Faraghina The Faraghina ( " " ) were a regiment in the regular army of the Abbasid Caliphate which was active during the ninth century A . D . Consisting of troops who originated from the region of Farghana in Transoxiana , the Faraghina participated in several military campaigns and played a significant role in the politics of the central government , especially during the Anarchy at Samarra . Background . Farghana was a frontier province bordering the lands of Islam during the Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates . Occupying the entire valley to the east of Khujand , it was surrounded to the north , east and south by mountains , with the Syr Darya running through it . The capital of the region was for some time at Kasan in the north ; by the Islamic period , however , it had moved to the city of Akhsikath on the bank of the Syr Darya . Prior to the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana , control of Farghana is described variously in the sources as having been exercised by an Iranian dynasty whose rulers used the title of " ikhshid " , or by the local Turks in the region . Farghana was occupied in 712 - 3 by Qutayba ibn Muslim , but a firm Muslim presence was not established and the local rulers maintained their hold over the country . Over the course of the eighth century the Muslims repeatedly conducted raids into the valley , but its conquest remained incomplete . It was only during the governorship of Nuh ibn Asad in c . 820 - 1 that Farghana was more fully incorporated into the Islamic state , and it may have been around this same time that the Faraghina regiment began to be formed . Foundation . According to the historian al - Mas ' udi , the Faraghina regiment was created by al - Mu ' tasim ( r . 833 – 842 ) ; it seems likely , however , that the process of recruiting soldiers from Farghana was begun during the reign of al - Ma ' mun ( r . 813 - 833 ) . Al - Baladhuri , writing in the late ninth century , recorded that al - Ma ' mun sent envoys to recruit men from the people of Transoxiana ; after his death , his successor al - Mu ' tasim continued this policy to such an extent that Transoxianans soon achieved a dominant role in the caliph ' s army . The Faraghina were firmly established by the time that al - Mu ' tasim decided to construct the new capital of Samarra , and they were given land grants in the city after its completion in 836 . According to al - Ya ' qubi , the Faraghina were granted allotments adjacent to , but separate from , the quarters of the Turkish soldiers , and that both the Turks and Faraghina were segregated from the general population . The residences of the Faraghina were principally located along the avenues called Shari ' al - Barghamish al - Turki and Shari ' al - Askar , although some of the regiment officers had allotments along the Shari ' al - Hayr al - Jadid . The Faraghina were only one of several new regiments in al - Mu ' tasim ' s army , serving alongside others such as the Turks , Ushrusaniyya and Maghariba . Of the non - Turkish units , they appear to have been among the largest , and are mentioned relatively frequently in the sources . Al - Ya ' qubi referred to at least some of the Faraghina as " ' ajam " , a term which has been variously interpreted to mean that may have been non - Muslims , non - Arabic speaking or uncivilized . In any case , it seems that they were considered as outsiders by the mainstream elements of Muslim society . History . The Faraghina are mentioned by al - Tabari as having participated in some of the military campaigns undertaken during al - Mu ' tasim ' s caliphate . They served , for example , under the prominent general al - Afshin in the war against the rebel Babak al - Khurrami in Adharbayjan ; during the attack against Babak ' s fortress of al - Badhdh in 837 , they distinguished themselves in battle and played a major part in the capture of the stronghold . In the following year , during al - Mu ' tasim ' s expedition against Amorium , the Farghanan commander ' Amr al - Farghani was a leading officer in the caliph ' s army . While the campaign was underway , however , several Faraghina officers became involved in a plot to kill al - Mu ' tasim and replace him with al - ' Abbas ibn al - Ma ' mun ; when the plan was discovered by the caliph , the conspirators , including ' Amr , were rounded up and executed . Following the assassination of the caliph al - Mutawakkil in December 861 , the Faraghina played an important role during the period known as the Anarchy at Samarra ( 861 – 870 ) . In the chaotic years following al - Mutawakkil ' s death , they frequently participated in the riots that broke out in the capital , and they were said to have been involved in the deaths of the " wazir " Utamish and the Turkish commanders Wasif al - Turki and Salih ibn Wasif . Like the other regiments in Samarra , their main concern during this period was to ensure that they received their pay , as the government was often incapable of providing their salaries in a timely manner . When civil war broke out between the rival caliphs al - Musta ' in and al - Mu ' tazz in 865 , the Faraghina largely supported the latter . Five thousand Turks and Faraghina were part of the initial force sent from Samarra to besiege al - Musta ' in in Baghdad , and over the course of the war additional Farghanan soldiers were sent to join the fight . Some of the Faraghina did initially fight for al - Musta ' in , such as those under Muzahim ibn Khaqan , but they later joined Muzahim when he decided to defect to al - Mu ' tazz ' s side . After the end of the war , from which al - Mu ' tazz emerged victorious , the Faraghina returned to Samarra . As the government continued to suffer from a worsening fiscal crisis , the caliph attempted to favor the Faraghina and Maghariba and use them against the Turks ; in spite of this , however , all three groups united to overthrow al - Mu ' tazz in July 869 . The next caliph , al - Muhtadi , likewise promised to bestow favors upon the Faraghina and the other non - Turkish regiments of the army . When the Turks under Musa ibn Bugha al - Kabir revolted against the caliph in June 870 , the Faraghina defended al - Muhtadi and comprised the bulk of his cavalry ; in the resulting battle , they were defeated and suffered heavy losses . It is likely that the Faraghina ' s importance declined after the death of al - Muhtadi and the accession of al - Mu ' tamid ( r . 870 - 892 ) . Al - Mu ' tamid ' s brother Abu Ahmad al - Muwaffaq , who became the commander - in - chief of the army , enjoyed strong relations with the Turkish commanders , and he may have preferred the Turks to the exclusion of the Faraghina and other non - Turkish units . After this point , individual Farghanans continued to serve in the army , but the regiment itself largely disappears in the sources .