Qarmatians emergence and spread

Abstract

The Qarmatians were a Shia Ismaili sect that emerged in 899 as a result of the schism that followed the religious reforms of Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty. They became known as the Qarmatians. The Ismaili preacher, Abu Sa'id al-Janabi, succeeded in establishing an independent state in the eastern Arabian Peninsula. After Abu Sa'id's death, his successor, Sallah, assumed power. This movement lasted for nearly a century. It began in southern Persia and spread to Kufa, extending to al-Ahsa, Bahrain, Basra, and al-Yamamah. They controlled a wide swath of southern Arabia, Yemen, the central desert, Oman, and Khurasan. They entered Mecca and plundered it, occupied Damascus, reached Homs and al-Layyah, and reached Egypt. Their sultanate was overthrown, and their state collapsed. Their last strongholds in al-Ahsa and Bahrain fell