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The Bashmurian Revolts were a serious of uprisings by the native Coptic Christians of Egypt against the ruling Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates from the 700s until 832. After having initially welcomed the Arabs as liberators, due to Imperial Byzantine prosecution of their Miaphysite faith, by the 700s conversion and Arabization efforts by the Caliphates provoked the Coptic majority to start rising up against them. The last revolt, of 831 to 832, is described thusly:
As noted above, this was the last serious revolt by the Copts and over the following centuries their population entered serious decline, with Egypt ultimately becoming majority Islamic sometime around the year 1000 A.D. although some argue it was still majority Christian as late as the Crusades. With all that said, how exactly can we get a successful Bashmurian Revolt, resulting in an independent and Christian Egypt? The failures of the revolt(s) are listed as:
The temporary success of this rebellion did not achieve any amelioration of the conditions that had made the Bashmurites revolt. Some of them were deported to Iraq; others were sent to Syria and were sold as slaves in Damascus. The army destroyed and burned the entire area to wipe out all possibility of further revolts.
Thus ended the last revolt of the Copts in Egypt. Without any real political plan or any national leadership, without any organized armed force, and in the face of a strong, experienced army, these spasmodic revolts were an indication of desperate courage. Not only did they achieve nothing but they drained the force and pride of the Copts. Nonetheless, these revolts are important for Coptic history, as they shed light on the character of the Coptic masses.
As noted above, this was the last serious revolt by the Copts and over the following centuries their population entered serious decline, with Egypt ultimately becoming majority Islamic sometime around the year 1000 A.D. although some argue it was still majority Christian as late as the Crusades. With all that said, how exactly can we get a successful Bashmurian Revolt, resulting in an independent and Christian Egypt? The failures of the revolt(s) are listed as:
- Absence of a real political plan;
- Absence of a national leadership;
- Absence of an organized Coptic armed force.
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