For those of your who don't know, the Qarmatians were an Ismaili Shiite sect that founded an egalitarian, theocratic republic on Bahrain (the historical region, not modern day country) in 899. They also controlled much of Arabia. In the 900s they invaded Mesopotamia to oppose the Abbasids. To that end they also attacked and massacred pilgrims traveling for the hajj to Mecca. In 927 they almost captured Baghdad, and in 930 the Qarmatians sacked Medina and Mecca. (But it is very important to note that the sack of those two cities was only to retaliate against the Fatimids, whom the Qarmatians had recently parted ways with.)
The Qarmatian brand of Ismailism also spread into Persia and Transoxiana, but was not as successful there. In the ninth century it was integrated with the proto-Fatimid movement as mainstream Ismailism. When the eleventh imam, Ubayad Allah Al-Mahdi (also the first Fatimid Caliph) fled to North Africa in the late ninth century and founded the Fatimid state (instead of going to Yemen where he could remain in contact with the Qarmatian Ismailis), thus breaking with the Qarmatians. Thus the Fatimid Caliphate expanded and remained powerful for centuries, while the Qarmatians vanished within several decades.
Here’s an idea that may find its way into my Khazar TL: what if al-Mahdi does go to Yemen ~903, instead of journeying to North Africa? Furthermore, what if he joins with the Qarmatians and leads the effort to spread Ismailism to all the tribes of Arabia? With this accomplished by say, 910 (at latest), the Qarmatians then explode out of Arabia to take on the crumbling Abbasid Caliphate. What would the outcome be? Perhaps a Qarmatid Caliphate in Arabia, the Levant, Egypt, and more?
The Qarmatian brand of Ismailism also spread into Persia and Transoxiana, but was not as successful there. In the ninth century it was integrated with the proto-Fatimid movement as mainstream Ismailism. When the eleventh imam, Ubayad Allah Al-Mahdi (also the first Fatimid Caliph) fled to North Africa in the late ninth century and founded the Fatimid state (instead of going to Yemen where he could remain in contact with the Qarmatian Ismailis), thus breaking with the Qarmatians. Thus the Fatimid Caliphate expanded and remained powerful for centuries, while the Qarmatians vanished within several decades.
Here’s an idea that may find its way into my Khazar TL: what if al-Mahdi does go to Yemen ~903, instead of journeying to North Africa? Furthermore, what if he joins with the Qarmatians and leads the effort to spread Ismailism to all the tribes of Arabia? With this accomplished by say, 910 (at latest), the Qarmatians then explode out of Arabia to take on the crumbling Abbasid Caliphate. What would the outcome be? Perhaps a Qarmatid Caliphate in Arabia, the Levant, Egypt, and more?