History
Historians dispute the origin of Shia Islam, with many Western scholars positing that Shiism began as a political faction rather than a truly religious movement. However, other scholars disagree, considering this concept or religious-political separation to be an anachronistic application of a Western concept. Following the Battle of Karbala, as various Shi'a-affiliated groups diffused in the emerging Islamic world, several nations arose based around a Shi'a leadership or population.
- Idrisids (788 to 985 CE): a Zaydi dynasty in what is now Morocco
- Fatimids (909–1171 CE): Controlled much of North Africa, the Levant, parts of Arabia and Mecca and Medina.
- Uqaylids (990 to 1096 CE): a Shi'a Arab dynasty with several lines that ruled in various parts of Al-Jazira, northern Syria and Iraq.
- Buyids (934–1055 CE): at its peak consisted of large portions of modern Iraq and Iran.
- Ilkhanate (1256–1335): a Mongol khanate established in Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanate was based, originally, on Genghis Khan's campaigns in the Khwarezmid Empire in 1219–1224, and founded by Genghis's grandson, Hulagu, in territories which today comprise most of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, and Pakistan. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religions, but was particularly sympathetic to Buddhism and Christianity. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, embraced Shia Islam.
- Bahmanis (1347–1527 CE): a Shia Muslim state of the Deccan in southern India and one of the great medieval Indian kingdoms. Bahmanid Sultanate was the first independent Islamic Kingdom in South India.
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