The
UnfreeinMuslimWarfare,2-205/624-820
123
83/7025--but
itis
hardtobelievethat
theynumbered100,000.
Some
mawlas
fought
forIbn
al-Asheath,butanother
declinedto
leadtheAhl
al-Qurr’onthe
groundsthat,asa
mawla,
he
was
unsuitedto
commandthem,and
insteadhe
urged
anArabian
for
the
position.
96
In116/734
oneofMfisfi
b.Nus.ayr’smawlas
led
Ibd.itroops.
97
A
yearlaterthealliesofal-
.Hfirith
b.
Surayj
in
Amfilhada
mawlaleader.
98
Withthe
UmayyadsagainstMuslims.
Duringthis
period
ofover
fortyyears,
unfree
soldiers
fought
rebels
onlytwice,andbothof
thosecasesareunclear.
In
102/720
amawla
waskilledin
war,
probablyfightingYazidb.al-Muhallab,and
afew
years
later,in
109/727,amawlaled
troops
to
Ifriqiya
to
quell
alocaldistur-
bance,
probably
onecaused
byMuslims.
99
Withthe
Umayyads
against
Non-Muslims.
Afterthecivil
warsended
internalMuslim
dissension,the
Umayyadsundertookasecond
round
of
conquests,inmy
opinion
evenmore
impressive
than
the
first.Tohave
conquered
Egypt,
the
FertileCrescent,and
Iraninadozen
years(13-25/634-46)wasnomean
feat;
but
to
resumethe
warsof
expansion
two
generationslater was
ex-
traordinary.Indeed,
probably
the
onlyother
premodern
exam-
pleofsuchasecond
surgewasthatofthe
Mongols.
During
the
years78-96/697-715,theMuslims
expanded
tothefar
westand
far
east,toNorthAfricaand
Spain,westernCentral
Asiaand
northwestIndia.
Although
they
havebeen
littlenotedasadis-
tinctevent,thesecond
roundofArabian
conquests
didmuchto
secure
Islamasan
establishedand
widespreadreligion.Unfree
soldiers
played
a
far
greater
roleinthis
waveof
conquests
than
in
thefirstone.Indeed,
theirrolewasso
importantthatone
mightsay
they
madethe
secondwave
possible.
95.T,
2:1072.
96.
Fought:Khalifa,pp.370-71.Refusedthe
command:
Khalifa,p. 365
IS,6:204.Ahl
al-Qurr’:Shaban,Islamic
H/story,1:23,offersasensible
explana-
tionfor
this
mysteriousgroup.
97.
Khalifa,p.511.
98.T,
2:1582.
99.
Khalifa,
p.
496.