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{{Short description|Ibadi ruling house in Algeria (777–909)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = الرستميون
| conventional_long_name = Rustamid Imamate
| common_name            = Rustamid
| status                 = 
| image_coat             = 
| symbol_type            = 
| year_start             = 777<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-FAYAAAAIAAJ&q=rustamid A Chronology of Islamic History, 570-1000 CE] - 
Habib Ur Rahman
G.K. Hall, 1989</ref>
| year_end               = 909
| image_flag             = 
| image_map              = Rustamid territory 9th century.png
| image_map_caption      = Approximate extent of Rustamid control in the 9th century
| p1                     = Berber revolt
| p2                     = Emirate of Tlemcen
| s1                     = Fatimid Caliphate
| flag_p1                = 
| flag_s2                = 
| official_languages     = [[Arabic]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brill |first=E. J. |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=fWNpIGNFz0IC&pg=PA833 |title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936. Morocco - Ruzzīk |date=1993 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09792-6 |pages=833 |language=en |quote=This shows that the Rustamid princes of Tāhert spoke Arabic, as was to be expected from their Oriental origin, and needed interpreters in their dealings with the Berber-speaking peoples.}}</ref>
| religion               = [[Ibadi Islam]]
| common_languages       = [[Arabic]], [[Berber languages|Berber]], [[Persian language|Persian]]
| capital                = [[Tahert]]
| government_type        = [[Theocracy|Theocratic]] [[Imamate]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=zP5Zk8ixR3QC&dq=rustamid+ibadi&pg=PA184 The Transmission of Learning in Islamic Africa - Scott Steven Reese]</ref>
| title_leader           = Imam
| leader1                = [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam]]
| year_leader1           = 777–788
| leader2                = Yaqzan ibn Muhammad
| year_leader2           = 906–909
| event_end              = [[Capture of Tahert (909)|Capture of Tahert]]
| stat_area1             = 
| currency               = 
| today                  = [[Algeria]]<br>[[Tunisia]]<br>[[Libya]]
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
}}

The '''Rustamid dynasty''' ({{Langx|ar|الرستميون}}) was an [[Ibadi]] dynasty of [[Persians|Persian]] origin<ref>{{cite book|editor-first= C.E. |editor-last=Bosworth|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|date=1995|publisher=Brill [u.a.]|location=Leiden [u.a.]|isbn=9004098348|page=638|edition=New}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bERRVqL96JoC&pg=PA73 Islamic History - Laura Etheredge - p73]</ref> which ruled a state that was centered in present-day [[Algeria]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514123/Rustamid-kingdom Britannica Encyclopedia], Retrieved on 18 December 2008.</ref><ref>"The Places where Men Pray Together", pg. 210.</ref><ref>Based on Britannica 2008: The state was governed by imams descended from ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Rustam, the austere Persian who founded the state in the 8th century.</ref> The dynasty governed as a Muslim [[theocracy]] for a century and a half from its capital Tahert (present day [[Tagdemt]])<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Abun-Nasr |first=Jamil M. |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofmaghrib0000abun |title=A History of the Maghrib |date=1971 |publisher=Cambridge [Eng.] University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-521-07981-5 |pages=20, 45, 75}}</ref> until the [[Ismailism|Ismaili]] [[Fatimid Caliphate]] defeated it. Rustamid authority extended over what is now central and western Algeria, parts of southern [[Tunisia]], and the [[Nafusa Mountains|Jebel Nafusa]] and [[Fezzan]] regions in [[Libya]] as far as [[Zawila]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bosworth|first=Clifford Edmund|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKpz_2CkoWEC&q=new+islamic+dynasties|title=The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2004|isbn=9780748696482|chapter=The Rustamids|quote=Here, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān in 144/ 761 founded a Khārijī principality based on the newly-founded town of Tahert (Tāhart) (near modern Tiaret), and some fifteen years later he was offered the imamate of all the Ibāḍiyya of North Africa. This nucleus in Tahert was linked with Ibāḍī communities in the Aurès, southern Tunisia and the Jabal Nafūsa, and groups as far south as the Fezzān oasis acknowledged the spiritual headship of the Ibāḍī Imāms.|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Glaire D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Sk_DwAAQBAJ&dq=rustamid+area&pg=PA462|title=The Aghlabids and their Neighbors: Art and Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa|last2=Fenwick|first2=Corisande|last3=Rosser-Owen|first3=Mariam|publisher=Brill|year=2017|isbn=978-90-04-35604-7|pages=3|language=en|quote=The Kharijite Rustamid state based at Tahert (western Algeria) was also established by a Persian missionary, ʿAbd al-Rahman b. Rustam of the Ibadi tradition. Their area of influence stretched to Jerba, Jabal Nafusa, and the Fazzan.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Syed|first1=Muzaffar Husain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&dq=rustamid+%22libya%22&pg=PA143|title=Concise History of Islam|last2=Akhtar|first2=Syed Saud|last3=Usmani|first3=B. D.|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|year=2011|isbn=978-93-82573-47-0|pages=143|language=en|quote=The Rustamid (Rustumid, Rostemid) dynasty of Ibadi Kharijite Imam that ruled the central Maghrib as a Muslim theocracy for a century and a half from their capital Tahert in present Algeria until the Ismailite Fatimid Caliphate destroyed it. (...) The exact extent of its dominions is not entirely clear, but it stretched as far east as Jabal Nafusa in Libya.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Brett|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHMM3ESAahMC&pg=PA154|title=Approaching African History|date=2013|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=978-1-84701-063-6|pages=154|language=en|quote=After the great Kharijite rebellion this encampment developed into the oasis city of Zawila, at the south-eastern extremity of the Kharijite realm of the Rustamids of Tahart.}}</ref>

==History==

=== Origins ===
The Rustamids were of [[Persians|Persian]] origin and descended from a [[mawla]] of [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] caliph [[Uthman|Uthman ibn Affan]], who may have been related to a Persian general killed at the [[Battle of al-Qadisiyyah]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=UNESCO |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=qVYT4Kraym0C&pg=PA391 |title=The different aspects of islamic culture: The Spread of Islam throughout the World |date=2011-12-31 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |isbn=978-92-3-104153-2 |pages=391-395 |language=en}}</ref> They claimed descent from the [[King of Kings|Kings of Kings]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Michael A. |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=MF1OEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA199 |title=A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity |date=2025-10-28 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-23659-9 |pages=199 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aillet |first=Cyrille |date=2021-01-02 |title=Identifying the Rustamid Imamate. State Building and Urban Foundation through the Case of Tāhart |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09503110.2020.1850135 |journal=Al-Masāq |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=30–46 |doi=10.1080/09503110.2020.1850135 |issn=0950-3110}}</ref>

=== Background ===
The [[Ibadism|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]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Melton |first=J. Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bI9_AwAAQBAJ&dq=ibadi+719+salma&pg=PA545 |title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History: 5,000 Years of Religious History |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-61069-026-3 |volume=2 |pages=545 |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=37}} By 740, their efforts had converted the major [[Berber people|Berber]] tribes of [[Houara|Huwara]] around [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], in the [[Nafusa Mountains]] and at [[Zenata]] in western [[Tripolitania]].{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=38}} In 757 (140&nbsp;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.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=75}} [[Ifriqiya]] was [[Abbasid conquest of Ifriqiya|conquered by the Abbasids]] from Kharijite control and Abu al-Khattab ibn as-Samh was killed.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|pp=41, 43}} 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.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=43}}

=== Rise ===
In 777, [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam]], an Ifriqiyan-born convert to the Ibadi movement of [[Persians|Persian]] origin<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418538/North-Africa/46485/The-Rustamid-state-of-Tahart#ref487567 Britannica Encyclopedia], Retrieved on 18 December 2008.</ref> 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.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|pp=43–45}} Initially, ibn Rustam received financial assistance from the Kharijites of Basra.<ref name=":2" />

The new imamate was centered on the newly built capital of Tahert (or Tahart), near present-day [[Tiaret]].{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=45}}{{Sfn|Talbi|1995}} Several Ibadi tribes displaced from [[Tunisia]] and [[Tripolitania]] settled there and strong fortifications were built.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=45}} [[Al-Bakri]] mentions that after the establishment of Tahert, tribes within the area congregated around the vicinity of Tahert as the town was conceived of as a military base of the Imam and leader of the Ibadi tribes. The town was surrounded by a strong wall, it had a fortress, a commercial center, regular supply of water, gardens of fruit and vegetables and it was foremost a religious and economic center of the region. It eventually became a center along the caravan trade route to the Near East, this economic prosperity resulted in the later settlement of non-Ibadite Muslims and Christians.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronique D'Ibn Saghir Sur Les Imams Rostemides de Tahert. Par A. de C. Motylinski, Etc. Arabic & Fr|year=1908|publisher=Ibn saghir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAcmMwEACAAJ|pages=19}}</ref>

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 [[Biskra Province|Zab]]—areas nominally under Aghlabid rule—as well as [[Nafusa Mountains|Jabal Nafusa]].{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=75}}

In 812, Imam [[Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman]] supported the [[Huwara]] in their [[Siege of Tripoli (812)|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]], [[Ouargla|Wargla]], and the [[Sufri|Sufrites]] of [[Sijilmasa]].{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=75}}

The Rustamids established positive relations with the [[Midrarid dynasty]] of [[Sijilmasa]] and the [[Umayyad state of Córdoba|Umayyads of Cordoba]], but were attacked by the [[Idrisid dynasty]] of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] in 789.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Love (Jr.) |first=Paul M. |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=9nlnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |title=Ibadi Muslims of North Africa: Manuscripts, Mobilization, and the Making of a Written Tradition |date=2018-09-27 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-47250-0 |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref> During Abu al-Yazqan's reign, the Rustamids recognized the suzerainty of the Umayyads.{{Sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=76}}

=== Decline ===
In 873, a [[Rustamid succession crisis|succession crisis]] occurred as the third imam [[Abu Bakr ibn Aflah|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mattson |first1=Ingrid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_2mBgAAQBAJ&dq=Abu+Bakr+ibn+Aflah&pg=PA113 |title=Religion and Representation: Islam and Democracy |last2=Nesbitt-Larking |first2=Paul |last3=Tahir |first3=Nawaz |date=2015-02-05 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-7514-1 |language=en}}</ref>

After Abd al-Wahhab, the Rustamids grew militarily weak; they were easily [[Capture of Tahert (909)|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 [[M'zab|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]].<ref name=":2" />

== Society and culture ==
The Rustamid dynasty, "developed a cosmopolitan reputation in which Christians, non-Kharijite Muslims, and adherents of different sects of [[Kharijites]] lived".<ref>John P. Entelis, ''Algeria: The Revolution Institutionalized'', page 14</ref> 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).<ref name=":1" />

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.<ref name=":1">Ahmad Choirul Rofiq, "Moderation and Civilization: A Historical Analysis on the Moderate Policy of the Rustamid Dynasty" in {{doi|10.24269/ars.v6i2.1031}}</ref>

The Rustamid dynasty's origin accounted for the large presence of Persians in Tahert in the 9th century.<ref name=":0" />

==Rustamid imams==
{{History of Algeria}}
*[[Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam]] ''(Bānū-Bādūsyān)'' (776–788)
*[[Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Rahman]] (788–824)
* [[Aflah Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab|Aflah ibn ʿAbdi l-Wahhab]] (824–872)
* Abu Bakr ibn Aflah (872–874)
* Muhammad Abu al-Yaqzan ibn Aflah (874–894)
* [[Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad]] (894–895)
* Ya'qub ibn Aflah (895–899)
* [[Yusuf Abu Hatim ibn Muhammad]], again (899–906)
* Yaqzan ibn Muhammad Abi l-Yaqzan (906–909)

== See also ==
*[[Banu Masala]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Abun-Nasr |first=Jamil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jdlKbZ46YYkC |title=A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1987 |isbn=0521337674 |location=Cambridge |pages=}}
* {{Cite journal |title=The Parthian Origins of the House of Rustam |journal=[[Bulletin of the Asia Institute]] |url=https://archive.org/details/shahbazi-1993-parthian-rustam |last=Shahbazi |first=A. Shapur |volume=7, Iranian Studies in Honor of A. D. H. Bivar |pages=155–163 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |year=1993 |series=New Series |language=en |jstor=4048438 |author-link=A. Shapur Shahbazi}}
* {{EI2|last=Talbi|first=M.|title=Rustamids|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/rustamids-SIM_6348?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-2&s.q=rustamids|volume=8}}
* 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}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081118035320/http://www1.bartleby.com/67/292.html The Encyclopedia of World History]
* [http://www.euratlas.net/AHP/histoire_europe/carte_europe_0800.html Card of Rustamid or Tahert Kingdom].
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514123/Rustamid-kingdom Rustamid Dynasty Encyclopedy Britanica].
* {{cite web |url=http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=865&lang=en |title=Qantara - The Rustamids (761-909) |publisher=Qantara-med.org |access-date=2013-04-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921202516/http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=865&lang=en |archive-date=2013-09-21 }}

{{Rustamid Imamate topics}}
{{Muslim dynasties in Maghreb region}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rustamid dynasty| ]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Algeria]]
[[Category:Former countries in Africa]]
[[Category:Algerian people of Iranian descent]]
[[Category:Iranian Muslim dynasties]]
[[Category:Lists of office-holders]]
[[Category:777 establishments]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 770s]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 900s]]
[[Category:909 disestablishments]]
[[Category:8th-century establishments in Africa]]
[[Category:10th-century disestablishments in Africa]]
[[Category:Kharijites]]
[[Category:Former kingdoms]]
[[Category:Former theocracies]]