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

134

Origins

the revolt,

so Ibn Abi

S.abra

consultedwith

the notables of

Medinaabout

plans

forfutureactions.

Hefeared

al-Mans.ffr’s

reaction--namely,

thathewould

have

everyone

killed,andes-

pecially

theslaves.Thenotables

showed

pride

inwhatthe

Blacks

haddonebuttriedtomodify

their

antagonism

to

theAbbasid

forces.Tomaintaintheirposition,

theBlacksbarracaded

them-

selvesinthemarketplace.

IbnAbi

S.abra

thencalled

acouncilto

whichfour

representatives

camefromeachtribeand

fourfrom

themawlas(i.e.

the

Blacks).

IbnAbi

S.abra

calledforobedience

toal-Mans.ffr;finally

hiswill

prevailed

andthe

Abbasid

governor

returned. Retribution wasrelatively

mild; thehands

offour

blackleaderswerecut

off

(thepunishment

forstealing).

Thus

endedamost

remarkablerebellionbyslaves

ontheirmasters’

behalf.

179

According

toOmar,"theoutburst

seemstohavebeen

motivated

by

economicandsocial

factorsaswellasthesense

of

passion

and

loyalty

feltby

the slaves fortheirindignant

masters."

180

The Abbasids

suppressed

a revolt

in al-Yamama and al-

Bahrayn

in152/769and

tookbothArabianandmawlacaptives

(s.abs)?

sx

Some

years

lateramawla

oftheBanff

Thaqif

wholived

inBukharaleda

rebellioninKhurasan?

s2

When

theShiCirebel

al-H.usayn

b.cAliadvancedtoMeccain169/785,

his 300 follow-

ersincludedmawlas;

among

thema

wa4.f

led 70 horsemen?

s3

When

al-Hu.sayn

b.CAlineededmoremanpower,

hesentoutthe

usualofferto slaves:

"Theslavewho

joins

us isfree."

Some

slaves

lefttheirmastersand

fought

forthe

rebels,butwhenan

irateslaveowneraskedal-.Husaynhow

hecouldmanumitand

employ

slaveshedidnot

possess,

al-

.Husaynmeekly

returned

to

thismanhisownandaneighbor’s

two

slaves,

ls4

Amawlaleda

four-year

rebellion

inKhurasanfrom

183/799

to 186/8027

s5

Urmiya

in Azerbaidzhan

felltoAbbasid

troops

179.

T,3:265-71.

180.Omar,AbbsidCaliphate,p.

239.

181.TYac,2:385.

182.T,3:470;

TYa

,

2:397.

T,3:563alsoidentifies

himasamawla.

183.

Mawlas:

Abfi’l-Faraj

al-Is.fahni,Maqtila.t-Tlibiyn,pp.

449,446.

Wf."

ibid.,

p.

45O.

184.T,3:556.

185.T,

3:649-51.