When Abbasi family came to power, there had
been great changes observed in the general policy that was followed by the religion of
Islam. The Abbasi revolution took place in Khorasan that had a majority of Non-Arabian
people (people of strangers) and it achieved success in this region. Therefore, the people
of the southern states and especially the people in Khorasan shared the administrative and
military ranks of the state. Abbasi family behaved kind to the people of strangers that
opened the way to power for them and the first caliph, Ebul-Abbas issued regulations
ordering that poll tax would not be collected from Muslims. The alliance of Turks and
Muslims against the Chinese people in Talas War in the year of 751 had eliminated the
hostility and timidity from of old to some degree. This positive stance of the new dynasty
in the very beginning of their government led the Turks to approach to the Muslims and the
religion of Islam much more.
The second Abbas caliph, Ebu Cafer El Mansur was the first person that had commissioned
the Turks with the posts in the services of the state. At the same time, he had bequeathed
to his son El Mehdi to behave kind to the people of strangers, to listen to their demands
and to protect their rights. There were some other Turkish rulers to whom the Caliph
El-Mehdi sent envoys and invited to obedience and the conversion to Islam.
Despite all
these efforts, Turks in the Transoxania and within its environs had not entirely adopted
the religion of Islam. This situation can be understood from the raids organised towards
Soğd, Ferghana and Uşrusana in the period of the Caliph El-Me'mun. But as a consequence,
the Caliph El-Me'mun established dominion all over the Transoxania and then ordered to the
governors of the region to organise military expeditions upon Turkestan. The governors
tried to attract the families of the rulers through promising that those who would adopt
the religion of Islam would earn salaries. El-Me'mun showed great interest to those who
applied for the conversion into Islam.
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- Furthermore,
these people were entitled to some ranks. For example, all of the commanders such as
İl-Afşin, Aşnaz, Boğa El-Kebir and İnak, etc. that were the leading commanders of
el-Me'mun were the administrators of the regions or the members of the ruling family in
the regions from which they came. The same policy was maintained in the period of
el-Mu'tasım. In his period, most of the troops that were enrolled in the lines of the
caliphate armies were provided from the regions in which Turks lived such as Ferghana,
Usrusana, Şaş, Soğd, etc. The caliphs governed the state properly and the people of the
Transoxania attained the majority within the structure of the army. Upon these
developments, most of the inhabitants of Transoxania adopted the religion of Islam in the
period of el-Mu'tasım. According to the statements provided in the resources, all of the
inhabitants in the Transoxania became Muslims in the periods of el-Me'mun and
el-Mu'tasım. However, it should be stated that the Turks that adopted the religion of
Islam were so few when compared to the great Turkish mass groups that were beyond the
borders of the Islam State.
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