Black Banners from the East

This is a sequel to Black Banners from the East: Incubation of a Revolt, as much as it is an independent volume - the second in a trilogy on the birth and consolidation of the 'Abbasid state.

The circumstances which led to the 'Abbasid revolution, and the various elements which shaped it, continued well into the first century of the dynasty's rule and dominated both politics and cultural life. Sharon maintains that the 'Abbasid revolution displayed the two essential components of the classical revolution: an incubatory stage and a military revolt. An abortive revolution is one that fails to progress beyond the initial stage in which the revolutionary ideology is disseminated. No matter how successful this stage is, it is the actual military offensive that determines the outcome of the revolution. The 'Abbasid revolution is an excellent demonstration of these two phases.

The present volume examines the methods which Abu Muslim, the architect of the final and decisive revolt, used in order to create an army capable of defeating the Umayyad military power as well as taking over the governmental institutions without causing an upheaval.