Thread by @cbkwgl

I was supposed to look into Google BERT and here I am, reading about Arab Caliphates (in an attempt to close my reading on Shahis). And know what? The whole narrative of Arab Enterprise till the rise of Abbasids can be defined through just two words - plunder and al Hind Miskeen!

So, what's the story all about? It all started with Uthman becoming the Caliph of Islam. When Persian and Syria were conquered, those rich lands became the property of invading armies and were loosely managed by the state.

By the time Uthman came to power, the Arab expansion came to a screeching halt. And the supply through plunder of new lands came to a near stop. With this, Medina had to demand money from the already conquered provinces - Uthman appointed his relatives to senior posts and

declared that the conquered lands will henceforth be treated as State lands. Sidelining of the Old Guard in favour of new one, and more demands from their money led to an open rebellion and assassination of Uthman in 656.

But, that's when, ironically, money started flowing into the coffers again!! A major problem with surrendering provincial wealth to the centre is the detriment in controlling the local population and funding new expeditions.

Ali succeeded Uthman but the claim was contested by Aisha, the widow of Prophet Muhammad under the demand that the Caliph be appointed by a council and Uthman’s murderers be punished. Ali refused to step down and Uthman’s murderers were left scot-free.

This erupted into an open rebellion. The first scene of action was at Basra which was seized from Ali’s governor. In the battle outside Basra in 656, Ali emerged victorious killing all the leaders of the army on the field except Aisha who was sent under escort back to Medina.

Emboldened, Ali marched on Muawiyah I, one of the prominent Arab leaders who refused to submit to Ali. In the fields of Siffin which saw the first serious clash between competing Arab clans, this major battle led to the death of almost 60000 men before a truce was called.

It was decided that a new Caliph will be elected and that both Ali and Muawaiyah will not be eligible for the post. Ali resisted and held on to his position. Muawaiyah started attacking his governors and seizing provinces including Yemen and Egypt.

Ali’s assassination in 661 by a Kharijite and Muawaiyah compelling Ali’s grandson Husyn to accept him as the Caliph ended the troubles. And with the end of troubles, a new wave of conquests started – with Byzantine Empire, Afghanistan and North Africa becoming the new theatre.

Again, contest for the top ripped open the Empire. Muawaiyah knew this and appointed his son Yazid as his successor. This was opposed by Husyn, Ali's grandson and other prominent Arab leaders in the Shura which appointed Yazid. Bribery and threats of violence silenced them.

But, when Yazid became Caliph and demanded allegiance from them, they refused. This led to another open rebellion – Husyn was killed in the same year and a counter Caliphate was set up at Mecca by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, a grandson of Abu Bakr when Yazid died suddenly in 683. T

This coincided with a disastrous defeat in Afghanistan were the Governor of Sistan, Yazid ibn Zayid was killed trying to save the previous army sent under his brother to tame the Zunbils further increasing the tribalism. Clearly, access to money is what united the Arab Empire!!

Marwan, a close associate of Uthman and an Umayyad Governor staked the Umayyad claim after Yazid's son died early and without succession. By 692, the rebellion was crushed by Marwan’s son Abd al-Malik and he became the supreme ruler of the Arabs.

This and the subsequent rebellion of al-Ash'ath led to tectonic changes in the way the Arab Empire was ruled – personal connections with individual warlords was replaced by a centralized bureaucracy and salaried army,

Arabic was imposed and use of local languages for official communication was banned and a centralized and Islamized currency is imposed on the Empire.

But, peace is still elusive – this time, it was the same Zunbils in Afghanistan who caused a civil war. In 698, another Governor of Sistan, Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Bakra was severely defeated by the Zunbil. Ubayd Allah died of the shock of defeat.

His overlord Al-Hajjaj sent another army under ibn al-Ash'ath, a prominent Arab noble and his brother-in-law. He merged the troops of Sistan and Khorasan into his army and marched in a guarded fashion unlike the previous commanders who tried to dash at Ghazni only to get trapped,

garrisoning the villages captured and established a line of communication back till Bost which he made his base. Overtures of peace by the Zunbil are rejected. But, when al-Ash’ath was chided by Al-Hajjaj for slow progress and understood this is not an invasion force

to crush an enemy but an army sent to settle in that hostile territory, the army rebelled. After concluding peace with the Zunbil and marched back. By the time the army reached Fars, it has become a full blown rebellion aimed at deposing Abd Al-Malik himself and

not just Al-Hajjaj with troops pouring in from as far as Kufa and Basra. Al-Hajjaj became the enemy of god and the rebellion was to defend Quran and Islam. al-Ash’ath swept across Persia defeating al-Hajjaj at Tustar and al-Hajjaj fled to Basra. Basra fell to the rebels in 701.

After a defeat at Basra, al-Ash'ath withdrew to Kufa. After hardliners in al-Ash'ath's camp refused peace overtures from the Caliph which included dismissal of al-Hajjaj and reinforcements started pouring in from Syria, the rebels were crushed and al-Ash’ath fled east.

This is what I meant when I said al-Hind Miskeen, the derisive name Arabs use for Pakistanis - Syrians are the grade one citizens and everyone were second grade. This rebellion highlighted that - the rights of non-Syrians(in this case, Iraqis) on par with Syrians.

After repeated defeats, al-Ash'ath retreated into Zabul where he died. There are two common trends one would see with Umayyad rebellions - that they want them to be treated on par with the Syrians and on that they are more Muslim than the Umayyads.

Clearly, in the fight between organization and idealism, Umayyad-era rebellions proved that organization always wins. al-Ash'ath was destined to be a major power broker after his rebellion. But, what happened? He died a loner, far from his family and friends.

When this major a rebellion was crushed, it is alleged that al-Hajjaj modified Quran itself to further the views of the Umayyad Caliphate. On the other hand, this newly acquired power of al-Hajjaj unleashed a wave of attacks on the eastern frontiers

Sind finally fell in his last days, gains were made in Transoxania and north Afghanistan but Zabul frontier ended up in a quagmire which drained the Empire of it's life force.

Even after al-Ash'ath's retreat, the rebellions didn’t stop. It was all about non-Syrians rebelling for equal rights. 720, a rebellion was crushed. 740, another one under the great-grandson of Caliph Ali was crushed.

On the other hand, the wars on the border for plunder to keep the internal rift lines from surfacing kept on going. But, the massive defeats at Ardabil and Constantinople and the pyrrhic victory at Samarqand

along with continuous bleeding in Afghanistan and Rajasthan/Gujarat drained the life force of the Empire. Coupled with an incompetent on the throne leading to a rebellion against the Caliph in 744, the die was cast.

By 747, the Empire was in a full blown rebellion and the last Caliph Marwan was executed in 750 by the victorious Abbasids. He met a gruesome end and his tongue was fed to a cat. The rise of Abbasids who represented non-Syrian interests as new owners of the Empire

ultimately started the fragmentation of This Islamic Empire into individual units and the end of Arabs as masters of Islam.

This is how history is entwined. An event happening in Kabul can lead to something drastic in Spain and something which happened in Constantinople will repercussions in China. Looking at things in isolation is completely foolish.

Now think about it. Had there been a Pulakesi or Yagbu in place of the local Zunbil or had such a person stood behind al-Ash'ath, what would have happened to the Arab Empire and Islam? Even without a strong one standing behind him, al-Ash'ath reached Kufa.

If someone is seriously interested in using that window and marched with Narsieh in the lead, will these Umayyads and their religion survive?