Introduction xv
core areaaloneisnot
enough
forthis;tounderstandIslamin
history,they
mustbetracedtothefarcorners.Forthis
purpose,
theMiddleEastisonlyone
region
of
many,
albeitthemost
im-
portant.
For
example,
Islamicatecitiesinthecore areawere
usually
dividedintoethnic
quarters;
wasthisanIslamicatefea-
tureoraMiddleEasternone?TheanswerliesinIslamicatecities
outsidetheMiddleEast.
If
mostMuslimsfromnorthwestAfrica
toSoutheastAsiain
premodern
timesshareda
pattern,
itwas
presumablyIslamicate;
butbefore
deciding
this,onemustven-
ture stillfarther afield to examine
patterns.
Muslims every-
where emphasized cavalry
over
infantry;
did this reflectan
Islamicatebiasorauniversal
tendency?
Theanswertothislies
outsideIslamdom.
Inordertodiscussthese
questions
most
precisely,
Ishallcon-
centrateonanIslamicate
pattern
thatexistedthroughout
most
ofIslamdomandnowhereelse
yet
hadnoevidentconnectionto
Islam.This is
military slavery,
the
systematicacquisition,
or-
ganizedtraining,
and
professionalemployment
of
slavesinmil-
itary
service.
It
existed
among
Muslimsfrom
SpaintoBengal
(andpossiblyfarther);
it
was
absentoutsideIslamdom
(slaves
did
fight
fornon-Muslims,butnotinthesame
systematic
manner
norwiththesame
degree
of
importance);yet
ithadno
religious,
legal,orinstitutional
tietoIslam.
5
To
non-Muslims,
slavesol-
diers
wereanomalousand
rare;
toMuslims
they
werefamiliar
and
widespread.
CanIslam accountfor thisdifference,even
though
ithas
nothing
to
say
about
using
slavesassoldiers?This
studyargues
thatIslamdidhavearelationto
militaryslavery--
furthermore,
thatthisrelation
representsonly
onediscernible
point
onawide
spectrum
of
political
and
military
Islamicate
institutions.
Chapter
3 tiesslavesoldiers
specifically
toIslam;
the
followingpages
discuss
generally
howIslam extendedits
influencetoallfacets
oflife.
5.Besidesthese
primary
reasonsfor
studyingmilitaryslavery,
thereare
others:(3)The
topic
hasconsiderableintrinsicinterest,
raising
such
questions
as:
areslavesoldiersrealslaves,
why
domasters
purposefully
armslaves,andwhat
relationsdotheybeartotheirmasters?(4)Althoughmilitaryslaveryplaye
d
an
important
roleinmost
premodern
Islamicate
dynasties,
ithasnotbeen
treatedas
a
single
institution.