 In an effort to reduce expenditure, he had lowered the Iraqis' pay to less than that of their Syrian counterparts in the province.By his measures, al-Hajjaj appeared "almost to have goaded the Iraqis into rebellion, as if looking for an excuse to break them", according to the historian Hugh Kennedy.Indeed, conflict with the "muqātila" (Arab tribal forces who formed Iraq's garrisons) came to a head beginning in 699 when al-Hajjaj ordered Ibn al-Ash'ath to lead an expedition against Zabulistan.