Contents

Rustamid dynasty

Persian ruling house in Algeria

Rustamid Kingdom
777[1]–909
Approximate extent of Rustamid control in the 9th century
Capital	Tahert
Common languages	Berber, Arabic, Persian
Religion	Ibadi Islam
Government	Imamate[2]
Imam
• 777–788	ʿAbdu r-Rahman ibn Bahram ibn Rūstam
• 906–909	Yaqzan ibn Muhammad Abil-Yaqzan
History
• Established	777[1]
• Disestablished	909
Preceded by Succeeded by Abbasid Caliphate Emirate of Tlemcen Fatimid Caliphate
Today part of	Algeria Tunisia Libya

The Rustamid dynasty (Arabic: الرستميون) (orRustumids, Rostemids) was an Ibadi Persian dynasty^[3][4] centered in present-day Algeria.^[5][6][7] The dynasty governed as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from its capital Tahert (present day Tagdemt^[8]) until the Ismaili Fatimid Caliphate defeated it. Rustamid authority extended over what is now central and western Algeria, parts of southern Tunisia, and the Jebel Nafusa and Fezzan regions in Libya as far as Zawila.^{[9][10][11][12]}

History[edit]

The Ibāḍī movement reached North Africa by 719, when the missionary Salma ibn Sa'd was sent from the Ibādī jama'aofBasratoKairouan.^[13][14] By 740, their efforts had converted the major Berber tribes of Huwara around Tripoli, in the Nafusa Mountains and at Zenata in western Tripolitania.^[15] In 757 (140 AH), a group of four Basra-educated missionaries including ʻAbd ar-Rahmān ibn Rustam proclaimed an Ibāḍī imamate in Tripolitania, starting an abortive state led by Abu l-Khattab Abdul-A'la ibn as-Samh which lasted until the Abbasid Caliphate dispatched Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i to suppress it in 761. Ifriqiya was conquered by the Abbasids from Kharijite control and Abul-Khattab Abdul-A'la ibn as-Samh was killed.^[16] On his death, the Tripolitanian Ibādiyya elected Abu l-Hatim al-Malzuzi as Imām; he was killed in 772 after launching a second unsuccessful revolt in 768.^[17] After this, the center of power shifted to Algeria, and, in 777, ʻAbd ar-Rahmān ibn Rustam, an Ifriqiyan-born convert to the Ibāḍī movement of Persian origin^[18] and one of the four founders of the imamate, was elected Imām; after this, the post remained in his family, a practice which the Ibādiyya justified by noting that he came from no tribe, and thus his election as imam would not favour the domination of one Ibadi tribe over the others.^[19]

In 873, a succession crisis occurred as the Third Imam Abu Bakr, fearing the loss of his title to his older brother Mohammed Abu-l-Yaqzan, attempted to assassinate him. However, his plot failed, leading to the population uprising against Abu Bakr, resulting in his overthrow and death In 874. Consequently, Mohammed Abu-l-Yaqzan assumed the title.^[20]

The new imamate was centered on the newly built capital of Tahert (or Tahart), near present-day Tiaret.^[21][22] Several Ibādī tribes displaced from Tunisia and Tripolitania settled there and strong fortifications were built.^[21] It became a major stop on the newly developing trade routes with sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.^[23]

Ibn as-Saghir also describes the Imām as ascetic, repairing his own house and refusing gifts; the citizens sharply criticized him if they considered him derelict in his duty. Religious ethics were strictly enforced by law.^{[citation needed]}

The Rustamids fought the Kairouan-based Aghlabids of Ifriqiya in 812, but otherwise reached a modus vivendi; this displeased Ibādī tribes on the Aghlabid border, who launched a few rebellions.

After Abdu l-Wahhāb, the Rustamids grew militarily weak; they were easily conquered by the Ismaili Fatimids in 909, upon which many Ibāḍis – including the last Imām – fled to the Sedrata tribe of Ouargla, whence they would ultimately emigrate to Mzab.

Society and culture[edit]

The Rustamid dynasty, "developed a cosmopolitan reputation in which Christians, non-Kharijite Muslims, and adherents of different sects of Kharijism lived".^[24] On the intellectual field, the Rustamids had many scholars and learned men, such as Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman, Aflah ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, dan Abu al-Yaqzhan ibn Aflah, Mahdi an-Nafusi, ‘Abd Allah al-Lamthi, and Mahmud ibn Bakr. ‘Abd ar-Rahman had an exegesis of the Qur’an. ‘Abd al-Wahhab wrote his Masa'il Nafusah on Islamic jurisprudence. Aflah mastered Arabic literature, mathematics, and astronomy. Abu al-Yaqzhan wrote about 40 works. Because of their intellectual enthusiasm, the Rustamids vigorously transferred valuable works from the Mashriq to the Maghrib, especially to the library of al-Ma‘shumah (in Tahert) and that of Khizanah Nafusah (in Jabal Nafusah). Moreover, Tahert was famous as ‘Iraq al-Maghrib, al-‘Iraq ash-Shaghir, Balkh al-Maghrib, or Little Basra. Apart from these achievements, the Rustamids also had significant contribution to Islamization in the Maghrib and Bilad as-Sudan. For about two centuries (130-340 AH / 750-950 AD), the Kharijite people gained control of trade routes in the Maghrib and Bilad as-Sudan. Many Ibadite merchants made journeys along the vast area, such as Tahert, Wargla, Nafzawa, Jabal Nafusah, Tadmakkat, Gao, and Ghana. By this economic activity, the Ibadites took advantages of trading business and preaching Islam at the same time.^[25]

Rustamid Imams[edit]

Part of a series on the
History of Algeria
Prehistory Aterian Culture (80,000 BC) Iberomaurusian Culture (20,000 BC) Capsian culture (10,000 BC) Rock art in Oran, Djelfa, Tassili and Ahaggar Roknia Madghacen Jedars Related: Archeology of Algeria
Antiquity Phoenicia Ancient Carthage Numidia (202–46 BC) Punic Wars (264–146 BC) Jugurthine War (111–106 BC) Roman Mauretania and Africa (146 BC–590 AD) Vandal Kingdom (435–534 AD) Mauro-Roman Kingdom (477–578 AD) Kingdom of the Aurès (484–703 AD) Kingdom of Altava (578–708 AD) Prefecture of Africa (534–585 AD) Exarchate of Africa (585–698 AD) Early African Church Partenia Fossatum Africae Gemellae
Middle Ages Arab conquest (647–709 AD) Umayyad Caliphate (703–744 AD) Ifranids (742–1066 AD) Muhallabids (771–793 AD) Rustamids (776–909 AD) Idrisids (789–828 AD) Aghlabids (800–909 AD) Fatimids (909–1171 AD) Maghrawas (970–1068 AD) Zirids (973–1152 AD) Hammadids (1014–1152 AD) Almoravids (1040–1147 AD) Almohads (1121–1269 AD) Marinids (1215–1465 AD) Hafsids (1229–1574 AD) Ziyyanids (1235–1556 AD)
Modern times Regency of Algiers (16th–19th centuries) Ottoman governors Emirate of Beni Abbas Emirate of Kuku Barbary pirates Barbary Slave Trade First Barbary War Second Barbary War French Algeria (19th–20th centuries) French conquest French governors Resistance Pacification Emir Abdelkader Fatma N'Soumer Mokrani Revolt Cheikh Bouamama Attack on Mers-el-Kébir Operation Torch Sétif and Guelma massacre Algerian War (1954–1962) Nationalism RCUA FLN GPRA 1958 crisis 1961 putsch Évian Accords Independence referendum Pieds-noirs Harkis Oujda Group
Contemporary era 1960s–80s FFS rebellion 1965 coup d'état Berber Spring 1988 riots 1990s–2000s Algerian Civil War Timeline Massacres FIS GIA High Council of State Civil Concord Black Spring Peace Charter Insurgency in the Maghreb 2010s to present Arab Spring Hirak Movement COVID-19 pandemic
Related topics Outline of Algeria Military history of Algeria (List of wars involving Algeria) Postal history of Algeria (List of people on stamps of Algeria) History of North Africa
v t e

• Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam (Bānū-Bādūsyān) (776-788)
• Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman (788-824)
• Aflah ibn ʿAbdi l-Wahhab (824-872)
• Abu Bakr ibn Aflah (872-874)
• Muhammad Abu l-Yaqzan ibn Aflah (874-894)
• Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad Abi l-Yaqzan (894-895)
• Yaʿqub ibn Aflah (895-899)
• Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad Abi l-Yaqzan, again (899-906)
• Yaqzan ibn Muhammad Abi l-Yaqzan (906-909)

Family tree[edit]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Abun-Nasr, Jamil (1987). A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521337674.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (1993). "The Parthian Origins of the House of Rustam". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. New Series. 7, Iranian Studies in Honor of A. D. H. Bivar. Wayne State University Press: 155–163. JSTOR 4048438.
• Talbi, M. (1995). "Rustamids". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Lecomte, G. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VIII: Ned–Sam. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09834-3.
• Wheatley, Paul, "The Places where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh Through the Tenth Centuries", Published by University of Chicago Press, 2001, ISBN 0-226-89428-2.
• The Encyclopedia of World History
• Card of Rustamid or Tahert Kingdom.
• Rustamid Dynasty Encyclopedy Britanica.
• "Qantara - The Rustamids (761-909)". Qantara-med.org. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-04-19.