174 Origins
recruitedthemasmawlas.Thesecondtimethisneed
arose,
the
authoritiesestablishedthe
patternwhichwastobefollowedfora
millennium:
they
went
beyond
their domains and recruited
marginal
areasoldiersasslaves.
TheSecond
Need,
195-205/811-20:
Slaves
ADetribalized
Army. TheAbbasid
army
couldnothavebeenmore
differentfromits
Umayyadprecursor.The
Umayyadarmy
had
remainedtribalbecausethe
central
government
hadbeenun-
ableto
assumedirectcontroloverit.As
conquerors,
thesoldiers
hadthe
strength
toretainthetribalstructurewhichservedthem
sowell,first
against
thecentral
authority
andthenasameansto
controlthenon-Arabianconvertswho
joined
the
army.
TheAb-
basid
dynasty,
on
the
contrary,began
asa
quasi-religious
move-
ment;
it had no truck with tribal
etiquette
and itowed the
tribesmenno
privileges.
From
129/747,
theAbbasids
made
ef-
fortstocontroltheir
army
andtoinsurethe
equalparticipation
ofalltheir
supporters.
Forboththesereasons,
they
detribalized
the
army.By
organizing
new
corps
oftheirownwhichhadno
otherleadersor
allegiances,
theAbbasids
acquiredadirectcon-
troloverthe
army
whichtheir
predecessorsalwayslacked.Also,
as
conspirators
andthenrebels,
they
neededa
loyalarmy
and
didnot
worry
aboutitsconstitution.
Theold
dichotomy
between
tribesmenandotherswouldhave
impeded
theAbbasidsearch
for
loyalsoldiers;theyhadto
open
therankstoalltheir
parti-
sans:Arabiansand
others,
tribesmen
andothers.
Eliminating
thetribalelementmadeiteasierfortheAbbasidstocontrolthe
army
andtorecruitintoit
loyal
supporters
ofall
background.
The Abbasids
engineered
this
military reorganization by
changing
the
Military
Register.
IntheArabian
period,
theMili-
taryRegister
had
playedavitalrolein
distinguishing
Arabian
tribesmenfromotherMuslims.
Tribal
membershipbrought
en-
franchisement,for
militarypay
and
politicalpower
both
came
through
thetribes.This
insuredArabiancontroloverIslamicate
public
lifein
general
andoverthe
non-Arabiansin
military
ser-
vicein
particular.
Shortlyafter
Abfi
MuslimarrivedinKhurasanin
129/747,
he
foundedthefirstnontribal
corpsofMuslimsoldiers.Hedidthis