Watch List notes:

ANTI-FATIMID REBEL, ABU YAZID MAKHLAD AL-NUKKARI (332-336h). Dinar, al-Qayrawan 333h. OBVERSE: In field: rabbuna Allah | la hukm illa lillah | la ilaha illa Allah | wahdahu la sharik lahu | al-haqq al-mubin. REVERSE: In margin: Qur'an vii, 157 (outer); ix, 33 (inner); In field: al- 'izza lillah | Muhammad | rasul | Allah | khatam al-nabiyyin. WEIGHT: 4.17g. REFERENCE: Nicol 201. CONDITION: Good very fine and extremely rare. Of Berber ancestry, Abu Yazid Makhlad was born circa 270h and grew up in Tuzir (Byzantine Tusuros) in south-west Tunisia. He later moved to Tahirt, the capital of the local Rustamid dynasty and spiritual centre of the Ibadi movement which Abu Yazid espoused, becoming a leader of the Nukkari sect. The Rustamids were overthrown by the Fatimid partisan Abu 'Abdallah al-Shi'i in 296h, who passed through Tahirt on his way to meet the Fatimid imam, al-Mahdi. Abu Yazid's antipathy towards the Fatimids was therefore based on personal experience as well as doctrinal disagreement. Returning to Tuzir after the fall of the Rustamids, it seems that AbuYazid was soon engaged in fomenting anti-Fatimid feeling. Falling foul of the authorities there, he was outlawed and left Tuzir circa 309h, intending to undertake the hajj. Finding himself pursued, however, he abandoned this plan for the time being and returned to the town of Tiqyus, where we hear of him again stirring up anti-Fatimid feeling in 316h. By 322h, when the Fatimid al-Mahdi died, Abu Yazid was leading a confederation of local tribes and attempting to form a broad coalition to oppose Fatimid rule. He even made overtures to the Umayyads of Spain, although 'Abd al-Rahman III seems to have received them coolly. Then, having finally completed the hajj in 324-325h he returned to his home town of Tuzir but was recognised and thrown into prison. Released through the intervention of his sons, as well as a prominent Nukkari leader, he once again mobilized local tribes and launched a final assault on the Fatimids beginning in 332h. At an early stage of this campaign someone brought him a grey donkey to ride, and the image of this old man, simply dressed and riding a donkey rather than a warhorse into battle, had a powerful effect in convincing his supporters of his piety and determination – and by extensionof the justness of his cause. The first town to fall to Abu Yazid was Tebessa, followed quickly by Sabiba, Tebessa, and Duqqa. Next Baja, which resisted, was sacked and burned with the inhabitants killed or enslaved. Tunis, which surrendered and was spared the flames, was taken shortly afterwards. Raqqada, located just a few miles from Qayrawan, was abandoned by the fleeing Fatimid forces who allowed Abu Yazid to take the city largely unopposed. Qayrawan itself was the next city to fall – its governor, we are told, found himself hopelessly outnumbered and so went to Abu Yazid's camp in a doomed attempt to negotiate, only to be captured and put to death. As the present coin recalls, the local commander surrendered the city shortly afterwards and Abu Yazid's forces entered Qayrawan in triumph. Abu Yazid allowed his Berber troops to pillage the captured city, and when reproached by other leading citizens of Qayrawan who were trying to negotiate to save it from further damage, he reportedly dismissed their protests, remarking that even Jerusalem and Makka had been destroyed in the past. The future of the Fatimid caliphate hung in the balance as Abu Yazid marched onwards to Mahdiya and began to lay siege to it in 334h, with the caliph al-Qa'im himself inside. But the besieged city held out, and gradually Abu Yazid's support began to dwindle as fighters who had joined him in the hope of easy plunder started to desert at the prospect of a protracted siege. Finally, al-Qa'im was able to break out and launch an assault on the rebel's waning forces. Abu Yazid fled, leaving al-Qa'im able to recapture Tunis and Sousse. Al-Qa'im died during the siege, and the fight against Abu Yazid was immediately and vigorously continued by his successor, Isma'il al-Mansur. Abu Yazid withdrew to Qayrawan, where the populace had initially given him a cautious welcome as their deliverer from Fatimid rule, but were now disillusioned by the brutality of his Berber troops. On his arrival, Abu Yazid found the city gates closed against him and was forced to withdraw. Later in 335h, al-Mansur granted a general amnesty to the city, capturing Abu Yazid's wives and children whom he found there. After a series of further defeats, Abu Yazid and his remaining followers were driven into the Hodna mountains. There they made their last stand, until the Fatimid forces captured the hilltop fortress where Abu Yazid had taken refuge. It seems that the rebel himself had nearly managed to escape in the darkness, only to fall into a ravine while trying to flee. He was captured and died of his wounds four days later, probably in Muharram of 336h.
(7000-10000 GBP)