THE PERIOD of the so-called Patriarchal Caliphs continues to be rich with questions which can be investigated only with material which often seems less than adequate. Among the more intriguing questions are those connected with the rôle of Kūfa and the emergence there of the political alignments with which representatives both of the early Umayyad caliphs and of the anti-caliph Ibn al-Zubayr had later to deal, namely the Khawārij, the Shī'a and the tribal ashrāf. The remarks in this article are intended to present a broad picture of conclusions reached in a more detailed study of the formation of these political alignments-conclusions which are based on evidence contained in the earliest Islamic historical sources available to us, notably those of al-Balādhurī, al-Tabarī, Ibn Sa'd, Ibn A'tham al-Kūfī, Khalfa ibn Khayyāt and Naṣr ibn Muzāhim al-Minqarī.

I. The years from 34/654-55 to 40/660-61 were a time of crisis in Arabia, Egypt and the Fertile Crescent-a crisis which began with the dissension that arose under ‘Uthmān and led to his murder, continued with civil war between ‘Alī and Mu'āwiya, and ended with the murder of ‘Alī. From the time of ‘All's death we can discern at Kūfa three broad political alignments, whose preceding circumstances it is the purpose of this article to examine: the Khawārij, who had been so named since the time of the confrontation at Ṣiffīn and appeared in opposition both in the time of ‘Alī and immediately after; the Shī'a, who had originally been ‘All's supporters and were an opposition movement thereafter; and tribal leaders, usually termed ashrāf al-qabā'il, who were the intermediaries in 347 the official power structure of ‘Irāq in the early Umayyad I period. The regime in ‘Irāq from the time of Mu'āwiya and Ziyād until the time of al-Hajjāj ā j rested on a tribal organization in which tribal leaders were supposed to support, and were in turn supported by, the government. The pre-Islamic clan organization was the essential basis, but in the changed environment of a central government and the garrison towns of Kūfa and Baṣra. Fighting men (muqātila) were organized in tribal groups which in turn made up the arbā' and akhmās of kūfa and Baṣra; each tribal group was made up of clans, and the units known as ‘irāfāt were straightforward subdivisions of these.