96
TheIslamicateContext
erswhoreceivedvastnumbersof
s[aves
aswar
captives
(see
p.
97).
6.
An
abundance of servile women
in courts
may
have
made
rulersmore predisposedtomilitaryslavery.
A Muslim
mancould
keepany
numberofconcubines;this
practice
filled
therulers’
palaces
with
legions
ofslavewomen.Many
aMuslim
rulerfoundhimselfsurrounded
by
femalesofslaveorigins,in-
cluding
hismotherandwives;
why
not,then,includemaleslaves
inhis
entourage
too?
- Islamsummonsan
unparalleledallegiance
fromitsadher-
ents.Ithasthe
power
to
change
loyalties;
it
routinely
transforms
a
person’s
wholeorientation.
ThismadeiteasierforMuslims
than for other peoples
to
place
outsiders in
responsible po-
sitions. Islamshowsastonishingpower
in
capturing
a
person’s
primaryidentity;
converts
usually
viewthemselvesas Muslims
firstandasmembersofanethnic
group
orregion
second.While
many
differences
distinguished
Muslimsfromeachother,
they
felttheircommonbondmorethanthosedifferences.So
power-
fulwasthisaffiliationthat,for
example,
theTurks"submerged
their
identity
inIslam"tothe
point
where,inpremoderntimes,
they
hadalmost
no self-conception
other thanas Muslims.
93
Similarly,
forBerbersinNorthAfrica,"notionsbetweentribal
andIslamicwere
hazy
andofdoubtfulsocial
significance.
’’94
The
power
oftheIslamic
bond
gave
amasterconfidencethat
aslavewhoconvertedtoIslamreally
didtransferhis
allegiance
totheMuslims. When
non-Muslims
attempted
to
bring
about
comparablechanges
in
identity,they
didnotmeetwiththesame
success;boththe
Byzantines
andtheCrusaders
triedtoeffecta
similartransformation
in
marginal
area soldiers;
95
butChris-
tianity
doesnotbinditsadherentsas
tightly
asIslamdoes.
93.B.Lewis,The
Emergence
of
Modern
Turkey(London,1965),p.
13;S.A.Zen-
kovsky,Pan-TurkismandIslaminRussia
(Caxnbridge,
Mass.,1967),
p.
8.Islamhad
the
veryspecialpower(shared,perhaps,onlybytheUnitedStates)tochangenot
onlytheidentityofanewmemberofitscommunitybutalsothatofhisancestors.
94.
Gellner,p.
15.
95.On
Byzantium,
see
Vryonis, "Byzantine
andTurkishSocieties,"
pp.
125-52,
comparing
ByzantineandIslamicate
attempts;
alsoC.Cahen,
"Djaysh"
inEl2.OntheCrusaders,seeSmail,
pp.
111-12,
discussing
the
Turcopoles,
the