Ibn al-Ashʿath, in full ʿAbd
ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath (died704), Umayyad general who became celebrated as leader
of a revolt (ad 699–701) against the governor of Iraq,
al-Ḥajjāj.
A member of the noble
tribe of Kindah of the old aristocracy, Ibn al-Ashʿath was at first friendly
toward the Umayyad authorities but then began to smart under the governance of
the plebeian administrators. Styling himself Nāṣir al-muʾminīm (Helper of the
Believers) in opposition to the Umayyad and other “bad” Muslims, he slowly
became so estranged from al-Ḥajjāj that a clash of wills led to open revolt.
In 699 al-Ḥajjāj dispatched a crack force of Kūfans and Basrans,
known as thePeacock Army, to put down a rebellion in
Kābulistān (in present Afghanistan). After an initial invasion of Kābulistān,
Ibn al-Ashʿath, the commanding general, decided to wait until spring before
continuing his campaign. Al-Ḥajjāj pressed for immediate action, and the
dispute led to a revolt by Ibn al-Ashʿath and his troops.
Ibn al-Ashʿath moved
slowly westward into Iraq, gathering support from both Arabs and non-Arabs
along the way and engaging in two battles, one a victory and one a mild
setback, forcing him to withdraw from Basra to Kūfah.
Al-Ḥajjāj, having received in the meantime a steady stream of
Syrian reinforcements from the caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, confronted Ibn
al-Ashʿath’s superior army of 200,000 at Dayr al-Jamājim, outside Kūfah. Negotiations were initiated
by the caliph’s agents, who offered the rebels the dismissal of al-Ḥajjāj,
equal pay with their Syrian counterparts, and a governorship for Ibn
al-Ashʿath. The Iraqis, however, rejected the proposals and were defeated in
battle in September 701. The last of the rebellion was finally put down in
October, when al-Ḥajjāj destroyed the Iraqi army in a violent battle atMaskin, on the Shaṭṭ ad-Dujaylah. The defeated Iraqis fled
to Sijistān, eventually surrendering to the Syrians, while Ibn al-Ashʿath took
refuge in Kābul; he either was murdered or committed suicide in 704.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar