Triple Assassination at Saqifah - An Islam alternate timeline
- Thread starter adrizuz
- Start date
We got the real great fitna one,with the Khajarites pulling the same the Abbasid did to the ummayds (that was awful,they were legit captives)Next entry will be about Maysara al-Matghari, though overall more focused on the Fitna as well. So don't worry if it felt like his rise as Kharijite Caliph and his subsequent campaigns of consolidation felt too summarized. I'll tackle them more in detail next
So the spread of Islam to West Africa begins a couple hundred years early? I'd imagine that with all the chaos erupting in the Maghreb, the emerging Muslim communities in Wagadu/Ghana will be cut off from the rest of the Islamic world for a long time.
Indeed. I decided to give two of the surviving Umayyads a last part to play in history in the further spread of Islam. (Al-Asbagh to West Africa, and Masrur to Moravia). But the fact that it'll be a conversion from the ruling classes it'll be a slower and more progressive conversion of Islam, even if earlier.
It will be slower and also more divergent, because Ghana will mostly be cut off from mainstream Islam. When the trans-Saharan trade picks up a century or two later, the Mughrabi traders might find that West African Islam incorporates a lot of folk customs and rituals.
First Fitna (1)
First Fitna (or First Islamic Civil War)
Part 1
Part 1
Al-Baqir died in 736, and his death sent the entire Caliphate into even more chaos than it had seen during his rule. His sons were in hiding due to their fear of being the next ones in the line of assassinations. The Shura was left without an obvious successor, and its members panicked. Some went into hiding themselves, while a few tried to find a solution to the situation. After several debates, they reached a consensus in who the solution was: Zayd ibn Ali.
The council sent a letter from Kufa to Tabaristan, informing the Zaydi community that their leader had been elected as Rashidun Caliph, and that his presence in Kufa was required by the Ummah. However, Zayd refused to take the call, and rejected the election in a written letter addressed to the Ummah. The third option was Abd Allah ibn Ali, who had been disgraced after his dismissal and was now also in hiding alongside his family and his nephew, Ja'far. This led to the final decision to move the succession away from the Alid lineages, and began yet another debate on who should succeed Al-Baqir as Caliph.
This alarmed the Alids in and out of the Shura, however. And it was this alarm that pushed Al-Mundhir to present himself. As the governor of Qunstantiniya, and direct descendant of Muhsin ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, he had plenty of legitimacy. His governorship had been admirable and he was known for his dedication to Allah. He was not the only member of the Banu Hashim to seek the election, however, as Muhammad ibn Ali, the great-grandson of Al-Abbas, also presented himself. His intentions are usually believed to not have been received with much enthusiasm, and it's possible he never had a real chance of achieving the position of Caliph.
Immediately after the assassination of Al-Baqir, the newly appointed commander of the Caliphal armies ahead of the Fitna, Mus'ab ibn Thabit al-Zubayri marched from Fustat to the capital. The arrival of Mus'ab to the city was magnificent, leading a military parade across the city into the building of the Shura. Everyone was obviously intimidated, especially as his men marched directly into the building. Ja'far ibn Muhammad, son of Al-Baqir, had warned Al-Mundhir about the Zubayrid general. However, the governor was so confident in his odds to win that he ignored the pleas of his cousin. Ja'far even insisted on being present, but he was kept from leaving Qunstantiniya due to the real possibility of being murdered on the way to the capital.
In the end, Mus'ab came out on top and was elected as the 7th Rashidun Caliph, ending a streak of Alid rulers. There wasn't much celebration, as he immediately returned to Tripoli to carry out his invasion plans against the Khawarij.
The instability of the Caliphate had allowed the rebels to not only usurp the governors of Al-Andalus and Ifriqiya, but also for the different leaders of the different Kharijite sects and movements to come together and organize their efforts. By the time Mus'ab returned to Tripoli and launched his invasion of Ifriqiya in 737, the Khawarij had organized to the point of forming their own Shura and electing a rightful Khawarij Caliph. This was received as great disrespect to the family and descendants of the Prophet, and only increased the divide among the Ummah due to the controversial decision to not recognize the Caliph of Kufa.
The Khawarij were very strict in their requirements for whoever should become their Caliph. Very few men in Islamic history could ever meet them, and most of them would possibly be Sahaba of the Prophet, who imitated Muhammad and his way of life directly, and who wrote down his teachings in the Qu'ran. But, contrary to what the quietist Kharijites of the time would have argued, there were indeed men who met the criteria living in their day, and among them, a single man stood in front of the entire Khawarij revolution in the west: Maysara al-Matghari.
First Khawarij Caliph: Maysara al-Matghari, Amir al Mu'minin.
Not much is known of the early years of Maysara's life, other than he was a low-born from the Matghara Berber tribe. His parents were devout muslims, from whom Maysara inherited his faith and piety. He lived most of his life around the cities of Tangiers and Kairouan, where he eventually offered himself to serve as a water-carrier for the Rashidun army.
However, he lived in turbulent times for the Amazigh people. It was soon clear to him that his tribe and his people were being neglected by the local governors. He saw his friends, neighbors and family die from starvation or executed for being Kharijites during the years of persecution. His parents had been loyal to Kufa and to the Ahl-al-Bayt, and so Maysara grew up not as a Kharijite, but as a Shia. For such, he normally excused the executions of his closed ones under the accusations of being rebels and Khawarij, believing they deserved such punishment. But such a notion of his would change.
Some time during his service to the Rashidun army, his father and his wives, including his mother, were accused of being Khawarij rebels and were executed for it. At the time, Maysara had been participating in battles around Ifriqiya against rebels. For such, he only found out about the death of his parents almost two weeks later. It is said he ran to his hometown of Tangiers and mourned for his family for several months. That marked a breaking point for the young Maysara, who left the Rashidun army and joined the Sufri movement of his tribe.
It quickly became evident that Maysara was special, and he soon rose to become one of the most important and respected figures among his new community. He presented, alongside his tribe, a complaint to the governor at Kairouan. They were ignored and later kicked out of the city. In a final attempt to reach a diplomatic solution, Maysara sent a letter to Kufa, addressed to the Caliph. This, however, was intercepted at Kairouan.
He developed great resentment towards the Caliph and his family, the Ahl-al-Bayt. He, like the most of the other Khawarij, came to believe that they had been corrupted and moved astray from Allah. The family of the Prophet, supposed to be the most pious among the Ummah, had become corrupt and now ignored and violated the teachings of the Prophet written in the Qu'ran.
Maysara participated and led Khawarij rebel armies in the first revolts of his tribe against the Umayyad governor in Kairouan. He always defeated the local garrisons with dominance in the battlefield. This earned him great popularity, and he received thousands of new supporters and recruits in his army. Initially, he only allowed members of his tribe or other Sufrites, but very quickly he began to accept every Kharijite and Berber who wished to join him, even the most radical rebels.
He did not organize, but did participate in the assassination of Al-Walid and the subsequent siege of Kairouan and the persecution of Caliphal officials and their families. It was seen as the just retribution for their corruption and their abandonment of Islam (in their view).
Shortly after this, and after the conquest of Tangiers by the rebel armies, the Berbers and Arab Kharijites met in an assembly to unite themselves into a single force and organize their subsequent efforts. During this time, the community established a Shura of their own, which included Arabs and non-Arabs alike. With it formed, the discussions and debates to elect a righteous Caliph began. Maysara had become massively popular due to the fact that he had never lost a battle as a commander, as well as his piety and strict following of the Qu'ran. For such, he was elected as the Caliph, and would be in charge of leading the armies of the newly unified Khawarij movement.
This alarmed the Alids in and out of the Shura, however. And it was this alarm that pushed Al-Mundhir to present himself. As the governor of Qunstantiniya, and direct descendant of Muhsin ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, he had plenty of legitimacy. His governorship had been admirable and he was known for his dedication to Allah. He was not the only member of the Banu Hashim to seek the election, however, as Muhammad ibn Ali, the great-grandson of Al-Abbas, also presented himself. His intentions are usually believed to not have been received with much enthusiasm, and it's possible he never had a real chance of achieving the position of Caliph.
Immediately after the assassination of Al-Baqir, the newly appointed commander of the Caliphal armies ahead of the Fitna, Mus'ab ibn Thabit al-Zubayri marched from Fustat to the capital. The arrival of Mus'ab to the city was magnificent, leading a military parade across the city into the building of the Shura. Everyone was obviously intimidated, especially as his men marched directly into the building. Ja'far ibn Muhammad, son of Al-Baqir, had warned Al-Mundhir about the Zubayrid general. However, the governor was so confident in his odds to win that he ignored the pleas of his cousin. Ja'far even insisted on being present, but he was kept from leaving Qunstantiniya due to the real possibility of being murdered on the way to the capital.
In the end, Mus'ab came out on top and was elected as the 7th Rashidun Caliph, ending a streak of Alid rulers. There wasn't much celebration, as he immediately returned to Tripoli to carry out his invasion plans against the Khawarij.
The instability of the Caliphate had allowed the rebels to not only usurp the governors of Al-Andalus and Ifriqiya, but also for the different leaders of the different Kharijite sects and movements to come together and organize their efforts. By the time Mus'ab returned to Tripoli and launched his invasion of Ifriqiya in 737, the Khawarij had organized to the point of forming their own Shura and electing a rightful Khawarij Caliph. This was received as great disrespect to the family and descendants of the Prophet, and only increased the divide among the Ummah due to the controversial decision to not recognize the Caliph of Kufa.
The Khawarij were very strict in their requirements for whoever should become their Caliph. Very few men in Islamic history could ever meet them, and most of them would possibly be Sahaba of the Prophet, who imitated Muhammad and his way of life directly, and who wrote down his teachings in the Qu'ran. But, contrary to what the quietist Kharijites of the time would have argued, there were indeed men who met the criteria living in their day, and among them, a single man stood in front of the entire Khawarij revolution in the west: Maysara al-Matghari.
First Khawarij Caliph: Maysara al-Matghari, Amir al Mu'minin.
Not much is known of the early years of Maysara's life, other than he was a low-born from the Matghara Berber tribe. His parents were devout muslims, from whom Maysara inherited his faith and piety. He lived most of his life around the cities of Tangiers and Kairouan, where he eventually offered himself to serve as a water-carrier for the Rashidun army.
However, he lived in turbulent times for the Amazigh people. It was soon clear to him that his tribe and his people were being neglected by the local governors. He saw his friends, neighbors and family die from starvation or executed for being Kharijites during the years of persecution. His parents had been loyal to Kufa and to the Ahl-al-Bayt, and so Maysara grew up not as a Kharijite, but as a Shia. For such, he normally excused the executions of his closed ones under the accusations of being rebels and Khawarij, believing they deserved such punishment. But such a notion of his would change.
Some time during his service to the Rashidun army, his father and his wives, including his mother, were accused of being Khawarij rebels and were executed for it. At the time, Maysara had been participating in battles around Ifriqiya against rebels. For such, he only found out about the death of his parents almost two weeks later. It is said he ran to his hometown of Tangiers and mourned for his family for several months. That marked a breaking point for the young Maysara, who left the Rashidun army and joined the Sufri movement of his tribe.
It quickly became evident that Maysara was special, and he soon rose to become one of the most important and respected figures among his new community. He presented, alongside his tribe, a complaint to the governor at Kairouan. They were ignored and later kicked out of the city. In a final attempt to reach a diplomatic solution, Maysara sent a letter to Kufa, addressed to the Caliph. This, however, was intercepted at Kairouan.
He developed great resentment towards the Caliph and his family, the Ahl-al-Bayt. He, like the most of the other Khawarij, came to believe that they had been corrupted and moved astray from Allah. The family of the Prophet, supposed to be the most pious among the Ummah, had become corrupt and now ignored and violated the teachings of the Prophet written in the Qu'ran.
Maysara participated and led Khawarij rebel armies in the first revolts of his tribe against the Umayyad governor in Kairouan. He always defeated the local garrisons with dominance in the battlefield. This earned him great popularity, and he received thousands of new supporters and recruits in his army. Initially, he only allowed members of his tribe or other Sufrites, but very quickly he began to accept every Kharijite and Berber who wished to join him, even the most radical rebels.
He did not organize, but did participate in the assassination of Al-Walid and the subsequent siege of Kairouan and the persecution of Caliphal officials and their families. It was seen as the just retribution for their corruption and their abandonment of Islam (in their view).
Shortly after this, and after the conquest of Tangiers by the rebel armies, the Berbers and Arab Kharijites met in an assembly to unite themselves into a single force and organize their subsequent efforts. During this time, the community established a Shura of their own, which included Arabs and non-Arabs alike. With it formed, the discussions and debates to elect a righteous Caliph began. Maysara had become massively popular due to the fact that he had never lost a battle as a commander, as well as his piety and strict following of the Qu'ran. For such, he was elected as the Caliph, and would be in charge of leading the armies of the newly unified Khawarij movement.
Commander of the al-Shurat
Now as Caliph, Maysara rallied his new Kharijite armies and continued to attack the few Rashidun garrisons that remained within the province of Ifriqiya. He recovered the city of Kairouan after it had been briefly recaptured by Shia forces. Then, he won the battles of Ceuta and Fez, where he crushed two important Rashidun armies. In between, he also rallied more Berber tribes and recruited them into his armies.
With their heads shaved and pages of the Qu'ran attached to their spears in the traditional Khawarij manner, Maysara's armies were steamrolling the split and disorganized garrisons and pockets of Rashidun presence in the Maghreb and Ifriqiya. However, the zealous and inspired Kharijites could not yet rest: Al-Andalus had blown up in total chaos.
After the assassination of the governor and the persecution of officials, Islamic authority was quick to collapse across the province. The Baskunisi were the first to rise in rebellion against the Kharijites, now led by Mahomat ibn Umar of Baskuniyya. He was allied with converted Hispano-Romans led by Fortun ibn Qasi; though the rise of these converted Hispano-Romans inspired several Christian Visigoths and Romans to rise in open rebellion as well. The still disorganized Kharijite armies of Al-Andalus struggled to deal with the many rebellions and the general chaos.
Mahomat ibn Umar defeated the Kharijites in the battles of Pamplona, Huesca and Zaragoza. He managed to massacre and capture several hundreds of Kharijites. Fortun kicked the rebels out of Al-Faranj in the battles of Bourdeaux and later Narbonne. The latter of which resulted in the massacre of thousands, while many more fled to Ifriqiya. Given their clear successes, and despite their loyalty to the Caliph of Kufa, Mahomat established the Emirate of Baskuniyya, of which Fortun became an important noble.
This was followed by Oppa's revolt. Oppa was the youngest son of the Visigothic king Egica, and he rose in rebellion supported mostly by remnants of the Visigothic nobility to reclaim the throne. He quickly captured the city of Leon, from which he would continue his endeavors. He was proclaimed king and tried to appeal to Constantine VI in Rome for military support, but was ultimately ignored.
Maysara captured the city of Ceuta and finally crossed into Al-Andalus in late 736. The south was mostly still in control of the Kharijites, which allowed his triumphal march towards Cordoba. There, even more recruits and reinforcements awaited him. He organized a meeting with the local Kharijite leaders, who recognized his authority as the Caliph. Then, he finally attacked.
He marched on Toledo, where he fought a series of Visigothic rebels that were aided by Oppa and his troops. However, Maysara bested the Visigothic pretender, who fled like a coward back to the north. The Kharijites captured the city of Toledo and massacred the rebels and their families. The city was razed and sacked. Then, the Caliph led his armies in their chase of the Visigothic king.
They finally met around Segovia, where once again Oppa tried to defeat the Kharijite. He failed miserably, and most of his men were massacred. He tried to flee, but was reached by an arrow that hit him in the face, and ultimately led to his death shortly after. A smaller army was sent to the north to crush the remnants of the Visigothic uprising, while Maysara marched towards Baskuniyya.
Until the assassination of the Umayyad governors, the Baskunisi had been loyal allies of the Caliphate. For such, some Kharijites expected their continued support once a new, more righteous (in their view) Caliph was proclaimed at Tangiers. However, they could not be further from the truth. Mahomat's ancestors had embraced Islam and fought alongside the Rashidun armies, but their loyalty was with the Ahl-al-Bayt, the Caliphs of Kufa. For such, the current ruler of the Baskunisi had rallied his people and the Hispano-Romans of Qasi to fight in the name of the Rashidun Caliphate. This earned them extra Arab allies, especially after their crushing victories. Their success in the battlefield gained them confidence, which pushed Mahomat to proclaim himself as the Emir of the Baskunisi. However, he still recognized the Caliphate of Kufa.
With Oppa and his revolt out of the way, the greatest threat to Kharijite authority in Al-Andalus and Al-Faranj was clear: the Baskunisi and their allies. And they would prove to be Maysara's toughest enemies yet.
The Caliph aimed to recover the recently lost city of Valencia. There, he met the Baskunisi armies for the first time. Yahya ibn Qasi, brother of Fortun, was leading the armies that had captured the city, and he was the first one to fight the Kharijite armies. Maysara defeated him and his men, but with great losses among his own ranks. Yahya then sought refuge behind the walls of the city, which the Kharijites besieged. Fortunately for the rebels, the city gave in only after a month due to the lack of food. Expecting the mercy of the Rashidun army, Yahya peacefully surrendered and gave the city to the Kharijites. However, the latter stormed into the city and massacred Baskunisi, Hispano-Romans, Arabs and everyone who was inside. The city was completely sacked and later burned. A few messengers fled north, where they delivered the information to Fortun.
He ordered the smaller armies gathered near Valencia to return to Tortosa, where he began to prepare a plan to stop the Kharijites in a single battle. His ultimate plan was to stop their advance at the Ebro river, and force them to eventually recognize it as a border between Al-Baskuniyya and their lands.
Maysara arrived quite swiftly, and led his armies in an aggressive clash against the numerous armies of Fortun. The Muslim Hispano-Roman cleverly ambushed and misguided the Kharijite armies several times, which forced the Caliph to improvise. Noticing that some of his men were starting to cross the bridge very early, he ordered his men to push and block the bridge before more could cross. Fortun tried to stop it, but his veterans were overwhelmed by the zealous and aggressive Kharijites, who split his armies into several smaller groups and blocked the bridge.
The Kharijites set fire to it, before massacring all the Baskunisi and Hispano-Romans that failed to cross the bridge as intended. Fortun was among the unfortunate ones, and was brutally dismembered before finally being beheaded. The survivors on the opposite side of the Ebro were able to flee to Lleida and Zaragoza, while the Kharijites were forced back due to the lack of a bridge.
In early 737, the Kharijites continued their march, this time onto Zaragoza. There, Mahomat himself, alongside Abu Salama ibn Qasi, was waiting for the Caliph and his men. Upon finally meeting, Maysara recognized some admiration for his triumphs and offered him the chance of peacefully surrendering. Mahomat took this as an insult, and refused to continue talks in any way. His men immediately attacked the Kharijites, who were nonetheless ready for battle.
The battle of Zaragoza was one of the deadliest battles in the Fitna. With 50k Baskunisi, Hispano-Romans and Arabs on Mahomat's side; and 70k Berbers and Arabs among Maysara's ranks. The Caliph of the al-Shurat came out on top, even slaying Mahomat with his own hands. However, this came at the cost of 20k of his men, while the opposing side lost around 30k men. Maysara's aggressive tactics, while effective, had now resulted in severe losses in a Pyrrhic victory. It was still a very important victory, as the Emir of the Baskunisi was slain in battle, as were most of Qasi's remaining sons. Only Yunus, who fled further north into Al-Faranj, remained alive.
Maysara then led the sacking of Zaragoza, though the city did not suffer as bad of a fate as many of the previous ones, possibly due to the condition of the Kharijite armies. In Pamplona, Musa ibn Umar, brother of Mahomat, rose as the new Emir of the Baskunisi, but with considerably less military support than his brother. However, Maysara was forced to retreat from his efforts due to the imminent invasion of Mus'ab ibn Thabit, the new Caliph of Kufa.
He left his trusted general, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati, behind with 10k men to defend the gains he had made against the Baskunisi. It was believed among the Kharijite leadership, though, that no more major attempts would be made to reconquer the already lost territories, especially after the battle of Zaragoza. And indeed, shortly after, Musa III would negotiate with Khalid al-Zanati and reach an agreement in which he recognized the authority of Maysara and became his vassal.
As for al-Matghari, he was met with the armies of Mus'ab in 738, when Kairouan and Tunis had been reconquered after an intense siege. This put the Kharijites in a tough position, given the advantage that holding the two most important cities of the province represented. Maysara, ruthless as ever, led his army of now 80k men into the city of Kairouan. Mus'ab had been informed of his arrival ever since the man had reached Tangiers, so he was very aware that the enemy was coming right at him. For such, he ordered his men to prepare for the defense of Kairouan, instead of charging aggressively against the Kharijites.
Maysara besieged the city for several months, until a factor that Mus'ab had ignored made itself present. There were Kharijites and sympathizers to the rebels inside the city. They organized an operation in which some infiltrated the guards of the walls while others tried to kill other soldiers. Eventually, this led to the opening of the gates in the middle of the night, which the scouts of the Kharijites noticed and they stormed into the city. It was chaotic since Maysara and his men were not really prepared to carry out an attack like such, but nonetheless a chance they took and that ended up costing Mus'ab an important position and a massive defeat.
The Rashidun army resisted as best as they could, but they were overrun at every chance. They were massacred and so were civilians. Eventually, the few thousands that survived fled the city and dispersed throughout the province. Kairouan was initially sacked and destroyed, but eventually Maysara ordered his men to cease as they would now rule over it. Then, he made an inspiring speech to his men, which he ended by proclaiming himself as "Amir al-Mu'minin", symbolizing now a complete usurpation of the family of the Prophet, as such title had only been claimed by them.
Mus'ab fled from city to city. At Sufetula, he was defeated again by Maysara in 740. He managed to escape once again, and this time made it all the way to Tripoli. There, he asked for more support from the east, unaware of the trouble that was already brewing back there.
Ja'far ibn Muhammad
Ever since the death of his father in 736, Ja'far had been keen on jumping into the spotlight. He knew his father wanted him to be his successor, and it was recognized by many among the Ummah that Ja'far was the one worthy of leading them as their Caliph. In fact, many already called him their "imam", as he was one of the most prominent religious and intellectual leaders in the Caliphate, ever since he was very young. Even Zayd ibn Ali, his uncle, recognized that Ja’far would be a truly righteous Caliph. However, he had been blocked from this precisely by his close family members, who were fearful for his life after the assassination of his father.
For such, he was forced to go into hiding at Qunstantiniya. He had supported his cousin Al-Mundhir, and watched as Mus'ab seized power by openly threatening the Shura. He then witnessed Mus'ab's invasion and its failure, while the Kharijites imposed themselves against whom he perceived to be the true Muslims.
And it was during his time in hiding at the city that he met a certain Iranian slave that went by the name ‘Abu Muslim’.
Abu Muslim had been arrested for being part of an extremist group of followers of Al-Mughira during the beginning of the First Fitna. He had served in the Rashidun army at some point, as well. He was eventually freed, though forced into slavery in exchange. During that time, he went from city to city serving different nobles across the Caliphate, until he was eventually acquired by Al-Mundhir. It was then that he met Ja'far, who was already well known as "al-Sadiq", the Truthful.
The son of the previous Caliph came to know Abu Muslim very well, and formed a strong friendship with him. They both shared the same perception about the rebels, and despite the slave’s humble origins, he was a pious and well educated man, always willing to learn from the likes of Ja’far. Al-Sadiq was almost instantly scandalized by the fact that such a devout Muslim had been forced into slavery, and convinced Al-Mundhir of freeing the Iranian man. With such an action, Ja'far earned the eternal gratitude of Abu Muslim, who would always remain a loyal servant of al-Sadiq. Once he had been freed, Ja'far introduced the man into a certain movement he had been preparing for the past few months: a revolution against Mus’ab.
Now as Caliph, Maysara rallied his new Kharijite armies and continued to attack the few Rashidun garrisons that remained within the province of Ifriqiya. He recovered the city of Kairouan after it had been briefly recaptured by Shia forces. Then, he won the battles of Ceuta and Fez, where he crushed two important Rashidun armies. In between, he also rallied more Berber tribes and recruited them into his armies.
With their heads shaved and pages of the Qu'ran attached to their spears in the traditional Khawarij manner, Maysara's armies were steamrolling the split and disorganized garrisons and pockets of Rashidun presence in the Maghreb and Ifriqiya. However, the zealous and inspired Kharijites could not yet rest: Al-Andalus had blown up in total chaos.
After the assassination of the governor and the persecution of officials, Islamic authority was quick to collapse across the province. The Baskunisi were the first to rise in rebellion against the Kharijites, now led by Mahomat ibn Umar of Baskuniyya. He was allied with converted Hispano-Romans led by Fortun ibn Qasi; though the rise of these converted Hispano-Romans inspired several Christian Visigoths and Romans to rise in open rebellion as well. The still disorganized Kharijite armies of Al-Andalus struggled to deal with the many rebellions and the general chaos.
Mahomat ibn Umar defeated the Kharijites in the battles of Pamplona, Huesca and Zaragoza. He managed to massacre and capture several hundreds of Kharijites. Fortun kicked the rebels out of Al-Faranj in the battles of Bourdeaux and later Narbonne. The latter of which resulted in the massacre of thousands, while many more fled to Ifriqiya. Given their clear successes, and despite their loyalty to the Caliph of Kufa, Mahomat established the Emirate of Baskuniyya, of which Fortun became an important noble.
This was followed by Oppa's revolt. Oppa was the youngest son of the Visigothic king Egica, and he rose in rebellion supported mostly by remnants of the Visigothic nobility to reclaim the throne. He quickly captured the city of Leon, from which he would continue his endeavors. He was proclaimed king and tried to appeal to Constantine VI in Rome for military support, but was ultimately ignored.
Maysara captured the city of Ceuta and finally crossed into Al-Andalus in late 736. The south was mostly still in control of the Kharijites, which allowed his triumphal march towards Cordoba. There, even more recruits and reinforcements awaited him. He organized a meeting with the local Kharijite leaders, who recognized his authority as the Caliph. Then, he finally attacked.
He marched on Toledo, where he fought a series of Visigothic rebels that were aided by Oppa and his troops. However, Maysara bested the Visigothic pretender, who fled like a coward back to the north. The Kharijites captured the city of Toledo and massacred the rebels and their families. The city was razed and sacked. Then, the Caliph led his armies in their chase of the Visigothic king.
They finally met around Segovia, where once again Oppa tried to defeat the Kharijite. He failed miserably, and most of his men were massacred. He tried to flee, but was reached by an arrow that hit him in the face, and ultimately led to his death shortly after. A smaller army was sent to the north to crush the remnants of the Visigothic uprising, while Maysara marched towards Baskuniyya.
Until the assassination of the Umayyad governors, the Baskunisi had been loyal allies of the Caliphate. For such, some Kharijites expected their continued support once a new, more righteous (in their view) Caliph was proclaimed at Tangiers. However, they could not be further from the truth. Mahomat's ancestors had embraced Islam and fought alongside the Rashidun armies, but their loyalty was with the Ahl-al-Bayt, the Caliphs of Kufa. For such, the current ruler of the Baskunisi had rallied his people and the Hispano-Romans of Qasi to fight in the name of the Rashidun Caliphate. This earned them extra Arab allies, especially after their crushing victories. Their success in the battlefield gained them confidence, which pushed Mahomat to proclaim himself as the Emir of the Baskunisi. However, he still recognized the Caliphate of Kufa.
With Oppa and his revolt out of the way, the greatest threat to Kharijite authority in Al-Andalus and Al-Faranj was clear: the Baskunisi and their allies. And they would prove to be Maysara's toughest enemies yet.
The Caliph aimed to recover the recently lost city of Valencia. There, he met the Baskunisi armies for the first time. Yahya ibn Qasi, brother of Fortun, was leading the armies that had captured the city, and he was the first one to fight the Kharijite armies. Maysara defeated him and his men, but with great losses among his own ranks. Yahya then sought refuge behind the walls of the city, which the Kharijites besieged. Fortunately for the rebels, the city gave in only after a month due to the lack of food. Expecting the mercy of the Rashidun army, Yahya peacefully surrendered and gave the city to the Kharijites. However, the latter stormed into the city and massacred Baskunisi, Hispano-Romans, Arabs and everyone who was inside. The city was completely sacked and later burned. A few messengers fled north, where they delivered the information to Fortun.
He ordered the smaller armies gathered near Valencia to return to Tortosa, where he began to prepare a plan to stop the Kharijites in a single battle. His ultimate plan was to stop their advance at the Ebro river, and force them to eventually recognize it as a border between Al-Baskuniyya and their lands.
Maysara arrived quite swiftly, and led his armies in an aggressive clash against the numerous armies of Fortun. The Muslim Hispano-Roman cleverly ambushed and misguided the Kharijite armies several times, which forced the Caliph to improvise. Noticing that some of his men were starting to cross the bridge very early, he ordered his men to push and block the bridge before more could cross. Fortun tried to stop it, but his veterans were overwhelmed by the zealous and aggressive Kharijites, who split his armies into several smaller groups and blocked the bridge.
The Kharijites set fire to it, before massacring all the Baskunisi and Hispano-Romans that failed to cross the bridge as intended. Fortun was among the unfortunate ones, and was brutally dismembered before finally being beheaded. The survivors on the opposite side of the Ebro were able to flee to Lleida and Zaragoza, while the Kharijites were forced back due to the lack of a bridge.
In early 737, the Kharijites continued their march, this time onto Zaragoza. There, Mahomat himself, alongside Abu Salama ibn Qasi, was waiting for the Caliph and his men. Upon finally meeting, Maysara recognized some admiration for his triumphs and offered him the chance of peacefully surrendering. Mahomat took this as an insult, and refused to continue talks in any way. His men immediately attacked the Kharijites, who were nonetheless ready for battle.
The battle of Zaragoza was one of the deadliest battles in the Fitna. With 50k Baskunisi, Hispano-Romans and Arabs on Mahomat's side; and 70k Berbers and Arabs among Maysara's ranks. The Caliph of the al-Shurat came out on top, even slaying Mahomat with his own hands. However, this came at the cost of 20k of his men, while the opposing side lost around 30k men. Maysara's aggressive tactics, while effective, had now resulted in severe losses in a Pyrrhic victory. It was still a very important victory, as the Emir of the Baskunisi was slain in battle, as were most of Qasi's remaining sons. Only Yunus, who fled further north into Al-Faranj, remained alive.
Maysara then led the sacking of Zaragoza, though the city did not suffer as bad of a fate as many of the previous ones, possibly due to the condition of the Kharijite armies. In Pamplona, Musa ibn Umar, brother of Mahomat, rose as the new Emir of the Baskunisi, but with considerably less military support than his brother. However, Maysara was forced to retreat from his efforts due to the imminent invasion of Mus'ab ibn Thabit, the new Caliph of Kufa.
He left his trusted general, Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati, behind with 10k men to defend the gains he had made against the Baskunisi. It was believed among the Kharijite leadership, though, that no more major attempts would be made to reconquer the already lost territories, especially after the battle of Zaragoza. And indeed, shortly after, Musa III would negotiate with Khalid al-Zanati and reach an agreement in which he recognized the authority of Maysara and became his vassal.
As for al-Matghari, he was met with the armies of Mus'ab in 738, when Kairouan and Tunis had been reconquered after an intense siege. This put the Kharijites in a tough position, given the advantage that holding the two most important cities of the province represented. Maysara, ruthless as ever, led his army of now 80k men into the city of Kairouan. Mus'ab had been informed of his arrival ever since the man had reached Tangiers, so he was very aware that the enemy was coming right at him. For such, he ordered his men to prepare for the defense of Kairouan, instead of charging aggressively against the Kharijites.
Maysara besieged the city for several months, until a factor that Mus'ab had ignored made itself present. There were Kharijites and sympathizers to the rebels inside the city. They organized an operation in which some infiltrated the guards of the walls while others tried to kill other soldiers. Eventually, this led to the opening of the gates in the middle of the night, which the scouts of the Kharijites noticed and they stormed into the city. It was chaotic since Maysara and his men were not really prepared to carry out an attack like such, but nonetheless a chance they took and that ended up costing Mus'ab an important position and a massive defeat.
The Rashidun army resisted as best as they could, but they were overrun at every chance. They were massacred and so were civilians. Eventually, the few thousands that survived fled the city and dispersed throughout the province. Kairouan was initially sacked and destroyed, but eventually Maysara ordered his men to cease as they would now rule over it. Then, he made an inspiring speech to his men, which he ended by proclaiming himself as "Amir al-Mu'minin", symbolizing now a complete usurpation of the family of the Prophet, as such title had only been claimed by them.
Mus'ab fled from city to city. At Sufetula, he was defeated again by Maysara in 740. He managed to escape once again, and this time made it all the way to Tripoli. There, he asked for more support from the east, unaware of the trouble that was already brewing back there.
Ja'far ibn Muhammad
Ever since the death of his father in 736, Ja'far had been keen on jumping into the spotlight. He knew his father wanted him to be his successor, and it was recognized by many among the Ummah that Ja'far was the one worthy of leading them as their Caliph. In fact, many already called him their "imam", as he was one of the most prominent religious and intellectual leaders in the Caliphate, ever since he was very young. Even Zayd ibn Ali, his uncle, recognized that Ja’far would be a truly righteous Caliph. However, he had been blocked from this precisely by his close family members, who were fearful for his life after the assassination of his father.
For such, he was forced to go into hiding at Qunstantiniya. He had supported his cousin Al-Mundhir, and watched as Mus'ab seized power by openly threatening the Shura. He then witnessed Mus'ab's invasion and its failure, while the Kharijites imposed themselves against whom he perceived to be the true Muslims.
And it was during his time in hiding at the city that he met a certain Iranian slave that went by the name ‘Abu Muslim’.
Abu Muslim had been arrested for being part of an extremist group of followers of Al-Mughira during the beginning of the First Fitna. He had served in the Rashidun army at some point, as well. He was eventually freed, though forced into slavery in exchange. During that time, he went from city to city serving different nobles across the Caliphate, until he was eventually acquired by Al-Mundhir. It was then that he met Ja'far, who was already well known as "al-Sadiq", the Truthful.
The son of the previous Caliph came to know Abu Muslim very well, and formed a strong friendship with him. They both shared the same perception about the rebels, and despite the slave’s humble origins, he was a pious and well educated man, always willing to learn from the likes of Ja’far. Al-Sadiq was almost instantly scandalized by the fact that such a devout Muslim had been forced into slavery, and convinced Al-Mundhir of freeing the Iranian man. With such an action, Ja'far earned the eternal gratitude of Abu Muslim, who would always remain a loyal servant of al-Sadiq. Once he had been freed, Ja'far introduced the man into a certain movement he had been preparing for the past few months: a revolution against Mus’ab.
Just a couple of notes:
[1] First of all, I've found someone willing to do some calligraphy about Maysara al-Matghari's name, but I've already delayed this update for several days, so I decided I'll just update the post and add the calligraphy once it's ready. I'll make sure to add a new post like this one notifying that it had been added.
[2] Ja'far al-Sadiq will of course have a bigger entry in the next chapter of the Fitna and of course his own entry later on. So no worries if this one was brief. There's a lot to come for Ja'far as he kicks off the Golden Age ITTL!
[3] Yes, Mus'ab is technically a Rashidun Caliph as well. However, he won't have much of his own entry since he is just kinda there and only in the beginning of the Fitna.
[1] First of all, I've found someone willing to do some calligraphy about Maysara al-Matghari's name, but I've already delayed this update for several days, so I decided I'll just update the post and add the calligraphy once it's ready. I'll make sure to add a new post like this one notifying that it had been added.
[2] Ja'far al-Sadiq will of course have a bigger entry in the next chapter of the Fitna and of course his own entry later on. So no worries if this one was brief. There's a lot to come for Ja'far as he kicks off the Golden Age ITTL!
[3] Yes, Mus'ab is technically a Rashidun Caliph as well. However, he won't have much of his own entry since he is just kinda there and only in the beginning of the Fitna.
Maysara's attack on al-Andalus seems somewhat like the Almoravid and Almohad invasions - a strict Mughrabi sect invading a territory it sees as decadent and impious. But it's happening soon after the original conquest rather than hundreds of years later, and Maysara is facing not a group of disorganized taifas and weakened Christian kingdoms but a strong and determined enemy. It's bloody and brutal but I guess it wouldn't be called a Fitna if it were otherwise.
It's a dynamic that makes sense since Berbers were the majority in the armies that in OTL conquered Al-Andalus and ITTL Al-Faranj as well. They're bound to gain positions of power and well, in this case, the bigger part of this Kharijite movement is certainly Berbers.
Mus'ab ibn Thabit is a descendant of Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam through his son Abd-Allah.
Al-Zubayr -> Abd Allah -> Thabit -> Mus'ab.
He doesn't really have a wikipedia page, since no Zubayrid was of much note after Abd Allah, but Mus'ab does appear in Zubayrid family trees that you can find online.
Really interesting to see that you're building a family tree of the Caliphs of TTL. I certainly appreciate it.
So far it hasn't deviated much from OTL's lineages, but eventually it will have to diverge a lot just because of pressures of the POD. The idea though is to kinda stick to the line of the Imams of OTL, so we'll see how far that takes us.
First Fitna (2)
First Fitna (or First Islamic Civil war)
Part 2
The Ja’fari Revolution
Ja’far ibn Muhammad had already been a very renowned scholar in the latter days of his grandfather’s reign, and throughout that of his father, al-Baqir. His reputation had greatly grown and his students were counted by the hundreds. His status as a descendant of the Prophet through Caliph Ali and Fatima az-Zahra only added to his prestige and the great appreciation the Ummah had for him.
However, this also meant he had been somewhat removed from political life by the time his father died. Muhammad al-Baqir left behind an unstable Caliphate, which saw the rise of the Kharijites in rebellion and the later proclamation of a Caliph among them, rejecting the authority of that in Kufa. It is in such a context that Mus’ab gained the election by organizing a military march across Kufa and into the Shura, symbolically threatening all of its members.
Ja’far, now in hiding at Qunstantiniya under the protector of his cousin Al-Mundhir, alongside the rest of his family, had already severely criticized the Zubayrid for what he called a seizure of power. He was of the belief that Mus’ab would not allow the Shura to traditionally elect the next Caliph, but that he would establish a dynastic Caliphate, as many before had attempted, and which was against Islamic Law. This message spread outside the scholarly circles of his students and followers, reaching the common people and slowly creating a strong sentiment against Mus’ab.
For such, when Mus’ab ibn Thabit was defeated at Kairouan, Sufetula and kicked out of Ifriqiya; it became clear that he was not worthy of being the leader of the Ummah.
In 740, not too long after the Zubayrid fled to Tripoli, Ja’far rose up in arms against the ruling Caliph. He was supported by multiple governors throughout the Caliphate, including his cousin Al-Mundhir, while thousands of Muslim commoners joined his cause. Among these commoners was Abu Muslim, who had become a close follower of Ja’far after being freed from slavery by him.
The revolutionary troops adopted the Green Standard, which was meant to symbolize heaven. Ja’far began to wear a green turban as well, which would become a traditional way of dressing for those descended from the Prophet.
Part 2
The Ja’fari Revolution
Ja’far ibn Muhammad had already been a very renowned scholar in the latter days of his grandfather’s reign, and throughout that of his father, al-Baqir. His reputation had greatly grown and his students were counted by the hundreds. His status as a descendant of the Prophet through Caliph Ali and Fatima az-Zahra only added to his prestige and the great appreciation the Ummah had for him.
However, this also meant he had been somewhat removed from political life by the time his father died. Muhammad al-Baqir left behind an unstable Caliphate, which saw the rise of the Kharijites in rebellion and the later proclamation of a Caliph among them, rejecting the authority of that in Kufa. It is in such a context that Mus’ab gained the election by organizing a military march across Kufa and into the Shura, symbolically threatening all of its members.
Ja’far, now in hiding at Qunstantiniya under the protector of his cousin Al-Mundhir, alongside the rest of his family, had already severely criticized the Zubayrid for what he called a seizure of power. He was of the belief that Mus’ab would not allow the Shura to traditionally elect the next Caliph, but that he would establish a dynastic Caliphate, as many before had attempted, and which was against Islamic Law. This message spread outside the scholarly circles of his students and followers, reaching the common people and slowly creating a strong sentiment against Mus’ab.
For such, when Mus’ab ibn Thabit was defeated at Kairouan, Sufetula and kicked out of Ifriqiya; it became clear that he was not worthy of being the leader of the Ummah.
In 740, not too long after the Zubayrid fled to Tripoli, Ja’far rose up in arms against the ruling Caliph. He was supported by multiple governors throughout the Caliphate, including his cousin Al-Mundhir, while thousands of Muslim commoners joined his cause. Among these commoners was Abu Muslim, who had become a close follower of Ja’far after being freed from slavery by him.
The revolutionary troops adopted the Green Standard, which was meant to symbolize heaven. Ja’far began to wear a green turban as well, which would become a traditional way of dressing for those descended from the Prophet.
They only ever fought small garrisons that were still loyal to Mus’ab, believing him to be the righteously elected Caliph. Abu Muslim crushed these small armies and very quickly became the rising star as the main general of the army of the green standard. Alongside him, Isma’il al-Mubarak and Abd Allah al-Aftah, the eldest sons of Ja’far, also commanded the armies.
Ja’far very quickly connected with his allies in Jazira, who commented to him that several Kharijite revolts in the region. He sent Abu Muslim to meet them near Mosul, and slaughtered them with no mercy. Some of the prisoners he captured began to accuse him of being a worshiper of fire, a zoroastrian. Though this was waved off as rumors.
After Jazira, Ja’far ordered Abu Muslim to move to Iraq, where the capital of the city was. There, the final battle to decide the final outcome of the revolution happened just outside Karbala. There, an army of 10k loyalists to Mus’ab were met by Abu Muslim’s army of 70k. The Iranian general proved to be superior to the Mus’abists, and defeated them with ease. However, he did not carry out the usual massacre, as Ja’far had instructed his sons to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, and to keep Ali’s law of only imprisoning.
After Karbala, the march continued to Kufa. The capital was already under revolutionary control not only because the a great portion of the Shura was formed by Sayyids, but also because Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, a brother of Ja’far, had been pulling the strings of his many contacts in parallel to his brother’s military takeover at the command of Abu Muslim. That way many of the provinces in favor of his movement were formally added to his supporters and further campaigns were avoided.
Once in Kufa, Ja’far called for the election of the next Caliph immediately. It was necessary as Mus’ab had been defeated for a final time at Tripoli. He was captured in battle and tortured for several days. Finally, he was publicly beheaded and his body was left there for every Khawarij to disrespect and desecrate his body.
Despite the essential overthrowing of him, his death still represented an important hit to the Caliphate of Kufa. The Rashidun armies raised by Mus’ab had been crushed, and the Kharijites had free passage into Egypt and from then, they could go to many important regions of the empire. Not only that, but the brutal way in which Mus’ab was dealt with was a deliberate statement of what awaited not only to the new Caliph, but also to the Ahl-al-Bayt and their followers.
In the very first few days of 742, Ja’far as-Sadiq was elected and proclaimed Rashidun Caliph, and was almost universally sworn fealty without enforcement.
Only a week later, Maysara began the siege of Alexandria. This set all the alarms off in the East, and Ja’far sent Abu Muslim and Isma’il with 50k men each. It took them a few months to arrive, but the city refused to fall. The locals had resisted fiercely despite famine, attempts of negotiation and more. The Kharijite armies were also starting to fatigue.
It is then that Abu Muslim decided to take 10k men with him to ambush the Kharijites from behind, while Isma’il led the rest from the front and the flanks. That way, the Rashidun army completely surrounded and crushed the exhausted Khawarij, of whom only a few thousands managed to flee out of Egypt alongside their Caliph, who had just taken his first defeat.
Alexandria received Abu Muslim and Isma’il with great appreciation and luxuries, but only the former took them. Isma’il decided to stay true to his family and spent the few days in the city quite humbly.
Ja’far very quickly connected with his allies in Jazira, who commented to him that several Kharijite revolts in the region. He sent Abu Muslim to meet them near Mosul, and slaughtered them with no mercy. Some of the prisoners he captured began to accuse him of being a worshiper of fire, a zoroastrian. Though this was waved off as rumors.
After Jazira, Ja’far ordered Abu Muslim to move to Iraq, where the capital of the city was. There, the final battle to decide the final outcome of the revolution happened just outside Karbala. There, an army of 10k loyalists to Mus’ab were met by Abu Muslim’s army of 70k. The Iranian general proved to be superior to the Mus’abists, and defeated them with ease. However, he did not carry out the usual massacre, as Ja’far had instructed his sons to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, and to keep Ali’s law of only imprisoning.
After Karbala, the march continued to Kufa. The capital was already under revolutionary control not only because the a great portion of the Shura was formed by Sayyids, but also because Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, a brother of Ja’far, had been pulling the strings of his many contacts in parallel to his brother’s military takeover at the command of Abu Muslim. That way many of the provinces in favor of his movement were formally added to his supporters and further campaigns were avoided.
Once in Kufa, Ja’far called for the election of the next Caliph immediately. It was necessary as Mus’ab had been defeated for a final time at Tripoli. He was captured in battle and tortured for several days. Finally, he was publicly beheaded and his body was left there for every Khawarij to disrespect and desecrate his body.
Despite the essential overthrowing of him, his death still represented an important hit to the Caliphate of Kufa. The Rashidun armies raised by Mus’ab had been crushed, and the Kharijites had free passage into Egypt and from then, they could go to many important regions of the empire. Not only that, but the brutal way in which Mus’ab was dealt with was a deliberate statement of what awaited not only to the new Caliph, but also to the Ahl-al-Bayt and their followers.
In the very first few days of 742, Ja’far as-Sadiq was elected and proclaimed Rashidun Caliph, and was almost universally sworn fealty without enforcement.
Only a week later, Maysara began the siege of Alexandria. This set all the alarms off in the East, and Ja’far sent Abu Muslim and Isma’il with 50k men each. It took them a few months to arrive, but the city refused to fall. The locals had resisted fiercely despite famine, attempts of negotiation and more. The Kharijite armies were also starting to fatigue.
It is then that Abu Muslim decided to take 10k men with him to ambush the Kharijites from behind, while Isma’il led the rest from the front and the flanks. That way, the Rashidun army completely surrounded and crushed the exhausted Khawarij, of whom only a few thousands managed to flee out of Egypt alongside their Caliph, who had just taken his first defeat.
Alexandria received Abu Muslim and Isma’il with great appreciation and luxuries, but only the former took them. Isma’il decided to stay true to his family and spent the few days in the city quite humbly.
After resting, the Rashidun army continued their chase of the Khawarij. Their aggressive approach had been agreed upon between the commanders of the army. The Fitna had been way too costly and deadly and were it to continue for much longer, it would severely weaken the Caliphate and leave it vulnerable for foreign powers to invade it. It had now become a matter of saving Islam and the Muslims.
Abu Muslim continued his unstoppable streak in the battles of Barqa, Tripoli, Gabes and Sfax. Maysara had gone from the invincible Caliph and Amir al-Mu’minin of the Kharijites in the west, to now being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Many, especially among the more radical ones of the Azariqa and Najdat sects, began to question his leadership. He had lost thousands of men in the last few battles under his command, and when only a month prior he had been laying siege to the city of Alexandria, and thinking about also besieging Fustat, he was now cornered back in Kairouan.
A show of his loss of confidence, he dropped his trademark ultra-aggressive warfare. Instead, he ordered his commanders to dig a trench and to completely center in defending Kairouan.
In the days leading up to the battle, and knowing that Abu Muslim and Isma’il al-Mubarak were marching to the city, many Shia began revolting and sabotaging the Kharijites. Maysara did not hesitate to order them all killed and began to persecute the entire families of those who attempted anything against them.
By the time the Rashidun army had reached the city of Kairouan, the narrations say the city was already covered in blood from the brutal massacre the Kharijites had unleashed upon its inhabitants. Thousands of corpses had already been thrown outside the trenches, and their strong smell easily made the younger men of the army gag and even throw up.
Isma’il tried to offer peace, against Abu Muslim’s wishes. However, everyone knew that he was doing what the Caliph, his father, would want to be made. Ali ibn Abi Talib had taught such doctrine, and his descendants continued to perpetrate it.
The Kharijites agreed to the negotiation, but sent a delegation when Isma’il had requested for Maysara al-Matghari to negotiate in person with him. That way, they would both put themselves at risk and make it more unlikely for an attack to interrupt the meeting.
Isma’il agreed to negotiate either way. He proposed that the Kharijites could surrender and leave peacefully, and they would not be persecuted by his father. In reply, the Kharijites requested for Isma’il’s head and all the heads of all of Ali’s descendants in exchange for sparing the lives of those they perceived as kafirs. The son of the Caliph was unable to even consider those terms and reiterated his own offer. However, one of the soldiers on the Kharijite delegation shot an arrow straight at his face.
Isma’il barely managed to move away and the arrow hit his shoulder. A brawl quickly formed and the son of the Caliph was taken back to camp. Abu Muslim immediately escalated the violence and ambushed the chaotic and disorganized Kharijite delegation, killing all of them. Then, he moved on to the main army, which was hiding behind trenches and inside the city.
The Battle of Kairouan, or the Battle of the Bloody Trench, had begun.
Battle of Kairouan: Dubious end of the Fitna.
Similarly to the original Battle of the Trench, the Kharijites had dug up trenches all around the city, making it implausible for the Rashidun armies to just charge against their enemies and try and besiege it. For such, it was very quickly devised that the only viable option would be for different groups of scouts to go around the city and try to find a possible breakthrough.
Abu Muslim sent three small groups of scouts to get some distance and go around the city. Both of them were shot down and killed, but one managed to find an opening. It was all the way to the opposite end of the city, and it would be hard for the entire army to properly mobilize there now that they had faced the Kharijites directly. It would be quite easy to be ambushed.
And then, the general decided to do one thing. He dispatched part of his cavalry, but once again in three separate groups, bigger than the scouts he had sent prior. Each group carried the green standards that characterized the Jafari movement, to call the attention of the Kharijites equally.
The cavalry groups rushed for the opening from different directions. One group was entirely shot down, while the other two were very heavily attacked. The second group was the first one to reach the opening, and they only barely managed to get there. The third group reached them not too long after and they had maintained almost all of their members. This meant that when both groups connected, they attacked through the opening and took advantage of the chaos to set several fires near the trenches. They continued to press and attack the entrenched Kharijites, which soon provoked a mobilization that was noticed on the opposite side.
Abu Muslim ordered his men to charge into the trenches in what became a brutal bloodshed. He could tell not only from the smoke but from the panicking messengers that his plan had been successful.
While the Kharijite trenches became a bloodbath, arrows rained from the walls of the city. This caused very severe losses on top of the already aggressive approach from Abu Muslim.
It is here, however, that it all becomes dubious. The most accepted version, that of the Shia, mentions that Abu Muslim eventually managed to breach the city’s defenses with the help of its inhabitants, who revolted inside. The Kharijite version mentions that Maysara successfully defended the city, forcing Abu Muslim to retreat. Eventually, the Caliph grew sick and was taken back to Tangier, which eventually led to Kairouan and Tunis falling to the Shia.
What is agreed upon is that by the end of the battle, the trenches of the city were described as being filled with dead bodies and blood. It is estimated close to 100k people died, including the civilians massacred by Maysara and his men.
This battle marked the final major confrontation between both sides. The conflict continued, but what followed were minor skirmishes due to Maysara’s sudden retreat to Tangier.
This continued from 742 to 744, when Tunis was captured by the Rashidun army, and through it, they managed to regain control over Ifriqiya. However, it seems their efforts stopped there. The Maghreb proved hard to retake, and it seems the decision to reinforce Ifriqiya and defend it from further advances was the one taken over a continuation of the campaign against the Kharijites.
All conflict ended definitively in 746, which is the year given normally for the end of the Fitna. Both sides claimed total victory despite their inability or unwillingness to finish the other off. It is possible the progressively heavier losses of the conflict persuaded both sides to slowly de-escalate and eventually stop active attacks in favor of defending the territories held. There was no clear victor of the Fitna, and the major consequence of it was the separation of the previously unified Caliphate into two major Islamic powers. This new status quo also saw the massive migration of Kharijites to the west and Shia to the East, though some Shia were trapped and instead sought refuge in the Emirate of Baskuniyya, which despite being a vassal of the Kharijites, the Baskuni Emirs continued to protect the Shia.
Aftermath
Maysara al-Matghari fell ill in 743, which forced him to retreat to Tangier. This illness would eventually take his life the next year, and he would be succeeded by one of his trusted generals, Salim Abu Yusuf Al-Azdi. However, he would die only two years later in 745 possibly from natural causes, which allowed another trusted general of Maysara to become the third Caliph: Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati. He continued to oversee the skirmishes of the Fitna, but sought the defensive approach previously mentioned. Instead, his focus moved north to Al-Faranj, where he began skirmishes against the Franks that would eventually lead to the full conquest of the region.
As for the Rashidun Caliphate in the East, it slowly began to rebuild and recover after over a decade of conflict. However, a certain empire in the Far East began to make intense moves into western Central Asia around 750, which caused a major movement of troops into Khorasan, under the command of Abu Muslim.
Despite the end of the Fitna, the Rashidun Caliphate would not have a long time to relax. The Tang empire of China made itself evident in its intentions of total domination of Central Asia, making small incursions into Transoxiana which culminated in a series of skirmishes. But it would take a few more years for the conflict to escalate to such a point that a major scale war would break out in Central Asia.
Abu Muslim continued his unstoppable streak in the battles of Barqa, Tripoli, Gabes and Sfax. Maysara had gone from the invincible Caliph and Amir al-Mu’minin of the Kharijites in the west, to now being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Many, especially among the more radical ones of the Azariqa and Najdat sects, began to question his leadership. He had lost thousands of men in the last few battles under his command, and when only a month prior he had been laying siege to the city of Alexandria, and thinking about also besieging Fustat, he was now cornered back in Kairouan.
A show of his loss of confidence, he dropped his trademark ultra-aggressive warfare. Instead, he ordered his commanders to dig a trench and to completely center in defending Kairouan.
In the days leading up to the battle, and knowing that Abu Muslim and Isma’il al-Mubarak were marching to the city, many Shia began revolting and sabotaging the Kharijites. Maysara did not hesitate to order them all killed and began to persecute the entire families of those who attempted anything against them.
By the time the Rashidun army had reached the city of Kairouan, the narrations say the city was already covered in blood from the brutal massacre the Kharijites had unleashed upon its inhabitants. Thousands of corpses had already been thrown outside the trenches, and their strong smell easily made the younger men of the army gag and even throw up.
Isma’il tried to offer peace, against Abu Muslim’s wishes. However, everyone knew that he was doing what the Caliph, his father, would want to be made. Ali ibn Abi Talib had taught such doctrine, and his descendants continued to perpetrate it.
The Kharijites agreed to the negotiation, but sent a delegation when Isma’il had requested for Maysara al-Matghari to negotiate in person with him. That way, they would both put themselves at risk and make it more unlikely for an attack to interrupt the meeting.
Isma’il agreed to negotiate either way. He proposed that the Kharijites could surrender and leave peacefully, and they would not be persecuted by his father. In reply, the Kharijites requested for Isma’il’s head and all the heads of all of Ali’s descendants in exchange for sparing the lives of those they perceived as kafirs. The son of the Caliph was unable to even consider those terms and reiterated his own offer. However, one of the soldiers on the Kharijite delegation shot an arrow straight at his face.
Isma’il barely managed to move away and the arrow hit his shoulder. A brawl quickly formed and the son of the Caliph was taken back to camp. Abu Muslim immediately escalated the violence and ambushed the chaotic and disorganized Kharijite delegation, killing all of them. Then, he moved on to the main army, which was hiding behind trenches and inside the city.
The Battle of Kairouan, or the Battle of the Bloody Trench, had begun.
Battle of Kairouan: Dubious end of the Fitna.
Similarly to the original Battle of the Trench, the Kharijites had dug up trenches all around the city, making it implausible for the Rashidun armies to just charge against their enemies and try and besiege it. For such, it was very quickly devised that the only viable option would be for different groups of scouts to go around the city and try to find a possible breakthrough.
Abu Muslim sent three small groups of scouts to get some distance and go around the city. Both of them were shot down and killed, but one managed to find an opening. It was all the way to the opposite end of the city, and it would be hard for the entire army to properly mobilize there now that they had faced the Kharijites directly. It would be quite easy to be ambushed.
And then, the general decided to do one thing. He dispatched part of his cavalry, but once again in three separate groups, bigger than the scouts he had sent prior. Each group carried the green standards that characterized the Jafari movement, to call the attention of the Kharijites equally.
The cavalry groups rushed for the opening from different directions. One group was entirely shot down, while the other two were very heavily attacked. The second group was the first one to reach the opening, and they only barely managed to get there. The third group reached them not too long after and they had maintained almost all of their members. This meant that when both groups connected, they attacked through the opening and took advantage of the chaos to set several fires near the trenches. They continued to press and attack the entrenched Kharijites, which soon provoked a mobilization that was noticed on the opposite side.
Abu Muslim ordered his men to charge into the trenches in what became a brutal bloodshed. He could tell not only from the smoke but from the panicking messengers that his plan had been successful.
While the Kharijite trenches became a bloodbath, arrows rained from the walls of the city. This caused very severe losses on top of the already aggressive approach from Abu Muslim.
It is here, however, that it all becomes dubious. The most accepted version, that of the Shia, mentions that Abu Muslim eventually managed to breach the city’s defenses with the help of its inhabitants, who revolted inside. The Kharijite version mentions that Maysara successfully defended the city, forcing Abu Muslim to retreat. Eventually, the Caliph grew sick and was taken back to Tangier, which eventually led to Kairouan and Tunis falling to the Shia.
What is agreed upon is that by the end of the battle, the trenches of the city were described as being filled with dead bodies and blood. It is estimated close to 100k people died, including the civilians massacred by Maysara and his men.
This battle marked the final major confrontation between both sides. The conflict continued, but what followed were minor skirmishes due to Maysara’s sudden retreat to Tangier.
This continued from 742 to 744, when Tunis was captured by the Rashidun army, and through it, they managed to regain control over Ifriqiya. However, it seems their efforts stopped there. The Maghreb proved hard to retake, and it seems the decision to reinforce Ifriqiya and defend it from further advances was the one taken over a continuation of the campaign against the Kharijites.
All conflict ended definitively in 746, which is the year given normally for the end of the Fitna. Both sides claimed total victory despite their inability or unwillingness to finish the other off. It is possible the progressively heavier losses of the conflict persuaded both sides to slowly de-escalate and eventually stop active attacks in favor of defending the territories held. There was no clear victor of the Fitna, and the major consequence of it was the separation of the previously unified Caliphate into two major Islamic powers. This new status quo also saw the massive migration of Kharijites to the west and Shia to the East, though some Shia were trapped and instead sought refuge in the Emirate of Baskuniyya, which despite being a vassal of the Kharijites, the Baskuni Emirs continued to protect the Shia.
Aftermath
Maysara al-Matghari fell ill in 743, which forced him to retreat to Tangier. This illness would eventually take his life the next year, and he would be succeeded by one of his trusted generals, Salim Abu Yusuf Al-Azdi. However, he would die only two years later in 745 possibly from natural causes, which allowed another trusted general of Maysara to become the third Caliph: Khalid ibn Hamid al-Zanati. He continued to oversee the skirmishes of the Fitna, but sought the defensive approach previously mentioned. Instead, his focus moved north to Al-Faranj, where he began skirmishes against the Franks that would eventually lead to the full conquest of the region.
As for the Rashidun Caliphate in the East, it slowly began to rebuild and recover after over a decade of conflict. However, a certain empire in the Far East began to make intense moves into western Central Asia around 750, which caused a major movement of troops into Khorasan, under the command of Abu Muslim.
Despite the end of the Fitna, the Rashidun Caliphate would not have a long time to relax. The Tang empire of China made itself evident in its intentions of total domination of Central Asia, making small incursions into Transoxiana which culminated in a series of skirmishes. But it would take a few more years for the conflict to escalate to such a point that a major scale war would break out in Central Asia.
New update! First of all, sorry for taking so long, I was focusing on something else lol. But I did want to finish off the First Fitna before my vacation ended (today's the last day :c). Hope you liked it and I'm open to ask questions if there are any! Due to me starting the semester tomorrow, I'll be a little more busy with uni so updates will be less frequent naturally. However, I won't drop this! I at least want to get to the 1500s! So expect updates from time to time.
Also, I left a little teaser of what's coming next at the end of the entry!👀
Also, I left a little teaser of what's coming next at the end of the entry!👀
Could Muṣʿab ibn Thābit be given a posthumous Laqab to denote his unlawful ascension? Something like al-Ḥarrama?
I was trying to find one, but I couldn't come up with anything. What does al-Harrama mean?
Will there be an An Lushan rebellion ITTL? It was a very improbable event resulting from a series of about a dozen unforced errors by Emperor Xuanzong and Li Linfu, most of which were heavily opposed by other members of the government, and it should probably be butterflied away.