ARAB S: IMMIGRANTSMu'awiya and at the beginning of the reign of his son Yazid I by the
arrival of the Azd 'Uman from southeastern Arabia under Mas'iid
ibn 'Amr in about 680.^89 When Yazid died in 683, only the support
of the Azd and of Mas'iid enabled the pro-Sufyani government of
'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad to survive for a period of ninety days. Before
'Ubaydullah went off to Syria at the end of that time, he appointed
Mas'iid his lieutenant at Basra. In the face of a revolt by the Tamim,
'Abd al-Qays, Khawarij, and Asiiwira, the Azd were unable to hold
Basra for the Sufyanis and Mas'iid was killed while he was preaching
on the minbar in the masjid.^90 In the same year, al-Muhallab recruited
eight thousand Azd in Basra to lead against the Khawarij.91
Basra was also settled by a number of minor clans and by individuals
without a major tribal affiliation. Two groups that lived in the vicinity
of Basra should be noted here. Several members of the Banii 'Anbar
settled in Basra and were quite prominent there.92 Beginning in about
638, successive groups of the Banii 1-'Amm came and settled in Basra.^93
Some indications of the early tribal organization of the Basran army
are provided in the events surrounding the Battle of the Camel in 656.
However, the tribal formations at that time may not be entirely typical
of the organization of the Basran army that had campaigned in Iran
for the previous twenty years, since the people of Basra were divided
in 656 between the supporters of Tall:ta and az-Zubayr and the sup-
porters of 'All. Some tribes and clans were split in their allegiance,
which is reflected in the organization of both armies on that occasion.
Two different lists of the tribal contingents occur in Tabari,94 and in
Dinawari,95 but they can be reconciled to a certain extent. The Tamim
were divided among the Banii Sa'd who remained neutral with al-
Al:tnaf ibn Qays, the Banii 'Amr under Abii I-Jarba' who was active
in his support of Tall:ta and az-Zubayr, and the Banii I:Ian~ala who
fought on 'All's side under Hilal ibn Waki'. The Banii Qabba joined
89 Baladhuri, Ansiib, IVb, 107; Pellat, Milieu b~rien, p. 24; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, 11, 450.
90 Baladhuri, Ansiib, Nb, 112; Dinawari, Akhbiir at-#wiil, p. 295; Tabari, Ta'rlkh,
11, 455, 460-61.
91 Dinawari, Akhbiir at-#wiil, p. 282.
91 Abii Yiisuf, Khariij, p. 199; Baladhuri, FutU~, p. 363; C. E. Bosworth, SiStiin under
the Arabs (Rome, 1968), p. 91; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(l), 77, 99; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, 11,
1044.
93 Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 2538. The context suggests that they came from Manadhir and
Nahr Tira on the border between Maysan and Khuzistan. See also Massignon, "Ba~ra,"
p.160.
94 Tabari, Ta'rikh, I, 3178-80.
9S Dinawari, Akhbiir aNiwiil, p. 156.