Non-Arab regiments and private militias during the Umayyād Period

Abstract

FROM the very beginnings of the formation of the Arab-Muslim military institution during the reign of 'Umar I, a number of ideological and organizational obstacles were prominent in the development of the institution. Non-Arab ethnic communities and non-Muslim religious communities found themselves incapable of coping with the entrance requirements of this military institution. Even A'rab, members of the Arab tribes who where both Arabs and Muslims, found that the road to joining the diwan was closed to them as early as a single decade or two at the most-after the formation of this institution. The growing need to enlist new soldiers in order to materialize the ambitious expansion plans of the Madina government and later, of the Umayyad Dynasty encountered an obstacle presented by the tribal organizational structure of the diwan forces, the very same tribal structure that made the issue of loyalty to one's ruler the constant dream and aspiration of the Umayyad rulers. Civil wars, of which there were three during the reign of this dynasty (a reign which lasted less than a century) on the one hand, and the competition for power on the part of rival entities inside and outside the dynasty on the other hand, brought about a gradual attenuation of the extent to which the ruler and their rivals depended upon the diwan forces. Each such entity began to seek ways of gaining military strength that could be relied upon when the time came. The rebellions which frequently broke out on the part of adventurers yearning for the throne as well as on groups, reduced considerably t tribes which had been involved in those rebellions and of certain geographical regions whose population had shown support for or collaborated with one rebel or another. All of these and other reasons brought about the collapse of the obstacles which had precluded the induction of the mawala (non-Arab converts) and dimmfs (non-Muslims), paving the way for the mobilization of private militias from every possible source. In this paper I shall attempt to draw a general picture of the formation, specialization, modus operandi and enlistment methods of these regiments and militias during the period in question.