Muslim Revolt of 699-701

Kharijite ideology is a popular creed for rebels against the officially Sunni Caliphate, inspiring breakaway states and rebellions (like that of Maysara al-Matghari in the late 730s) throughout the Maghreb and sometimes elsewhere.

The high point of the Kharijites' influence is in the years 690-730 around Basra in south Iraq, a center of Sunni theology.

The Azraqi Kharijites revolt against the Caliphate in 685 after separating from the Ibadi near Basra and departing for Fars.

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.

Abdallah, son of Caliph Abd al-Malik, was born around 677 and had grown up in the Caliphate's capital, Damascus.

During his youth he had accompanied his father on several campaigns.

He leads his own campaign for the first time in 700/701, as a retaliation for the attacks of the imperial general Heraclius.

During this expedition, he captures the border fortress of Theodosiopolis and raids into Armenia Minor.

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.

Muhammad campaigns later in 701 against the Constantinople-controlled Armenian territory east of the Euphrates, and forces its population and the local governor, Baanes, to submit to the Caliphate.

Soon after his departure, however, the Armenians rebel and call for imperial aid.