Zanj Rebellion
Ishaq ibn Kundaj is first mentioned in the histories of al-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir in 873, during the Abbasid campaigns to suppress the Zanj Rebellion. He was tasked with holding Basra against the Zanj rebels, and cutting off supplies to them. In 878/9, along with other senior Turkic generals (Musa ibn Utamish, al-Fadl ibn Musa ibn Bugha, Yanghajur ibn Urkhuz) he secured from the regent al-Muwaffaq, the Caliphate's "de facto" ruler, the recognition of their power and status as the main military leaders of the Caliphate.