Zanj Rebellion, 869 A.D.
A lot of people often question if and whether Africans ever rebelled against Arab rule, which existed long before Europeans came to Africa to trade or African slaves were sent to North America as slaves.
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One of the first ever recorded African rebellions was in fact against Arab rule.
East Africans, who were called Zanj -the Arabic term used to describe them, began a revolution in 869 A.D. Led by Ali bin Muhammad, a Persian, African slaves in the Middle East rose up against the Abbasid Caliphate.
The Zanj began conducting night raids on nearby cities in order to seize supplies and liberate fellow slaves, believing that they would win land and ultimately freedom promised to them under Ali bin Muhammad’s religious uprising. Though the revolt began slowing, it grew into a full-scale revolution, known as the Zanj Rebellion, that last 15 years.
Historians say the slaves, bedouin, serfs and rebels grew to over 500,000. They amassed a navy and controlled as many as six fortified cities in modern-day Iraq.
Eventually, the rebellion ended in 880s after the Abbasid army conquered the rebel capital. Leader Ali bin Muhammad was killed in the battle many rebels were spared and invited to join the Abbasid military.
