Ispah rebellion

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The Ispah rebellion (Chinese: 亦思巴奚兵亂; pinyin: Yìsībāxī Bīngluàn) was a series of civil wars in the middle of 14th century in Fujian during the Yuan dynasty. The term Ispah might derive from the Persian word "سپاه" (sepâh), meaning "army" or "Sepoy". Thus, the rebellion is also known as the Persian Sepoy rebellion (波斯戍兵之亂; Bōsī Shùbīng zhī Luàn) in Chinese documents.

Under Yuan rule, more Semu people (Arab and Persian Muslims) migrated to the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. In 1357, a predominantly Muslim army led by two Quanzhou Persian Shi'a Muslims, Sayf ad-Din [zh] (賽甫丁) and Amir ad-Din [zh] (阿迷里丁), revolted against the Yuan. The rebel army seized control of Quanzhou, Putian, and even reached the provincial capital Fuzhou.

In 1362, the Ispah army collapsed into internal conflict, Yawuna [zh] (那兀纳), a Quanzhou Arab Sunni Muslim official, became the new leader of the Ispah army. In 1366, it was eventually crushed by the ethnic Han commander Chen Youding (陈友定) who was loyal to the Yuan dynasty.^[1][2]