176
Origins
subtle
understanding
has
replaced
it.
Arabians
participated
heavily
inthe
Abbasidmovement,
providing
it
withboth
military
support
andits
rulingfamily.Earlierscholarswere
misledbythe
factthat
Abbasid
supportcamefromKhurasaninto
thinking
that
Iranians
gave
allthe
support;closerexaminationshows
that
most
oftheKhurasaniswere
Arabianswhohadsettled
thereand
becomedetribalized,and
otherswereArabian
tribesmenem-
ployedinthearmiesstationed
there.
6
The Abbasid
da’wa
(movement) appealed
directly
tonon-
tribesmen,
toall
Muslimswhohadbeen
excluded
by
thetribal
organization
of
society,
and
particularly
to
non-Arabians
everywhere anddetribalized
ArabiansinKhurasan.
67
Despite
thisantitribal
Abbasid
ideology,
Abfi
Muslim,
through
masterful
maneuvering,
managed
to
gain
the
support
ofArabiantribes-
men
inKhurasanaswell.
Inorderto
accomplishthis,
hehad
toidentifytheda’wawith
the
cas.
abiyyaofthesoutherners
[anArabian
tribalfaction]andthisiswhathe
succeededin
doing.
Byadjusting
the
da’watothe
existingpoliticalcircumstances.
AbfiMuslimwasableto
attracttohiscause,enbloc,thousandsof
excellent
fighters
Inits
final
stage
[theAbbasids]
acquired
an
armywhichwas
mainlyArabinitsconstitution.
The armies
which carried theAbbasids
to
victory
hadthree
Khurasanielements:
Arabiantribesmen,Arabian
nontribesmen,
and
Iranian nontribesmen.
The Abbasid
army
thus had
the
same
compositionas
everypreviousIslamicate
army,Arabian
warriorsand
non-Arabian
auxiliaries;the
major
difference
lay
in
the
organization
and
statusofthe
non-Arabians.
Earlier
interpretations
of
theAbbasidtakeover
mistookthe
Abbasids’
antitribal
policy
foran
anti-Arabianone.Thetwocan
indeedbe
easilyconfused, since itwas
theArabianswhobe-
longedtotribes,but
theywere
very
different.The
Abbasidsdid
not
rebel
against Arabiansbut
against
the
tribal
organization
which
profited
Arabians
so
greatly
at the
expense ofother
Muslims.
The
factorswhichhad
madeunfreesoldiersso
importantin
Sharon,"CAbbasiddaCwa,
p.XXXII.
Ibid.,
pp.
XXXIII-XXXIV.
68.Ibid.,
p.
XXXIV.