PEOPLEinstead of the Persians.^24 In general, the peasants in the Sawad were
left alone if they did not revolt and were eventually treated as dhimmts.2s
Bu~buhra and the people of Baniqya did actually assist the Muslim
Arabs in the construction of the floating bridge across the Euphrates
from Marwaha on the west bank to Quss Natif on the east bank. This
enabled the Muslim army under Abii 'Ubayd to cross the river prior
to the Battle of the Bridge.^26 At least in Baniqya and the surrounding
districts, the Aramaeans seem to have been willing to aid the Muslims
if only to the extent indicated by a native of the Sawad who told
Muthanna the names of the places where the Persian general Mihriin
camped and where he crossed the Euphrates before the Battle of Bu-
waybP
As successful raids turned into permanent occupation, the Aramaean
peasantry of Iraq were included in the same general terms offered to
the landed aristocrats. In addition to the release of at least some of
the captives,28 those who had fled were allowed to return and received
the same protection as those who had stayed and remained faithful
to their original pact with the Muslims. However, in exchange for
acquiring Muslim protection, those who returned were subjected to
heavier taxation.^29 Unfortunately, Bu~buhrii had compromised himself
by joining the Persian counterattack after the Persian victory at the
Battle of the Bridge, and following the Persian defeat at Qadisiyya,
he unsuccessfully attempted to defend Burs in the first of a series of
rear-guard actions along the road to Mada'in. After a skirmish with
part of the Muslim advance guard under Zuhra, Bu~buhrii and his
men were put to flight, and Bu~buhrii died of his wounds at Babil.^30
Nevertheless, Bu~buhra's two Arabized sons, Khalid and JamIl, were
among those native aristocrats allotted stipends of two thousand dir-
hams from the Muslim dtwiin by 'Umar 1.^31
24 Tabari, Ta'rzkh, I, 2017; Yiiqiit, Buldiin, I, 484.
2S Khadduri, Islamic Law of Nations, p. 80; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 2026, 2031.
26 Baladhuri, Futii/J, p. 251; Tabari, Ta'rzkh, I, 2177; Yaqiit, Buldiin, IV, 97-98.
27 Tabari, Ta'rzkh, I, 2184-85.
28 Ibn Sa<d, Tabaqiit, VII, 92.
29 Dennett, Conversion, p. 28; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 2031, 2371, 2427, 2467-69; Yal).yii
ibn Adarn, Khariij, pp. 26-27, 46, 52.
30 Tabari, Ta'rzkh, I, 2420. In a parallel account (ibid., I, 2061), the Banii ~aliiba,
identified as the people of Hira, Kalwadha, and the villages of the Euphrates, were the
only ones to conclude peace before battle. Then they acted treacherously but were
afterwards called to protection (dhimma).
31 In this context Bu~buhra is called the dihqiin of the Fallujas. Baiadhuri, Futii!J, pp.
457-58; Ya'qiibi, Ta'rzkh, II, 176.