TheFirstMilitarySlaveSystem
153
Thedebateover
whofirst usedTurksneednot
detainus
further;whetheritwasal-Mans.far,
al-Ma’mfin,or
al-MuCtim
depends
onone’sdefinition:
al-Mans.ur
wasthefirstto
acquire
them intentionally,
al-Ma’mfan thefirsttousetheminlarge
numbers,and
al-MuCta.sim
thefirstto
depend
onthemheavily.
More
important
forour
purposes
isthe
question:
whofirst
usedtheTurksandothersasmilitary
slaves?Whoshouldreceive
thecreditor
ignominy
forthisnovelinstitution?Theinforma-
tion
analyzed
herepointsunequivocally
toal-Ma’mfin.
Heini-
tiated
thisuseofslaves,thenhis
younger
brother
adopted
the
usage
so
enthusiastically
the
theinstitutioncametobeidentified
withhim.Aswith
the
Turks,
al-Ma’mfinfirstrecruitedmilitary
slaves,while
al-Mutas.im
cameto
rely
heavily
onthem.
TurkishMilitarySlavesin
aI-Mutaim’s
Service
Turks
predominated
as
military
slavesthanksto
their
superior
martial
qualities.
"No
people
intheworld[are]braver,
more
numerous,
ormoresteadfast,"
al-Mutas.im
is
supposed
tohave
saidaboutthem
(3);
their
abilitieswith
weapons
werefamous
(17);
CentralAsianswere
knownfortheir
courage
anddaring
(43);
and
al-Jbi.z
in
Manqib
al-AtrZzk,discusses theirmilitary
virtuesatlength.
Asaresultofthese,"the
Turksformedthe
Abbasids’armiesthankstotheirsuperiority
overallotherar-
mies"
(8,9).
A1-Mutas.im
undertooktwo
major
militarycampaignsduring
his
caliphate,
theattackonAmorium(a
townin
Anatolia)
and
the
suppression
ofthePersian
rebelBfibk. Inbothofthese,
Turkish
military
slavesplayed
a
major
role;thesourcestell
us
farmoreabout
ahandfulofleaders,however,thanabout
the
massesofsoldiers.
Infact,
byal-MuCtas.im’s
reign,military
slaves
didmostof
the
fighting
forthe
caliphs.
Asearly
as202/818,
when
fighting
a
Khriji
rebel,
hehada
bodyguard
ofTurkish
slaves,oneofwhom
savedhislife.
n
WhenhewenttoEgypt
in
213/818,4,000
Turks
accompanied
him,andthey
leftwithhim
twoyears
later,
s7
On
coming
to
power
in218/833,
al-Mutas.im
delegated
much
56.T,
3:1017;
Miskawayh,p.
438;TMaw,p.352.
57.al-Kindi,pp.
188-89;ITB,2:208-09.