88
TheIslamicateContext
varied
origins,
therulerhadmuch
lesscontroloverwherethey
camefrom.
Further, byenslaving
his recruits,
the Muslim
rulercould
choose
hissoldiersman
forman.Mercenariesand
alliesarrived
in
corps
ortribesandfought
asa
group;
slaves
came
singly.
The
government
couldselectitsslavescarefully,
whichwas
not
possi-
blewith
free
marginal
areasoldiers.
Thisselectivity
made
possi-
blea
higher
standardofquality
foreachsoldier
inslavearmies.
Along
withthese
benefits,the
procurement
of
military
slaves
also involve
some
special problems.
As a
dynasty
declined in
strength,
itcould no
longer
acquire
itsslaves through
force
(raiding,
warfare,andsoforth)
buthadtopurchase
them.Yet,
as the
dynasty
weakeneditsresources
diminished,
sothisex-
pense grew
evermore burdensome.
The Mamluks
of
Egypt
couldneither
reducetheirdependence
onnewrecruits
norac-
quire
them
inexpensively;
theneedto
buy
slaves
contributed
significantly
totheeconomic
troublesof
the
government.
TM
Thedistanceslavesusually
hadtotravel
fromtheirhomelands
totheir
country
ofserviceandthefragility
ofthe
supply
lines
couldalsocauseproblems.
7
Asslavesusually
camefromremote
regions,
enemy
forcescouldeasily
blockaccesstothem.
Abbasid
dependence
on theTahirids
tosend themslave
childrenre-
duced Abbasid control
in northern Iran
and added to the
Tahirids’
strength.
On
theotherhand,why
theOttomansdid
notcutoffthesupply
ofrecruitsfrom
theBlackSeaandthe
Caucasusareas
totheMamlukkingdom,
oncethose
two
powers
hadbecomeantagonistic,
continues
tobafflehistorians.
The
expense
and
the distance over which military
slaves
traveled
presented
twodrawbackspeculiar
toslavesoldiers,
but
only
in
times ofdecline;theseproblems
werenotenvisioned
74.Ayalon,"Aspects,"
p.208;
E.Ashtor,"Recent
ResearchonLevantine
Trade,"Journal
of
European
Economic
History
(1973): 201
idem.,LesMetauxpre-
cieux
(Paris,
1971),pp.
99-108;R.Lopez,
H.Miskimin,and
A.Udovitch,"En-
gland
toEgypt,
1350-1500:Long-term
TrendsandLong-distmace
Trade,"Studies
intheEconomicHistory
of
theMiddle
East,ed.M.A.Cook(London,
1970),
p.
127.
(Boaz
Shoshon
gave
the
referencestoAshtor’sworks.)
75.
Ayalon,
"Aspects,"pp.
207-08;Hrbek,pp.552-53.