The Breaking of a Thousand Swords: A History of the Turkish Military of Samarra (A.H. 200-275/815-889 C.E.)The Breaking of a Thousand Swords provides a portrait of the Samarran Turks as members of a community with a specific and complex history in the early medieval Islamic world. It considers: the encounter of the Turks as rough, non-Muslim outsiders, with the sedentary, urbane world of Baghdad; the closely related encounter of the Turks with the Islamic tradition in its urban, scholarly guise; the settlement of the Turks, in Baghdad then in Samarra, through the use of land grants and appointments to office; the impact upon the affairs of the Turkish community of not only a military ranking but of a socio-political hierarchy as well; the construction by the Turkish elite of an elaborate network of patronage and support, both within urban Iraq and throughout the provinces (Egypt in particular); and the emergence, and impact, of factionalism within the community. |
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Abbasid Abd Allāh Abnā Abū Isḥāq al-'Abbās al-Afshin al-Balawi al-Faḍl al-Fath al-Karkh Al-Kindi al-Ma'mun al-Mas'ūdī al-Mu'taşim al-Mu'tazz al-Muhtadi al-Mutawakkil al-Muwaffaq al-Ṣūlī Al-Tabari al-Wathiq al-Ya'qūbi Allāh Anbasa appears appointed Arab army Ashinās assigned Ayalon Baghdad Bāghir Bāyakbāk Bosworth Storm Bugha Bugha the Elder Bugha the Younger Buldān caliph campaign cited concerns Crisis Crone Dār Decline Early Islamic Egypt El'ad elite evidence example forces governor ibn Abd Ibn Taghribirdī Ibrāhīm imperial indicates Iraq Islamic Ītākh Ja'far Kennedy Prophet Khazar Khurasan Kitāb Kraemer later Maghariba Mamluk Miḥna military Muḥammad ibn Murūj Mūsā Mūsā ibn Bughā Mūsā's Muslim Northedge palace passage political provides reference regiments reign reports Reunification Revolt Saliba Ṣāliḥ ibn Sāmānids Samarra Samarra period Samarran Turks Slave Soldiers sources Sourdel suggests Ta'rikh Tahirid Töllner Transoxania troops Tūlūn Turkish Turkish commanders Turkish guard Turkish leaders Turkish leadership Turkish officers Turkish soldiers Umayyad Vizirat Waines Waṣif