al-Mukhtar 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitL VII
Dates660 (taq) / 687 (c)
PmbZ No.5188
Variant NamesMouchtar;
Mwkt'r
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsKufa;
Mada'in;
Syria;
Kufa;
Persia;
Kufa (residence);
Persia (residence)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Tabari, al-, Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muluk, ed. M.-J. de Goeje et al., 15 vols. (Leiden 1879-1901); Eng tr. The History of al-Tabari, general editor E. Yar-Shater, 39 vols. (New York, 1985-) (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle)

Described as a liar and a self-styled prophet, al-Mukhtar 1 led a rebellion in Persia which is mentioned by Theophanes: Theoph. AM 6174 (Μουχτὰρ ὁ ψεύστης τυραννήσας ἐπικρατὴς γέγονε τῆς Περσίδος, ἀπεκάλει δὲ ἑαυτὸν προφήτην). In 683 or 684, after the death of the caliph Yezid 1, al-Mukhtar 1 (Mwkt'r) rebelled "in the land of `Aqoula" (i.e. Kufa, al-Kufah); "he was a deceitful man and an impostor and a hypocrite, who used to say of himself that he was a prophet"; he was not recognised at Medina or Damascus: Chron. 1234, §143 (p. 290). In 686/687 he killed Ziadus (Ziyad 1), sent against him by the caliph Abdulmalik 1: Theoph. AM 6178, Chron. 1234, §147 (p. 292); see also Mango and Scott, p. 502, note "a". In c. 687 he was attacked and defeated by Mousabos 1, brother of Abdullah 3; he fled towards Syria but was caught and killed: Theoph. AM 6180. See Mango and Scott, p. 508, n. 4.

In AH 40 (May 660-May 661) al-Mukhtar 1 was a young boy, in Mada'in where his paternal uncle Sa`d b. Mas`ud was governor: Tabari XVIII, p. 4. In AH 51 (January 671-January 672) he was in al-Kufah where he avoided a request from Ziyad to give testimony against Hujr (cf. Malik 3): Tabari XVIII. p. 143. After the death of the caliph Yazid 1 (in the year 994 Sel. = 683/684) he rebelled in the district of Kufah: Bar Hebr., p. 102.

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