Umayyad Arab 661 AD - 750 AD (III/31)

1. Start date

2. Downgrade to irregulars before 685

3. Dismounting cavalry

4. Seated generals

5. Remove the khawarij

6. Khandaq - camp fortifications

Proposer: The assembled company

1. Umayyad start date

Proposal:

Consider starting the Umayyad list at 657 instead of 660, overlapping with the Conquest list.

Justification:

At the Battle of Siffin in the civil war of 657, in the Syrian army of Mu'awiya who was to become the first Umayyad khalif in a few years, "Tribesmen from Akk are said to have performed what became the classic Syrian tactical manoeuvre when they knelt down to resist an Iraqi attack" (Kennedy p.10).

Whether the Akk troops were infantry or dismounting cavalry, this seems the first appearance of a tactic that defines troops as Spears rather than the Blades (or Warband!) of the Arab Conquest list. Particularly since these are the same men who would form part of the Umayyad army shortly afterwards, it may be a better point for a transition between the two lists than the formal establishment of the dynasty. Siffin would then be represented with Mu'awiya's Umayyads against Ali's Arab Conquest armies.

2. Make early Umayyad armies irregular

Add the following:

Before 685 only:

Replace non-general Reg Cv(O), Reg Sp (I), Reg Bw (O) and Reg Ps (O) with Irregulars All

Justification:

The transition from Arab tribal forces to a professional army did not take place overnight. Kennedy associates it with the Marwanids (the successors of Marwan ibn al-Hakam, khalif 684-685):

"By the time of his death, the Caliph 'Abd al-Malik (65-86/685-705) had created an army ... which was a distinct and largely professional force. It was the instrument of his authority ... In a real sense, his reign sees the emergence of an army, as opposed to a society which could be mobilised for war. In 64/683 this was still in the future. At this time there was still no hard and fast distinction between soldier and civilian."

The change is associated with administrative reforms under 'Abd al-Malik, including increased central power and the establishment of a standard coinage: "The establishment of mints in Syria for the first time, in the reign of 'Abd al-Malik, may be connected with the introduction of regular payments to the increasingly professional Syrian army" (p.69).

3: Dismounting

Proposal:

Add to the notes, preferably under a heading "Rules considerations":

"Generals, Jund cavalry and Fursan can always dismount as Sp (O)."

Justification:

The notes to the Abbasid Arab list imply that the Abbasid dismounting as a spear-line at the Zab was a new practice, but in fact it was a continuation of a tactic seen throughout the Umayyad period. At the Battle of Siffin in the 657, "Tribesmen from Akk are said to have performed what became the classic Syrian tactical manoeuvre when they knelt down to resist an Iraqi attack" (Kennedy p.10). These may either have been infantry or dismounted cavalry, but definite examples of dismounting can be found in many other battles:

- Ibn al-Ashtar at Kufa in 686 ordered his men to dismount and advance with drawn swords (p25)

- The same year, as-Zubar and Mukhtar both dismounted to fight each other

- In 695, a Khariji describes the Umayyads he fought against – "Their two commanders dismounted and ordered most of their men to dismount as well. Then we could no longer do as we wished with them."

- When Shabib b. Yazid fought the khawarij, both sides dismounted and fought on foot.

- Against the Khawarij, al-Hajjaj ordered his men to "Lower your eyes, get down on your knees and meet the enemy with the points of your spears".

- In 740 Syrian cavalry were ordered to dismount and fight on foot in street-fighting in Kufa. (p25)

- In 684, rebel forces were advised to "Place on cavalry squadron alongside another so that if one is attacked, the other can dismount and support the first with horses and men. When a squadron wants to be mounted it can and when it wants to dismount it can". (p28)

- At one point that force’s commander "ordered {his men} to dismount and break the sheaths of their swords and advance on foot".

- In 731 at the Pass, an army dismounted against harassing Turks. The relief force from Samarkand was advised by one officer to dismount and advance on foot with spears arrayed, but the commander decided to stay mounted. (pp29-30)

Since there are descriptions of dismounting both with spears and with swords, there is a strictly historical case for allowing the choice to dismount as Blades or as Spears. But it is simpler, and less open to abuse, for cavalry to dismount as the same type as the predominant infantry type: that is, Bd for the LPIA and Arab Conquest, Spears for the Umayyads, Abbasid Arab and any later armies affected.

4: Seated generals

"Commanders usually stationed themselves at the centre. Curiously, they often chose to command sitting down, either on a carpet, like the unfortunate ‘Attab" (ridden down by khawarij cavalry) "or on a chair. Al-Hajjaj commanded the Syrians from a chair which had to be moved forward as the troops advanced. Yazid b. al-Muhallab in Khuarasan commanded his troops sitting in a chair, perhaps because his armour was too heavy … for him to be able to mount a horse. Qutayba b. Muslim sat for the attack on Bukhara in 90/708. The reasons for this apparently relaxed attitude to command are not clear. It may reflect Sasanian practice but it may also have been practical, in that a stationary commander is much easier for his subordinates to find than one who is dashing all over the battlefield." (Kennedy p.24)

A mere chair is probably not enough to justify a WWg(I)/Bge(S) general, as a throne or litter would be. Alternatives are to allow a general to be Spears or Blades (as in the Later Samurai list) or simply to assume that a cavalry general has dismounted in these cases.

5. Khawarij

Delete:

Only before 744 AD:

Khawarij - Irr Cv (O) @ 7 AP 0-3

Justification

The khawarij were religiously-motivated rebels against the Umayyad Caliphate, and so hardly likely to be found in an Umayyad army. If covered, they should be in a distinct list or sub-list of their own - though it is unclear if they fielded enough troops for a DBM/DBMM army for more than the first few years after their emergence during the civil war in 658.

6: Allow fortified camps

Add:

Khandaq ditch and rampart – TF to fortify camp @ 1AP or fieldworks @ 2AP 0-24

Justification

The published list does not allow fortifications, but Umayyad armies frequently fortified their camps with a khandaq ditch and earth rampart. These are particularly recorded during campaigns against khawarij rebels, some commanders being noted for fortifying their camps every night.

"’Abd al-Hamid al-Katib, writing at the end of the Umayyad period, gives instructions for the construction of a khandaq. After the baggage has been set down and the army has been assigned its place to stay, before any tents are set up, each officer (qa’id) should be assigned a section of ground which he is to dig a trench {khandaq). It should be defended by hasak (either thorns or artificial caltrops). There are to be two gates each to be defended by an officer and a hundred men." (Kennedy p.27)

At the Day of the Pass in 731 (Kennedy 26-7, 29-30), Junayd b. ‘Abd al-Rahman’s force, hard pressed by the Türgesh Turks, were ordered to dismount and dig khandaqs in front of their lines. This could be treated as field-fortifications. Enough TF therefore need to be allowed to cover a substantial frontage.

References

Hugh Kennedy, The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State (Routledge 2001)