Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath
Arab nobleman and general
650 CE to 703 CE
‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ash‘ath, commonly simply Ibn al-Ash‘ath, is a distinguished Arab nobleman and general under the early Umayyad Caliphate, most notable for leading a failed rebellion against the Umayyad viceroy of the East, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, in 699–702 or 700–703.
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Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash‘ath, commonly simply Ibn al-Ash‘ath, the scion of a distinguished family of the Kindaite tribal nobility, had played a minor role in the Second Islamic Civil War (680–692) and subsequently served as governor of Rayy.
After the appointment of al-Hajjaj as governor of Iraq and the entire eastern Caliphate in 694, relations between the haughty and overbearing al-Hajjaj and the Iraqi nobility had quickly become strained.
Nevertheless, in 699 or 700, al-Hajjaj had appointed Ibn al-Ash'ath as commander of a huge Iraqi army, the so-called "Peacock Army", to subdue the troublesome principality of Zabulistan, whose ruler, the Zunbil, has vigorously resisted Arab expansion.
After suppressing the Afghans, Ibn al-Ash‘ath receives orders from al-Hajjaj to stay in the area indefinitely.
Defying the order, as well as al-Hajjaj’s insistence on individual tribal homage, al-Ash'ath marches back to Mesopotamia, collecting supporters of his rebellion as he travels.
His army engages troops of al-Hajjaj at Tustar in January 701, defeats them, and moves southward.
The Peacock Army, under Ibn al-Ash'ath's leadership, returns to Iraq, where it defeats al-Hajjaj, who flees to Basra, and seizes Kufa.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath takes Basra in March, 701.
Abdallah is sent, along with his uncle, Muhammad ibn Marwan, to Iraq to aid al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in subduing the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in 701.
The revolt gains widespread support among religious scholars known as kurra ("Quran readers"), and develops from a mutiny to a widespread anti-Umayyad rebellion.
Caliph Abd al-Malik tries to negotiate terms, including the dismissal of al-Hajjaj, but hardliners among the rebel leadership pressure Ibn al-Ash'ath into rejecting the Caliph's terms.
Al-Hajjaj and Ibn al-Ash'ath's troops skirmish with each other for several months.
In the subsequent Battle of Dayr al-Jamajim, the rebel army is decisively defeated by al-Hajjaj's Syrian troops in April 701.
Al-Hajjaj pursues the survivors, who under Ibn al-Ash'ath flee to the East.
Most of the rebels are captured by the governor of Khurasan, while Ibn al-Ash'ath himself flees to Zabulistan.
His fate is unclear, as some accounts hold that, after long pressure from al-Hajjaj to surrender him, the Zunbil executed him, while others claim that he committed suicide to avoid being handed over to his enemies.
The defeat marks the end of not only the rebellion but also of the power and influence of the Iraqi Arabs: Iraq is garrisoned by Syrian troops and comes under tight control by the Syrian-dominated Umayyad government.
It will not be until the Abbasid period and the foundation of Baghdad that Iraq will regain its prominence.