the campaign amounted to nothing more than state-sanctioned piracy in the northern Arabian Sea though, which drove amir al-umara Umar ibn Hafs Hazarmard al-Muhallabi to begin construction of a navy for the nascent Shia state. Soon enough a naval arms race and ongoing naval warfare between the two belligerents ensued. The Ibadi Imamate of Oman, which had a complex relationship with the Abbasid Caliphate,[1] was also pulled into the conflict in order to protect their trade around the Arabian Sea. This state of affairs continued for some time, though Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ibrahim assured Caliph al-Rashid that all was going to plan.

[1] OTL the Imamate of Oman was established just after Abbasid Revolution. For whatever reason the Abbasids didn’t conquer Oman. I’ve kept that situation, though there is regular raiding across the border of the two states.
 
Last edited:
How susceptible to syncretism will Shia Sind be? Being on the margins of the Dar al-Islam, ruling over a large Hindu-Buddhist population and their leadership going out of their way to ingratiate themselves over their non-Muslim subjects I can see them absorbing a lot of local influences, especially if they start gaining a lot of local converts. I could certainly see the Sunnis, Ibadis and other Shia sects pointing out these influences as proof of their infidelity and heresy.
 
How susceptible to syncretism will Shia Sind be? Being on the margins of the Dar al-Islam, ruling over a large Hindu-Buddhist population and their leadership going out of their way to ingratiate themselves over their non-Muslim subjects I can see them absorbing a lot of local influences, especially if they start gaining a lot of local converts. I could certainly see the Sunnis, Ibadis and other Shia sects pointing out these influences as proof of their infidelity and heresy.
I think in this early period Sindi Shi'ism and Hindu-Buddhism will still be relatively separate theologically speaking, though as time goes on it will become a situation similar to OTL later Indian Islam and Sufism, with overlap between places of worship, festivals, and so on. On the other hand, this will cause tension between the original "Ashtari" Shia and the immigrant Zaydis. This tension would come about anyway as the Imams settle into the usual hereditary succession and the Abbasid threat eventually disappearing.
 
An interesting development in India, it looks like this could be the groundwork for large Shia Indian states in contrast to the Sunni states north and west of India. Which would be an interesting long term division in the Islamic world. Maybe not however, I'm not familiar with early Islamic India so I can't say for sure. In any case, awesome post.
 
An interesting development in India, it looks like this could be the groundwork for large Shia Indian states in contrast to the Sunni states north and west of India. Which would be an interesting long term division in the Islamic world. Maybe not however, I'm not familiar with early Islamic India so I can't say for sure. In any case, awesome post.
I am actually leaning towards having Shi'ism become the main denomination of Islam in India, which would be a nice change in my opinion. OTL the Ismailis were a major component of early Islamic India in Multan and Sind, but other than that the only major Shia presence in India later on was among the rulers of the Deccani sultanates.
 
I think that it would be very interesting if ITTL the Khazars converts to Islam ITTL instead of the Judaism.
 
I think that it would be very interesting if ITTL the Khazars converts to Islam ITTL instead of the Judaism.
Short of outright political conquest, which could be a possibility if the Abbassids are emboldened by their military successes in Europe and against the Byzantines, I don't think that will be likely. At this time conversion to Islam was still synonymous with political submission to the Caliphal state. Converting to Judaism was a convenient way to remain neutral between the Caliphate and Byzantine Empires.
 
I am actually leaning towards having Shi'ism become the main denomination of Islam in India, which would be a nice change in my opinion. OTL the Ismailis were a major component of early Islamic India in Multan and Sind, but other than that the only major Shia presence in India later on was among the rulers of the Deccani sultanates.

So would shiism also expand to other parts of the Indian Ocean, East Africa, Indonesia, and South East Asia?

It could be cool to have some battle grounds between the Sunni and Shia schools.
 
Top