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The Pay of Client Soldiers in the Umayyad Period

The Pay of Client Soldiers in the Umayyad Period Patricia Crone (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) It is well known that Umayyad soldiers were paid an annual sum in cash, known as eata (stipends), and a monthly allocation in kind, known as rizq (rations), which enabled them to serve on a full-time basis. One is thus surprised by the commonly encountered claim that non-Arab Muslims (mawali, "clients") who served in the army rarely or never received regular pay.1 The non-Arabs in question were not peasant soldiers or feudal grandees rendering military service by way of fulfillment of duties attached to land. How did they combine soldiering with making a living, then? Since there is no record of them being conscripted, one may also ask why they should have seen fit to join up. The answer, of course, is that the commonly encountered claim is wrong: though clients were not paid as much as Arabs, paid they certainly were. The idea that the Umayyads recruited non-Arab soldiers without paying them is a modern elaboration on the old theme of Umayyad iniquity: c Umar treated Arab and non-Arab Muslims equally when he instituted the military roll (dlwan), we are told, but the secular-minded ) See for example G. VAN http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Der Islam de Gruyter

The Pay of Client Soldiers in the Umayyad Period

Der Islam , Volume 80 (2) – Jan 1, 2003

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Walter de Gruyter
ISSN
0021-1818
eISSN
1613-0928
DOI
10.1515/islm.2003.80.2.284
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Patricia Crone (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) It is well known that Umayyad soldiers were paid an annual sum in cash, known as eata (stipends), and a monthly allocation in kind, known as rizq (rations), which enabled them to serve on a full-time basis. One is thus surprised by the commonly encountered claim that non-Arab Muslims (mawali, "clients") who served in the army rarely or never received regular pay.1 The non-Arabs in question were not peasant soldiers or feudal grandees rendering military service by way of fulfillment of duties attached to land. How did they combine soldiering with making a living, then? Since there is no record of them being conscripted, one may also ask why they should have seen fit to join up. The answer, of course, is that the commonly encountered claim is wrong: though clients were not paid as much as Arabs, paid they certainly were. The idea that the Umayyads recruited non-Arab soldiers without paying them is a modern elaboration on the old theme of Umayyad iniquity: c Umar treated Arab and non-Arab Muslims equally when he instituted the military roll (dlwan), we are told, but the secular-minded ) See for example G. VAN

Journal

Der Islamde Gruyter

Published: Jan 1, 2003

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