People keep repeating this myth of “Arab armies conquering half the world,” but the actual history is way more complicated.
The Umayyad military machine was
mostly non‑Arab. In North Africa and Iberia, the fighting force was overwhelmingly
Berber, not Arab. Those same Berbers later revolted because of unequal treatment, heavy taxation, and discrimination ... and that revolt is one of the major reasons the western Umayyad domains collapsed. If the empire was truly an “Arab super‑army,” it wouldn’t have depended on non‑Arab manpower to survive.
And the idea that the Umayyads steamrolled every major power is just wrong. They
lost repeatedly to the Byzantines, especially in Anatolia and around Constantinople. They also failed to hold territory in France, losing to the Franks at Tours. Their expansion was fast, but their ability to
keep territory was limited.
As for the Battle of Talas — it wasn’t some clean “Arab victory over China.” The deciding factor was the
Karluk Turks switching sides mid‑battle, attacking the Tang army from behind. That’s what broke the Chinese line. Without the Turkic defection, the Abbasid forces would not have won. Even Chinese and Arab sources acknowledge this. Talas is remembered mainly because it marked the moment Turkic groups aligned more closely with the Islamic world.
So the narrative of “Arabs alone defeated Rome, Persia, China, and Europe” ignores the actual mechanics:
- Berbers carried the western conquests
- Persians and Mawali carried the eastern administration
- Turks became the backbone of the military later
- And internal revolts from these same groups helped end the dynasty
The Umayyad expansion was real, but it was never a purely Arab project. It was a multi‑ethnic empire held together by non‑Arab soldiers, non‑Arab administrators, and non‑Arab converts — and it fell apart largely because those groups were treated unequally.
Now, how the Umayyads ended:They lasted
89 years (661–750 CE).
The Abbasids overthrew them in 750 CE, killing most of the Umayyad elite. Only one prince escaped to Spain, forming the separate
Córdoba Umayyad Emirate.
And here’s the part people never talk about:Under the Abbasids,
Turks rose to power — even when they started as slaves (ghilman). Their military skill, discipline, and loyalty made them the backbone of the Abbasid army. Over time, Turkic commanders became so influential that they effectively ran the empire’s military and politics. This eventually led to:
- The rise of Turkic dynasties
- The Seljuks
- The Mamluks (many of whom were Turkic)
- And later the Ottomans
So ironically, the collapse of the Umayyads opened the door for
Turks to become the dominant force in the Islamic world.
As for the Berbers .. what happened to them? after being mistreated by the Umayyads, they revolted, formed their own states, and rejected Arab identity. They kept their own languages, cultures, and ethnic identities. That’s why modern North Africans overwhelmingly identify as Amazigh, Kabyle, Riffian, Chaoui, Tuareg, etc., not Arab.
On the Tang side, you had:
- Karluk Turks
- Other Turkic auxiliaries
- Tang Chinese regulars
On the Abbasid side, you had:
- Turkic contingents
- Local Transoxianian forces
- Only a minority of actual Arab troops
Damn this is cold. No Arab victory.
