Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

HowMilitarySlaveryFirstOccurred 179

theydiscardedthetribalconnection.Detribalization

unmoored

loyalties

andleftmost

oftheArabianwarriors

floundering,

un-

ableor
unwilling

tofitintothenew

system

of

corpsorganizedby

theAbbasid

regime,

More

important

still,asthefervent

support

oftheAbbasidmovementcooled,the

Abbasidsfoundnobonds

tofallbackon;

they

wereleft"withan

empirepossessing

neither

tribalnorfactionaltiestoholdit

together.

’’75

Putmore

strongly,

"the

empire

fell

apart

becauseithadneverexisted.

’’76

TheAbbasidinsistenceondirectcontrolalienatedmany,

and

again,especially

the

Arabian tribesmen.Severe

political

divi-

sionsfollowed,withtheleadersinseveral

regionsbreaking

away

fromthe
caliphate.

This

process

of

segmentation

furtherin-

creased

Abbasidconcernwith

loyalty

anddirectcontrol.Asre-

bellions

multiplied

and

regions

broke

away,

therulersmadeever

more

desperate

effortstofind

loyalsupporters.

Crisis in
Military

Manpower,

195-98/811-14. Two

generations

after

gaining

the

caliphate,

theAbbasidscouldno

longerrely

on

thedescendantsofthe

marginal

areasoldierswhohadbrought

themto

power.

The

Khurasanis,

bothArabianandIranian,set-

tleddownorbecameunruly.The

civilwarof195-98/811-14

betweenthebrothersal-Amnand

al-Ma’mfinmade

thisfact

clear,

just

astheearlierwarof64-74/684-93had.

AI-Amfnreliedmostlyonthedescendantsofthetroopswho

hadwonin132/750,knownastheAbn’,the"coreand

nucleus"

oftheAhlBaghdl(PeopleofBaghdad)who"bore

thebruntof

the

struggle"againstal-Ma’mfin.7The

Abn’"werethe

mainstay

ofAmin

throughout

thewhole

struggle,

fromthefirstclash

up

tohis

very

death.

’’78

Arabiansdidnotplayalarge

roleinthecivil

war,

butinsofaras

theyfought,they

aidedal-Amin.

9

They

did

not

cooperate

wellwiththeAbn’,nordid

they

take

advantage

of

this last

opportunity

to

salvage something

of their earlier

power.

8

AI-Amin’s

troopsexemplified

whathappens

totheoff-

75.Crone,

p.128.

76.Cahen,

"Body

Politic,"

p.143.

77.Ayalon,"Reforms,"

pp.

5-6.

78.

Ibid.,p.10.

79.

Ibid.,p.13.

80. Ibid.,
    pp.21-22.