Map of Iraq and al-Ahwaz at the time of the Zanj revolt.
Date
869–883
Location
Lower Mesopotamia and Al-Ahwaz
Result
Abbasid victory
Belligerents
Abbasid Caliphate
Zanj rebels
Slaves
Allied Arabs
Banu Tamim[1]
Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah[1]
Bahila[2]
Commanders and leaders
Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq Abu al-'Abbas ibn al-Muwaffaq Musa ibn Bugha Abu al-Saj Masrur al-Balkhi Ahmad ibn Laythawayh Ibrahim ibn Muhammad
Ali ibn Muhammad Yahya ibn Muhammad al-Bahrani Ali ibn Aban al-Muhallabi Sulayman ibn Jami' Sulayman ibn Musa al-Sha'rani Ankalay ibn Ali ibn Muhammad
v
t
e
Zanj Rebellion Theaters and battles
Iraq
Barges
Al-Ubulla
Basra
Al-Ahwaz
al-Mukhtara
The Zanj Rebellion (Arabic: ثورة الزنجThawrat al-Zanj / Zinj) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun near the city of Basra in present-day southern Iraq and led by one Ali ibn Muhammad, the insurrection involved both enslaved and freed Bantu peoples ("Zanj") who had originally been captured from the coast of Southeast Africa and transported to the Middle East, principally to drain the region's salt marshes. [3] It grew to involve slaves and freemen, including both Southeastern Africans and Arabs, from several regions of the Caliphate, and claimed tens of thousands of lives before it was finally defeated.[4]
Several Muslim historians, such as al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi, consider the Zanj revolt to be one of the "most vicious and brutal uprisings" of the many disturbances that plagued the Abbasid central government.[4] Modern scholars have characterized the conflict as being "one of the bloodiest and most destructive rebellions which the history of Western Asia records,"[5] while at the same time praising its coverage as being among the "most fully and extensively described campaign[s] in the whole of early Islamic historical writing."[6] The precise composition of the rebels remains a subject of debate, both as regards their identity and as to the proportion of slaves and free among them – available historical sources being open to various interpretations.
The ZanjRebellion (Arabic: ثورة الزنج Thawrat al-Zanj / Zinj) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun...
Zanj (Arabic: زَنْج, adj. زنجي, Zanjī; from Persian: زنگ, romanized: Zang) is a term used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion...
East African slaves against the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq during the ZanjRebellion. The Nanny of the Maroons was an 18th-century leader of the Jamaican...
(r. 870–892). At the end of Anarchy at Samarra, a rebellion broke out famously known as ZanjRebellion. It grew to involve slaves and freemen, including...
24, 869 near Basra. It was one of the first major engagements of the ZanjRebellion, taking place less than two months after the outbreak of the revolt...
slaves in Iraq. The harsh condition resulted in a big slave rebellion known as the ZanjRebellion, which lasted between 869 and 883. From the early 9th-century...
led to several destructive slave revolts, the most notable being the ZanjRebellion of 869–883, and led to the end of the practice. Many rulers also used...
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in Basra, a city of present-day Iraq, referred to as the ZanjRebellion. The enslaved Zanj were likely transported from the more southern areas of East...
The abortive Zanjrebellion against the Abbasids was ignited in Iraq and Bahrain in the mid-ninth century by Ali ibn Muhammad Sahib al-Zanj, who claimed...
is founded. September – Battle of Basra: Zanj rebels in Mesopotamia sack and capture Basra (see ZanjRebellion). The Cairo Genizah, a collection of Jewish...
had been a refuge for escaped slaves and serfs, such as during the ZanjRebellion. By the mid-1980s, a low-level insurgency against Ba'athist drainage...
al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833). The Zanjrebellion was ignited in Iraq and Bahrain in the ninth century by Ali ibn Muhammad Sahib al-Zanj, who claimed descent from...
slaves in Iraq. The harsh condition resulted in a big slave rebellion known as the ZanjRebellion, which lasted between 869 and 883. Thousands and possibly...
Military leader in 9th century involved in the defense of Basra during the Zanjrebellīon war, and later served as a governor of Mecca. Mahmud of Ghazni 971–1030:...
Global Information
Abbasid Caliphate