TheUnfreeinMuslimWarfare,2-205/624-820
133
largearmy
suppressed
the revolt
by
killing
"18,000
persons:
pure
Arabians,their
slaves,theirmawlas,and
evenunknown
persons.
’’1r4
Apparently, slaves andmawlas inMosul
fought
alongwithArabians. Mawlas
fought
against
theAbbasids
in
NorthAfrica
onseveraloccasions
during
al-Mans.fir’sreign:
one
mawlaled
(Berber?)forces
against
the
Abbasidsto
stop
theAb-
basid
expansion
and
anotherled
Ibfid.i
forcesin142/760.175
Basedin
Medina,theShiCi
Muh.
ammadb.
CAbdallahrevolted
in 145/762;a
mawla
fighting
forhim
sentouta
general
chal-
lenge
to
duel,
but
whenhesawthe
soldierwho
accepted
his
offer,heran
away!
176
Muh.
ammadb.
Abdallgth’s
ally,
stb.
Zayd,dispatchedamawlaincommand
oftenarmedsoldiers?
77
Muh.
ammad’s
brotherIbrfihimb.
Abdallfihalsorebelled
against
theAbbasids
in
145/762
withmawla
help;
according
toFarouk
Omar,
vestiges
of
the
Umayyad
forces"and
theirMawfili
prob-
ably
helped
Ibrfihim.
’’lrs
After
therevoltsof
Muh.
ammadand
Ibrfihimb.Abdallfihhad
failed,theAbbasidssent
troops
to
occupyMedina,butthesemet
with
opposition
froman
unexpectedquarter,
the
blackslaves.
When
an
occupying
soldierrefused
to
pay
forsome
meat,
the
butchers
calledon"theBlacksinthe
army,"whothenkilledsev-
eralAbbasidsoldiers
withstaves.ThentheBlacks’
specialtrum-
pet
sounded,and
they
all
dropped
what
they
were
doingand
rantoform
military
units.
TheyforcedtheAbbasid
governorto
abandonMedinaandfleetoa
nearbytown,Nakhl;
theythen
attacked
Nakhl,beatthe
governor’s
troops,
forcedhimtoflee
again,
and
plunderedhisfood.
They
continued
tokillAbbasid
soldierswiththeir
staves,
arousing
thewonderoftheMedinese:
"These
Blacksareeitherbewitchedor
devils!"
Once
they had establishedtheir
authority
inMedina, the
Blacksfreed
from
jail
aCAlid
sympathizer,
Ibn
Abi
S.abra,
and
madehimtheir
leader.Meanwhile,
Caliph
al-Mans.fir
heardof
174.TYac,2:357.
175.StopAbbasid
expansion:
FB,
pp.232-33.
Ibfi.di:
Khalifa,
p.
644.
For
more
mawlarebels,see
ar-Raqiq,p.
138.
176.T,3:238.
177.T,
3:235.
178.Omar,c,4bbid
Caliphate,
p.
243.