xxii Introduction
proximatelength
oftinebetween the
training
ofslavesin a
corps (atabout
age
fifteen)andtheirrise to
prominence
(at
about
ageIbrty-five).
It
might
alsotakeslavesmuch
longer
toac-
quirepower,
or
theymay
neverdo
so,
buttheir
advancing
toan
importantmilitary
and
political
roleinlessthan
thirtyyearsap-
pearshighlyunlikely.
Thesetwo
assumptions
combined
permit
meto
postulate
the
existenceofa
military
slave
system
atleast
thirtyyears
before
slavescometodominatea
dynasty.
For
example,
the
Ayyubids
lost
power
totheir
military
slavesin648/1250;this
implies
thata
system
existed
by
atleast617/1220.These
assumptions
arevital
forthe
study
ofthefirstcaseof
militaryslavery.
Thefirstknown
caseofslaves
dominating
an Islamicate
dynasty
occurred in
247/861
whentheTurkishslavestookcontroloftheAbbasid
dynasty.
Onthebasisoftheabove
assumptions,
a
system
totrain
theseslavesmusthaveexisted
by
thetime
al-Mueta.sim
roseto
power
in
218/833.
It
may
have
emerged
atanearlier time,
however--even
during
the
Prophet’slifetime.
Accordingly,
this
studybegins
withthe
very
first
years
of
Islam
andconcludesin
the
year
218/833,withfewreferencestolater
events,
forIam
assuming
theexistenceof
militaryslaveryby
aboutthatdate.
This
study
containstwo
parts,
ofthree
chapters
each:
part
I
placestnilitaryslavery
in
itsgeneralIslamicatecontext;
part
II
searchesoutthefirstinstanceof
militaryslavery
and
explains
its
occurrence.The
specificinquiry
in
part
II
requires
the
analytical
fools
shaped
inthe
general
discussionandsomustfollowit.
Chapter definesthe
military
slaveandshowshowdistincthe
isfromother
types
of
slaves;
asthetermisused
here,
heisa
slavewhohasbeen
acquired
ina
systematic
manner,trainedin
an
organized
fashion,andthen
employed
asa
professional
sol-
dier.
He
onlyoccasionally
fitsthestandard
Englishmeaning
of
"slave," dependingonthe
degree
ofcontrolhismasterexerts
overhim.
The second
chaptersurveys
the
general
recordofslavesin
warfare
andconcludesthatwhile
theyfought
allovertheworld,
militaryslavery
existed
onlyin
Islamdom.Thisis
significant;
es-
tablishingmilitaryslavery
asan
exclusively
Islamicate
phenom-
enonmeansthatitsrationale
(proposed
in
chapter3)
mustdistin-