This volume of Ṭabarī's annals deals almost exclusively with the final stages of the Zanj revolt, the most serious external challenge faced by the central authorities in the last half of the third/ninth century. The rebellion, which began as an 'Alid uprising, but soon gave way to Khārijite influences, was a movement that attracted the disenfranchised elements of society in lower Iraq. Their battle against the tested armies of the...