86
TheIslamicateContext
ning
thecycleoveragain.
Thefirstforcedits
way
in,
violently
imposing
itswill fromtheoutside,whilethesecond wasim-
ported
and
acquiredpowerpeacefully
fromwithin.
Marginal
areasoldiersenteredonceas
conquering
warriors,thesecond
timeaspaidsoldiers.
This
explanation
foroutsiderdomination
ofIslamicate
public
lifereversesthe
usual
understanding.
Other
analyses,
whichas-
sumethatMuslim
subjectssoughtpower
butfailedtoattainit
becauseoutsiderstookover,
7
focusattentiononthe
wrong
ac-
tors.I
argue
thatthe
key
liesinthisfact:insidersrelinquished
power
andallowedoutsiderstotakeit
up.
Outsidersoldiersand
rulerswere
always
inthe
wings
in
premodern
times;the
striking
featureinIslamdomwasnotthe
presence
of
marginal
areasol-
diersbuttheabsenceofinsiders.The
peculiarity
lay
withthein-
siderswhodidnotrulemoreoften.
HadMusliminsiderswished
to
participate,
noonecouldhave
prevented
them;thefactthat
they
didnot
points
totheir
relinquishment
of
power,
whichthen
made rule
by
outsiders
possible.
Adherence to
theideals of
Islamdidnotcausean
abundanceofoutsidersin
authority
buta
dearth
ofinsiderswhowishedtoassumeit.
TheBenefitsofMilitarySlavery
Whenarulerdecidedtorecruitsoldiersfrom
marginal
areasto
replenish
hisarmedforces,hehadthreemeans
through
which
to
acquire
them: alliance,
pay,
orenslavement.Each ofthese
methodshadits
advantages
anddrawbacks,
yet
I
shall
argue
that
in
two
crucial
respects,
rulers
preferred
slavestoeithermer-
cenaries oralliesbecause
they
were
acquired
more
easily
and
more
thoroughly
controlled. In thesebenefits
lay
the raison
d’etre of
militaryslavery.
Ibn Khaldfinrefersto themin his
eulogy
ofmilitaryslavery:
Thisstatusof
slavery
isindeeda
blessing
[theslaves]embrace
Islamwiththedeterminationoftruebelievers,whileretainingtheir
nomadicvirtues
whichareundefiled
by
vile
nature,
unmixedwith
70.
E.g.Goitein,p.
218;Grunebaum,lslam,
p.
132.