Theabnāʾ ad-dawla (Arabic:أبناء الدولة, meaning "sons of theregime/dynasty"), often " theAbnāʾ", refers to theKhorasani Arabs who participated in theAbbasid Revolution of 749–750 and their descendants who settled inBaghdad andIraq. They became the ruling elite of theAbbasid Caliphate and formed the mainstay of the caliphal army. The term rarely appears in the sources until theFourth Fitna civil war in the 810s, when it was applied to the Khurasanis of Baghdad, who overwhelmingly supported Caliphal-Amin against his brotheral-Ma'mun. The termsahl Khurāsān ("people of Khurasan") andabnāʾ ahl Khurāsān ("sons of the people of Khurasan") are more frequently used for the Khurasanis who formed the mainstay of the Abbasid regime in general. Following al-Ma'mun's victory in the civil war, theabnāʾ al-dawla were largely replaced by the latter'sPersian followers, and under his successoral-Mu'tasim, the rise of theTurkishslave-soldiers to power began.