Kharijite Rebellion (866–896)

Eastern al-Jazira and northern Iraq in the late ninth century

Date	866–896 AD
Location	Al-Jazira and Iraq
Result	Abbasid victory

Belligerents

Abbasid Caliphate

Kharijite rebels

Commanders and leaders

Yarjukh
Musa ibn Bugha
Muflih
Masrur al-Balkhi
Al-Mu'tadid
Al-Husayn ibn Hamdan

Musawir ibn 'Abd al-Hamid al-Shari
Harun ibn 'Abdallah al-Bajali (POW)
Hamdan ibn Hamdun (POW)

The Kharijite Rebellion was a major Kharijite uprising against the Abbasid Caliphate between 866 and 896. Centered in the districts of Mosul and Diyar Rabi'a in the province of al-Jazira (upper Mesopotamia), the rebellion lasted for approximately thirty years, despite numerous attempts by both the central government and provincial authorities to quell it. It was finally defeated in 896 after the caliph al-Mu'tadid (r. 892–902) undertook several campaigns to restore caliphal authority in the region.

The uprising was initially led by a local Kharijite named Musawir ibn 'Abd al-Hamid al-Shari. Following Musawir's death in 877, he was eventually succeeded by Harun ibn 'Abdallah al-Bajali, who remained in command until the end of the rebellion.

The Kharijite movement was a prominent religious sect in early Islamic history, known for its members' fanaticism and staunch opposition to the Muslim ruling establishment. The Kharijites' views on the nature of the caliphate caused them to reject the legitimacy of the rule of the Alids, Umayyads and Abbasids alike, and over the course of the seventh through ninth centuries they were responsible for numerous rebellions against the established government. Few of these attempts proved to be successful, but the Kharijites' continual presence in many Muslim-held regions meant that they were a near-constant source of trouble for the caliphs' governors.

In the caliphal province of al-Jazira, Sufri Kharijism had enjoyed a strong following since the late seventh century, particularly among the Arabs of the Rabi'a tribe. Between 750 and 865 more than a dozen Kharijite revolts were launched in this region, although most of them were easily put down by the Abbasid government. The most recent uprising had occurred in 862, approximately four years before Musawir's revolt.

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