PEOPLECamel in 656.^51 The first, composed of the Quraysh, Kinana, Asad,
Tamim, Ribab, and Muzayna, was led by MaCqil ibn Yasar ar-Riya}:ti:
The second consisted of the Qays and was led by Sacd ibn Mascud
ath-Thaqafi. The Bakr ibn Wa'il and Taghlib led by Wa cIa ibn Ma}:tduj
adh-Dhuhll made up the third division. In the fourth division, l:Iujr
ibn cAdi al-Kindi led the Madh}:tij and the Ashcarin. The fifth consisted
of the Bajila, Anmar, KhathCam, and Azd and was led by Mikhnaf
ibn Sulaym al-Azdi.S2
cAll's army at the Battle of the Camel was actually a mixture of
Kufan, Hijazi, and Basran forces. In Dinawari's list it is possible to
recognize some of the Kufan tribal units and their leaders among the
"seven" divisions (there were actually eight) of cAll's army. The first
consisted of l:Iimyar and Hamdan under Sacid ibn Qays al-Hamdani.
The second division was composed of the Madh}:tij and the Ashcarin
led by Ziyad ibn an-NaQr al-l:Iarithi. The Tayyi' under cAdi ibn l:Iatim
made up the third division. Sa cd ibn Mascud ath-Thaqafi commanded
the fourth division consisting of the Qays, cAbs, and Dhubyan. The
fifth division, composed of Kinda, l:IaQramawt, QUQaca, and Mahra,
was led by l:Iujr ibn cAdi. In the sixth division Azd, Bajila, KhathCam,
and Khuzaca were led by Mikhnaf ibn Sulaym al-Azdi. The seventh
consisted of the Bakr, Taghlib, and the remaining Rabica tribesmen
and was led by (Ibn) Ma}:tduj adh-Dhuhli. The Hijazi contingent, led
by cAbdullah ibn cAbbas, was composed of the Quraysh and the
An~ar.53
After the initial period of settlement, the burgeoning population of
Kufa was due more to procreation than to immigration, and by the
end of the 650s a new generation was reaching fighting age. In 657
cAll registered fifty-seven thousand Arabs for military service at Kufa.
Forty thousand of them were adult soldiers (Ar. muqiitila), and sev-
enteen thousand were the post-pubescent sons of Arab soldiers con-
sidered capable of bearing arms. On the same occasion, eight thousand
mawiil, and slaves were registered in the Kufan army.54
By the time of Ziyad, about a decade later, sixty thousand Arab
soldiers and eighty thousand of their dependents were on the military
rolls in Kufa.^55 Ziyad sent twenty-five thousand Kufans to settle in
51 Other accounts give the number of Kufans who joined 'Ali as 7,000 (Tabari,
Ta'rikh, I, 3181) and 9,650 (Dinawari, Akhbiir at-pwiil, p. 154).
52 Tabari, Ta'rikh, I, 3174.
53 Dinawari, Akhbiir at-pwiil, p. 155. Jafri (Shi'a Islam, p. 107) reconciles both lists
into seven Kufan divisions.
54 Tabari, Ta'rikh, I, 3372.
ss Baladhuri, FutiiIJ, p. 350.