Re: Peaceful Conquests
No I meant the original Turks, as in Medieval Gok Turks and Slejuks from the time of the likes of Alp Arsalan, Toghrul Baig and Gokburi Khan.
They were originally like hired guns, the medieval blackwater or special forces as it were. The Arab Caliphs had noticed that thier own soldiers especially the cavalry were of poor quality and the Turks offered better quality men willing to fight for money.
At first the Turks were not Muslims but merely hired swordsmen and archers but over time thier leaders converted and they were stationed in Garrisons out of towns and cities.
An example of one of these Garrison towns was Sammara outside Baghdad. The Turks were devout Muslims and ended up being a lot more dedicated fighters than thier Arab counterparts, the early Abbasids used them to help gain power.
However the Abbasids became more an more corrupt and the Islamic theologians of the time were persecuted, the Turks in the early days were also treated like second class citizens and they were not allowed in the main cities because the Government of the day feared thier powers.
Eventually however the Turks along with the help of the Islamic theologians helped to limit the control and eventually overthrow the ruling elite. When the Turks entered Baghdad and other cities they did so virtually without opposition becuase few palace guards dared to stand up to the barbarians and many of the guards were themselves former barbarian slaves.
A little offtopic, but when did Arabs started hiring Turks?
We read that during the event of Hilla (attack on Makah under Hajaj Bin Yusuf in Yazid’s period, there were a group of Zangi soldiers who raped Muslims women of Makkah and when some Arab woman complained and remind Hajaj his Arab identity, he punished them. So who were these Zangis?