170
Origins
Perhaps
morethan
any
other
conquerors
in
history,
Arabians
desertedtheirhomelandtosettle
in
vanquished
territories.
49
So
Arabiadidnot
provide
areservoiroffresh
marginal
areasol-
diers,
soldiersneithersoftened
by
civilizationnorembroiled
in
internecine
strife.TheMuslimleadershadnochoicebuttore-
plenish
theirarmies
withnon-Arabians.
Enrollment
of
Non-ArabiansasMawlas. Whenthetime
cameto
enroll
non-ArabiansinMuslimarmies,thecentral
government
(and
alsorebelleaders)lackedthe
power
eitherto
compel
the
introductionofnewsoldiersortoestablish
new
corps.
Instead,it
allowed
individualArabiantribesmentorecruitnon-Arabians
ontheirown.
Clearly,
thelatterlacked
affiliationtoanArabian
tribe;therefore
they
could
notenroll
directly
inthe
Military
Reg-
isterandwere
precluded
from
joining
the
armyindependently
(though
insome
cases
theyfought
in
separate
unitswhichhad
no
apparent
Arabian
patron).
5
Inorderto
join,they
hadto
at-
tachthemselvestoatribalmember,an
Arabian
patron.
Non-Arabianclientageprofited
bothArabian triballeaders
and tribesmen. Leaders
extended their
powers by acquiring
larger
forces; individual tribesmen became
patrons
to non-
Arabianswhoservedthemasretainers.
Just
asthe
tribalchief
controlledhiswarriors’
pay,
sothetribesman
controlledthatof
his clients.
The
government
(or
rebel
leader)
which funded
themhadaslittlecontroloverthenewsoldiersasover
theold.
Thisremarkablesituation,
again,grew
fromtheorigins
ofMus-
lim
power
in
conquests
by
tribally
organized
armies.
Non-Arabianclientsinthearmy
were
mostly
Muslim.Non-
Muslimsjoined
tooand
fought
in
large
numbersatthefarcor-
ners
ofthe
empire(especially
inNorthAfricaandCentralAsia),
butmostnewsoldierswereconverts
fromthe
subjectpopula-
tions:mawlas.
Mawlas
whobecamesoldiersshared
many
characteristics,re-
gardless
oftheir
origins,
slaveorfree.
51
Allwerenon-Arabian
49.Donner,pp.
192-93
explains
thisasaresultofthecentral
government
urging
Arabianstomoveintoareasinwhich
they
couldbemoreeasilycontrolled
by
the
government.
50.P.190.
51.For
details,
see
my
"Mawlas,"section