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

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.