9. The Medieval Mystic Who Sparked a Liberation War
The spark for the Zanj Revolt was provided in 869 by an obscure Arab or Persian mystic poet named Ali ibn Muhammad, who asserted that God had instructed him to lead an uprising for liberation. Preaching freedom and equality regardless of race or class, he began recruiting Zanj slaves.
They flocked to his side in such large numbers that he became known as Sahib al Zanj – Arabic for “Chief of the Zanj”. Ali’s egalitarian preaching appealed to other downtrodden people, who also rallied to him. Fighting began in September of 869, and the uprising was characterized as one of the bloodiest and most destructive rebellions the Middle East has ever known.