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

The
Unfree

inMuslim

Warfare,

2-205/624-820 127

slavesasareward.
Mughithaccepted,

hadal-Walid

compel

Mfisa

torelease
Tariq,

and

duly

receivedhisreward.

121

WesternCentralAsia. While the
greatestconquests

in Central

Asiatook
place

inthe

period

86-96/705-15under

Qutayba

b.

Muslim,unfree

soldiershadmore

importanceinthe

following

twentyyears,

98-119/717-37.

The

mawla

.Hayyfin

an-Nabat.i

wasthe

predominant

unfree

leader
during

this

period.

His

origins

arein

dispute;

some

say

hisname
signaled

an

imperfect

commandof

Arabic,

othersthat

hewasKhuradanior
Daylami.

122

Internaltextualevidenceim-

plies

thathis

originslayintheDaylamimountains.

23

Hefirst

appeared

in 90/709when

negotiating

the

peacetreaty

(sul.h)

between
Qutayba

b.Muslimand

TarkhtSn,

therulerof

Sogh-

dia.

124

Three

years

later,after

Qutaybapunished.Hayyfin

with-

out
goodreason,
H.

ayyanturned

againstQutayba

andin96/715

played

a

majorpart

intherevolt

against

him.

z

Qutaybaplotted

tokill
H.

ayyan,but

H.

ayyan’s

khtdimswarnedhimofthe

danger

intime andsavedhim.

6

Atthis

point, H.ayyfin

commanded

7,000

mawla

troops;

he

wasa

major

militaryleaderinhisown

right.

z7

In98/117heconcluded

a

peacetreaty

forYazidb.

al-

Muhallabwith the
Is.pahbadh,

the rulerofTabaristan.

128

In

102/721

headvocatedanattackon

Soghdia,

andthisledtohis

deathshortlythereafter.

9

Astheleaderofa

largecorps

of

121.FM,

p.

210.IbneAbd

aI-H.

akam

consistendymisspelledMughith’s

name

"MuCattab, buthis

idendty

isclear.

122.PoorArabic:T,2:1291;Balami,4:229;IbnACtham,7:291.Khuransani:

BalCanfi,

4:211.

Daylami:

FB,

p.

337; IbnACthan, 7:291;

Balami,4:211.

Grohmann,

Arabic

Papyri,

3:32translates

naba.t

as

"peasant"

and

gives

references

to

support

this.

123.

Namely,

hisconversationwiththerulerofTabaristaninwhichhe

identifiedhimselfasaTabaristani(T,2:1329;

Ibn

A%ham,7:292).

124.T,2:1204;Narshakhi,pp.46,58.

125.Punished:T,

2:1253..Hayyfin

turnedon

Qutayba:

T,2:1290;

UH,3:19;

FB,
pp.

423-34;Narshakhi,

p.

58.

126.T,2:1290.

127.T,2:1291.

128.T,2:1329;Balami,4:229-30;UH,3:23;FB,p.337;IbnA*tham,7:292.

129.

T,

2:1430-32.Shaban,

Abbfisid

Revolution,p.100,suggests

an

interpre-

tationoftheseevents.