Origins The Rustamids were of
Persian origin and descended from a
mawla of
Rashidun caliph
Uthman ibn Affan, who may have been related to a Persian general killed at the
Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. They claimed descent from the
Kings of Kings of the
Sasanian Empire.
Background The
Ibadi movement reached North Africa by 719, when the missionary
Salama ibn Sa'd was sent from the Ibadi ''jama'a'' of
Basra to
Kairouan. By 740, their efforts had converted the major
Berber tribes of
Huwara around
Tripoli, in the
Nafusa Mountains and at
Zenata in western
Tripolitania. In 757 (140 AH), a group of four Basra-educated missionaries including
Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam proclaimed an Ibadi imamate in Tripolitania, starting an abortive state led by Abu al-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. During that period, Abd al-Rahman served as governor of Qayrawan from 758 to 761.
Ifriqiya was
conquered by the Abbasids from Kharijite control and Abu al-Khattab ibn as-Samh was killed. On his death, the Tripolitanian Ibādiyya elected Abu al-Hatim al-Malzuzi as Imam; he was killed in 772 after launching a second unsuccessful revolt in 768.
Rise In 777,
Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam, an Ifriqiyan-born convert to the Ibadi movement of
Persian origin and one of the four founders of the
imamate, was elected Imam; after this, the post remained in his family, a practice which the Ibadiyya 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. Initially, ibn Rustam received financial assistance from the Kharijites of Basra. By the turn of the ninth century, the Rustamids controlled much of the central Maghreb and its territory streched until
Tlemcen in the west. However, its area contracted to Tahert and the area surrounding it by the 880s. Despite this, the spiritual authority of the Rustamid imams extended beyond its territory, as Kharijite tribes recognized their authority in the
Aurès and
Zab—areas nominally under Aghlabid rule—as well as
Jabal Nafusa. In 812, Imam
Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman supported the
Huwara in their
siege of Tripoli, which was held by the Aghlabids. They reached a
modus vivendi; this displeased Ibādī tribes on the Aghlabid border, who launched a few rebellions. Aghlabid Emir
Abdallah ibn Ibrahim made peace with the Rustamids by ceding
Tripolitania. Eventually, the Rustamids' authority was recognized by the Ibadis of southern Tunisia,
Djerba,
Wargla, and the
Sufrites of
Sijilmasa. The Rustamids established positive relations with the
Midrarid dynasty of
Sijilmasa and the
Umayyads of Cordoba, but were
attacked by the
Idrisid dynasty of
Fez in 789 or 790. During Abu al-Yazqan's reign, the Rustamids recognized the suzerainty of the Umayyads.
Decline In 873, a
succession crisis occurred as the third imam
Abu Bakr, fearing the loss of his title to his older brother Mohammed Abu al-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 al-Yaqzan assumed the title. After Abd al-Wahhab, the Rustamids grew militarily weak; they were easily
conquered by the Ismaili Fatimids in 909, upon which many Ibadis – including the last imam – fled to the Sedrata tribe of
Ouargla, whence they would ultimately emigrate to
Mzab. Among the reasons behind the fall of the Rustamid state was their non-compliance with the Kharijite requirement that the imam must be elected by consultation. The Rustamids' decision to rule as a hereditary dynasty lost them popular support from the populace, who viewed their rule as tyrannical akin to that of the
Abbasid Caliphate. == Society and culture ==