Ispah rebellion

The Ispah rebellion was a series of civil wars occurring in the middle of 14th century in Fujian under 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 (波斯戍兵之乱; Bōsī Shùbīng zhī Luàn) in Chinese documents.

Under Mongol rule, the number of Arab and Persian Muslims residing in the Chinese port city of Quanzhou was greatly boosted. In 1357, an army of predominantly Muslims led by two Quanzhou Muslims, Sayf ad-Din (赛甫丁) and Amir ad-Din (阿迷里丁), revolted against the Yuan dynasty. In defiance of imperial forces, the army seized hold of Quanzhou (present day Putian), and even overreached themselves to the provincial capital, Fuzhou.

In 1362, the Ispah army collapsed into internal conflict and was eventually crushed in 1366 by the Han Chinese commander Chen Youding (陈友定).

Historical Background
From the 13th century to the early 14th century in the Yuan dynasty, overseas trade was extremely prosperous in Fujian. As the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Quanzhou was China's, and maybe even the world's, largest port. It was also the largest city in Fujian, with a population exceeding Fujian's administrative center, Fuzhou. The Arabs called it "Tiger's claw", which has been used by merchants in Europe and elsewhere. At the time, Quanzhou's population exceeded 2 million, with a wall as long as 30 miles. Jinjiang's river and its harbor had 10,000 ships docked, with highly developed trade. Quanzhou exported luxuries such as silk, ceramics, copper, and iron, as well as Quanzhou's satin, while imports include pearls, ivory, rhino horns, frankincense, etc. The most important imports were spices and herbs. Quanzhou had many foreign residents, such as Arabs, Persians, Europeans, Jews, Indians, Africans, etc. There were around 100 different languages being used. The Quanzhou people labeled these foreigners as Fan ("蕃" or "番"). Due to the massive number of foreigners coming in, Quanzhou didn't want foreigners to stay and interfere with the locals' lifestyles in the beginning. Quanzhou had massive foreigner neighborhoods ("蕃坊", "蕃人巷"), and foreigners and natives often had married and gave birth to mixed children (often labeled "半南蕃"). Although foreigners and natives had some cultural intermingling, the foreigners still practiced and spread their own religions, such as Islam, Christianity, Manichaeism, Hinduism, etc. These mixed living conditions made management much harder.

The Origin of the Name Ispah
There are multiple theories about the origin of the word "Ispah". Some think that "Ispah" originated from the Persian word "سپاه"(sepâh), which means militia, calvary, or some derived version. It could also be the Persian equivalent of "mercenaries" or borrowed from the name of a city, Isfahan, given that most of the people came from that city. Others believe that Ispah is used for designating troops, instead of as an actual name.

Massacre of foreigners
Many of the foreign Arab and Persian merchants were massacred when the uprising was crushed and their graves desecrated, forcing many of them to flee Quanzhou. Some of the massacres and grave desecrations were reprisals against the descendants of Pu Shougeng, who had defected and surrendered the cities to the Mongols during their invasion of the Song dynasty.