Abu Yazid Makhlad

Abu Yazid Makhlad ibn Kaydad the Berber, of the Zanata, known as the man of the donkey, who rose against the Fatimids in the Maghrib. ²

Ibn Khaldun says his name was Makhlad ibn Kayrad, and that his father was from Tastiliya in the land of Tozeur and traded with the lands of the Sudan. He was born there and grew up in Tozeur, learned the Qur'an, then mixed with the Nukkariyya of the Kharijites and inclined to their doctrine. He settled teaching children in Tahert and then Tiqyus. ³

When al-Mahdi died, he rose in the area of the Awras mountains, rode a donkey and took the title "Shaykh of the Believers". He was called the man of the donkey because of a grey donkey that was given to him as a gift. ³

In Ibn al-Athir he took Kairouan and Raqqada in 333 AH, sent a detachment to Sousse, and besieged al-Mahdiyya. ⁴ In Ibn al-Nadim, al-Hasan al-Qa'im fought him and besieged him in al-Mahdiyya, and he was then killed and crucified in 336 AH. ²

Ibn al-Athir's account of what happened at Kairouan and Sousse is harsh, and it is one historian's report. Other views are not set out here and need an additional source.