Muslim World - The Age of the Collapse
The First Ibrahimite Rebellion and the Start of the Age of Collapse
The success of the Ukhawia of Wasatbahr and the First Ibrahimite Rebellion are seen as the beginning of the Age of Collapse in the muslim world, where came the transformation of the powerful and united caliphate into several separate states with their own interests. Given this starting date, the Age of Collapse in the muslim world is the period between 745 and 871, which determined the fact of the muslim world, with Islam no longer unified under one large and extensive political unity.
Faransa has undergone giant cultural and economic changes since its conquest, with several arabs (mainly syrians) moving to the region at the orders of the Umayyad Caliphs to secure control of the region. Including the troops used in the conquest, who gained land in the newly conquered regions, this provoked the relationship of the new inhabitants with the old, thus creating a whole new class of mixed people, the Muhjin (literally, "Hybrid" in arabic), they were largely muslim, and would actively participate in the conversion of Faransa to Islam.
Arabs in Faransa have become many things, from local governors to wealthy merchants in the northern seas, with the latter being great allies of Ibrahim in his rebellion, with he offering great economic advantages in eventual support for his government, the which, after the success of the wasatbahrians against the abbasids, seemed like an easy bet.
Soon Ibrahim gathered good support in the north-central regions of Faransa, and on February 19, 746, the umayyad heir and 87 of his soldiers attacked the northern port of Al-Hafar [OTL Ouistreham], capturing it, and giving the green light to the other supporters start the rebellion.
The outbreaks of rebellion then soon turned to the north, with the southern regions having rebellions quickly suppressed by berber lords. The first major confrontation of the rebellion was the Battle of Bynsiyakam (In OTL Poissy), where an army of 4.000 rebels defeated an Abbasid army of 11.000 soldiers under the governor Al-Waddi (who despite being a good statesman was far away of being a good commander) that died in battle, adding more chaos to the region, and with that chaos came the destruction of the abbasid control of Faransa. Warlords were soon in constant conflict with one another, while the ibrahimite armies established control of much of northern Al-Faransa. To add further destruction, the tribes inhabiting the vast lands of Akba-Faransa (aka, vast lands beyond the Rhine) crossed the Rhine and began looting nearby regions, several abbasid armies were sent to end the confusion, but they eventually entered in the confusion itself. This mutual destruction would last until mid-754, being known as
"The Eight Years' Disaster"
By 754, the worst was over, with Faransa finally being split between firm entities. In Bakhyia, an alliance of cities made for the conservation of the region was able to repel attacks by saxons to the east and ibrahimites to the south (with the latter not really sending much but a few armies to plunder) under the strong command of the warlord Arend bij Braakjans, a native converted to Shia Islam. In the south, an berber abbasid loyalist called Azure ibn Ṭāriq had already put much of Burgundy in his domain, while several warlords fought each other in and around Gharbrayn [OTL Franche-Comté]. To the north, the ibrahimites controlled the region with an iron fist, but there was considerable opposition from local christians, due to the intense brutality of Ibrahim and his followers against the christians due to the feeling of "betrayal" against the "rightful caliphs".
Soon, Azure, along with an army of 83.000 men, including abbasid soldiers, farano-berbers, and anti-umayyad christians, set off for rebel-held territories, capturing Mahsakina [OTL Vichy] and Mulany [OTL Moulins], Ibrahim soon build up an army to counter the loyalist forces and "eliminate the threat once and for all".
The meeting of the armies would take a few kilometers beyond the fortified city of Nyfirnu [Nevers] on August 16, 754, with the army of Ibrahim having 50.000 troops, the same departed for a strong blow to the flanks, Tariq then held his front with his christian troops and used the well-trained abbasids to repel the flank attack in order to encircle the troop concentrations on the flanks. The plan would be successful and Ibrahim would only have his front line to defend himself against a general assault of nearly 80.000 soldiers, the rebels soon clashed and mass defections occurred along with the end of the battle. After such a disaster, Ibrahim would be fleeing north, with Azure capturing city after city all the way to Awrlyanz [Orleáns], where Ibrahim failed to build up a new army and fled again, this time to Barish [Paris].
Despite the escape, 800 followers of Ibrahim would bravely defend Awrlyanz for 2 months, allowing Ibrahim to assemble an emergency army to defend Barish from an imminent loyalist attack. Other ibrahimite armies were raised to defend the other regions secured by the rebels, but the reopening of hostilities with the bakhyian forces under Braakjans dealt a severe blow to the northern forces, especially after the two heavy defeats at the Battles of Almina 'Kabir [Boulogne-sur-Mer] and Brukzell [Brussels], where the ibrahimite armies were decimated by considerably smaller armies. To the south, abbasid reinforcements from Al-Andalus took advantage of moments of weakness to advance to the border with Brittany.
After the fall of Awrlyanz, Azure's army crossed the Loire and rushed toward Barish, where they would enter an empty city, only to find themselves outmaneuvered and undergoing a full assault in the rear by the ibrahimite cavalry. At first the ibrahimites did severe damage to the loyalist forces, but Azure would be able to improvise anti-cavalry formations and soon prevent the total collapse of his forces, which were already being frontally attacked by the bulk of the ibrahimites at the vanguard. Being able to concentrate all their strength, numerical superiority forced the ibrahimites to retreat from their attack, and shortly thereafter, to be pursued by the berber cavalry.
The ibrahimite defeat at Barish destroyed the coordination of the rebellion, with deserters raining in the rebel armies and merchant groups, which once supported the rebellion and controlled much of the rebel-held ports, began copying from the rulebook of Wasatbahr and declared ukhawias in such controlled territories. As loyalist armies advance over former rebel territories, many of these were completely annihilated, but some managed to survive and are listed below:
- Ukhawia of Juzuralqna [Channel Islands]
- Ukhawia of Alskatsegira [La Rochelle]
- Ukhawia of Nuteqali [Cherbourg]
- Ukhawia of Al-Hafar [Ouistreham]
- Ukhawia of Minathulaty [Le Tréport]
Aftermath of the First Ibrahimite Rebellion
Ibrahim disappeared shortly afterwards, going to Al-Hafar, which suffered a siege, but with the loyalists not having access to a fleet to block by sea, they were unable to cause further damage after the assault was repelled, forcing them to abandon the siege.
Azure ibn Ṭāriq was made Emir of Faransa under the Abbasid Caliphate, in this case, nominally, as the abbasids could no longer maintain control of the region. The emirate's seat was placed in Wughdinu [OTL Lyon] as Tariq's base during the chaos in Al-Faransa, again changing the center of power in the region. The Christian population in the region went through more sheets during the period of rebellion, with the rebels performing open massacres of innocent christians, causing a great resentment among the population against the rebels, which was an important part of the rapid collapse of the rebel forces.
Bakhyia would also be the target of loyalist forays for another 5 years, but Braakjans and his men would be able to secure the independence of the declared Imamate of Bakhyia.
The success of Wasatbahr and Faransa in breaking abbasid effective power in their respective regions marked the beginning of the Age of Collapse, although it seemed that everything would collapse quickly after the Ibrahimite Rebellion, abbasid power remained relatively stable for a century.
The establishment of the faranish ukhawias was also a very important event, with them being the main connections of the muslim world with the nordic world. With merchants from these states establishing a stable and profitable trade with the british isles, scandinavia and, in the case of Minathulaty, with the baltic regions.