Khārijite Rebellions

This project studies Khārijite revolts from the late 7th to the early 9th century CE, with a particular view towards re-assessing its current scholarly understanding as an expression of violent and heretical zealotry. Historical Khārijism has so far remained understudied and is thus poorly understood, not least because approaches that prioritise religious sentiment as an explanatory factor and paradigm have hitherto dominated the study of Khārijite history. The project seeks to remedy this situation and provide a fresh perspective by studying the socio-economic and socio-political contexts of Khārijite revolts and situating them fully in their historical settings. This will be achieved through a range of interconnected steps, beginning with the compilation of the first-ever full survey of rebellions labelled ‘Khārijite’ for the period under study, based on both Muslim and non-Muslim written sources as well as material culture (e.g., coins). This is followed by the collection of prosopographical and biographical data on rebel leaders and their supporters, and finally by the in-depth investigation of selected case studies. Particular attention will be paid to early ‘Abbāsid-era Khārijism, which tends to receive a lot less interest than the Khārijite revolts of the Umayyad period.

The analysis will focus on issues such as regional variations in the scale and frequency of Khārijite revolts as well as the tribal and ethnic composition of particular rebellions. A particularly interesting case, for instance, is the revolt of Qaṭarī b. al-Fujā’a of the Azāriqa faction in late 7th-century CE Iran, who attracted a large non-Muslim following and thus may also serve as comparative material for the sub-project on non-Muslim/mixed rebellions. In terms of tribal distribution, clear patterns emerge for the Marwānid period that show a much higher participation of northern Arab, and especially Bakrī, (sub-)tribes in Khārijite rebellions; regarding regional variation, the project endeavours to understand why Khārijism – ubiquitous in almost every other region – does not seem to have been a factor at all in Syria and Egypt. The prosopographical component of this project will be of particular relevance for the re-evaluation of the emergence, distribution and composition of Khārijite rebellions, which will improve our understanding of specific regional impact factors as well.

As a corollary, the analysis will also provide insight into some of the ever-important questions of terminology and labelling: can we observe broader patterns in so-called Khārijite rebellions, are there aspects of continuity to the various revolts classified as ‘Khārijite’ beyond the labelling of the sources? If so, what are they, and are they specific to Khārijite uprisings? How can we explain Khārijite collaboration with other rebels, such as during the tumultuous years of the mid-8th century CE, considering their reputation for extreme exclusivity? What does the term ‘Khārijite’ mean, then, outside a strictly sectarian (or rather, heresiographical) context? Why do the sources deem certain revolts ‘Khārijite’ but not others, although these may exhibit similar characteristics? And considering that almost no Khārijite source material has survived, (how) can we even attempt to reconcile inside and outside perspectives? These and other questions will be addressed over the course of the research group and the results published in a monographic study.

This sub-project is conducted by Dr. Hannah-Lena Hagemann.