Qarmatians

Qarmatians
قرامطة
899–1077
Qarmatians under Abu Tahir al-Jannabi in 930
CapitalAl-Ahsa
Common languagesArabic, Persian
Religion
Isma'ili Shia Islam
GovernmentTheocracy
Ruler 
• 899–914
Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi
• 914–944
Abu Tahir al-Jannabi
• 944–970
Ahmad Abu Tahir
• 968–977
Al-Hasan al-A'sam
• 970–972
Abul Kassim Sa'id
• 972–977
Abu Yaqub Yousuf
Historical eraIslamic Golden Age
765
899
930
• al-Isfahani proclaimed to be the Mahdi
931
• Black Stone returned
952
• Defeated by the Abbasids
976
• Overthrow
1077
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Abbasid Caliphate
Uyunid Emirate
Qarmatians
قرامطة
FounderAbu Sa'id al-Jannabi
Dates of operation899–1077
Active regionsBahrayn, Mesopotamia, Najd, Hejaz, Levant, Egypt
IdeologyIsma'ilism
Extremism
Socialism
Islamic socialism
Utopian socialism
OpponentsAbbasid Caliphate
Fatimid Caliphate
Uyunid Emirate
Ghaznavid Empire
Seljuk Empire
Battles and warsCapture of Bahrayn (899)
Battle of Hama (903)
Sack of Basra (923)
Hajj caravan raid (924)
Invasion of Iraq (928)
Sack of Mecca (930)
Invasions of Egypt (971)
Ghaznavid conquest of Multan (1006–1010)
Overthrow of the Qarmatians (1058–1077)

The Qarmatians were an Isma'ili Shia militant movement led by a dynasty of Persian descent, centred in Al-Ahsa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhered to a syncretic branch of Sevener Ismaili Shia Islam, and were ruled by a dynasty founded by Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi. They rejected the claim of Fatimid Caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah to imamate and clung to their belief in the coming of the Mahdi, and they revolted against the Fatimid and Abbasid Caliphates.

Mecca was sacked by a Qarmatian leader, Abu Tahir al-Jannabi, outraging the Muslim world, particularly with their theft of the Black Stone and desecration of the Zamzam Well with corpses during the Hajj season of 930 CE.