It would make sense to elaborate a bit to make these two incidents plausible. For example, the so-called preserver jihad -
Rajaat initially insisted that his students be careful not to damage the land when drawing power for magic, known as defiling. After centuries of encouraging preserving magic, Rajaat suddenly encouraged a new batch of students to excessively draw life energy from plants. Preservers around Athas reacted negatively towards this, and Rajaat ordered his new students to destroy the dissenters wherever possible. This lead to conflict between preservers and Rajaat following defilers in the time before the cleansing wars.
And the druid jihad -
Druids started to lead a movement against the Sorcerer Monarchs, blaming the Sorcerer Monarchs for the destruction of Athas. As the druids gathered allies and armies to destroy the Sorcerer Monarchs, the Sorcerer Monarchs in turn stirred their templars into a religious frenzy, calling for a holy war against the druids. The druids came close to defeating the Sorcerer Monarchs and may have even toppled some of them. In the end however the Sorcerer Monarchs were victorious and put an end to political druidism forever. This holy war against the druids is known as the Eradication.
This makes the setting a bit more dynamic, as Rajaat of the Sorcerer Monarchs are not simply initiating everything but rather also having to react to matters beyond their control.