Pro-ʿAlid Rebellions

Tracing the Impact of Zayd b. ʿAlī’s Rebellion and His Supporters in the ‘Long Eighth Century’ CE

This project will take the rebellion of Zayd b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (b. 75/694-5 in Medina) as a starting point to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of pro-ʿAlid rebellions in the early Islamic period. Zayd’s rebellion, which took place in 122/740 in Kūfa, was the first uprising in the name of the ʿAlid family after the Battle of Karbalāʾ (61/680) and can be seen as the beginning of a long series of rebellions in the name of ʿAlid descendants against the Umayyad and ʿAbbasid Caliphate.

The supporters and sons of Zayd b. ʿAlī, referred to as Zaydiyya, played a pivotal role in the political and military landscape of the early Islamic period and seem to have provided core support for most (if not all) ʿAlid rebellions that followed, well into the 9th century CE. Led by ʿĪsā b. Zayd after the failure of Zayd’s revolt, we find them among the followers ofthe sons of ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ḥasan, Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and Ibrahīm, who rebelled in 145-6/762-3.  They also joined the rebellion of ʿAbdallāh b. Muʿāwiya (d. c.131/748-9), which began in Kūfa in 127/744. Similarly, descendants of Zayd b. ʿAlī were themselves leaders of rebellions against the ʿAbbāsids. Among them were Yaḥya b. Zayd, who rebelled in 125/743 in Khurāsān, as well as Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Zayd, who became the ʿAlid figurehead of the rebellion advanced by Abū al-Sarāyā (d. 200/815) after the death of the previous leader Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Ṭabāṭabā in 199/815. Most of these ‘Zaydī’ rebellions had a highly diverse following, as we can observe with regard to Ibn Muʿāwiya or Yaḥyā b. Zayd, for instance. Similarly, the rebellion of Abū al-Sarāyā, an adventurer or opportunist who had previously fought for al-Maʾmūn in the fourth fitna and who, without prior connection to the ʿAlid cause, then affiliated himself with Zayd b. ʿAlī’s grandson Muḥammad, was supported by people of diverse backgrounds.

This project seeks to uncouple the rebellions of Zayd b. ʿAlī and his ‘successors’ from the later development and understanding of Zaydī Shīʿism and to contextualize it within the socio-economic situation at the time, especially in ʿIrāq and the Ḥijāz. The main questions are:

• What were the political, social, economic, and possibly personal motivations of Zayd to rebel?
• Who were his supporters and why did they support his claim? Can we discern different groups of supporters based on their backgrounds and/or their motivations?
• What did they do after Zayd’s death, and can we reconstruct more differentiated reasons for their activities? How did the participants connect the rebellions of Zayd b. ʿAlī and later pro-ʿAlids?
• How do these activities fit within the broader context of the ‘long 8th century’, and what can be deduced from their study for a more nuanced understanding of the legitimation of power and rebellions in general?

This sub-project is conducted by Natalie Kontny-Wendt.