AL-MANSUR

Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur. And al-Rahman had assembled a very powerful army of blond, blue-eyed Slavic slaves supplemented with black African warriors. The Caliph, was always concerned when one of his subjects had an effective fighting force as he might be a rival. But if the troops were Muslims the danger was not so great as there was a built in loyalty to the Caliph. However, in this case, the fierce fighters were not Muslims. Hence the sea was a desirable barrier.

Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Mansur. And al-Rahman had assembled a very powerful army of blond, blue-eyed Slavic slaves supplemented with black African warriors. The Caliph, was always concerned when one of his subjects had an effective fighting force as he might be a rival. But if the troops were Muslims the danger was not so great as there was a built in loyalty to the Caliph. However, in this case, the fierce fighters were not Muslims. Hence the sea was a desirable barrier.