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People: Raginpert
Topic: Alid Revolt
Location: Oderzo Veneto Italy

Alid Revolt

Years: 762 - 763

The Alid Revolt of 762–763 or Revolt of Muhammad the Pure Soul is an uprising by the Hasanid branch of the Alids against the newly established Abbasid Caliphate.

The Hasanids, led by the brothers Muhammad (called "the Pure Soul") and Ibrahim, reject the legitimacy of the Abbasid family's claim to power.

Reacting to mounting persecution by the Abbasid regime, in 762 they launch a rebellion, with Muhammad raising in revolt Medina in September and Ibrahim following in Basra in November.

The lack of coordination and organization, as well as the lukewarm support of their followers, allows the Abbasids under Caliph al-Mansur to react swiftly.

The Caliph contains Muhammad's rebellion in the Hejaz and crushes it only two weeks after Ibrahim's uprising, before turning his forces against the latter.

Ibrahim's rebellion achieves some initial successes in southern Iraq, but his camp is riven by dissent among rival Shi'a groups as to the prosecution of the war and future political objectives.

In the end, Ibrahim's army is decisively defeated at Bakhamra in January 763, with Ibrahim dying of his wounds shortly after.

The failure of the rebellion does not mark the end of Alid unrest, but it consolidates the power of the Abbasid dynasty.

"Biology is more like history than it is like physics. You have to know the past to understand the present. And you have to know it in exquisite detail."

― Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)