Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

192 Origins

Marwanid

period

had

particularimportance

asa

precedent

and

transition;forthefirsttime,Muslimleaderslookedtounfree

outsidersfrom

marginal

areasto

replenish

theirarmies.This

key

act

theninfluencedcountlessotherIslamicatedynasties

over

severalcontinentsand

many

centuries.Canitbedemonstrated

that

fighting

mawlas

provided

thecrucial

step

to

military

slav-

ery?Confirmationmaycomefromthe

Umayyads

ofSpain.

TheSpanishUmayyads

This

dynasty

cameto

poweronly

six

years

aftertheAbbasids

andwas

largely

isolatedfromtheAbbasid

government.During

itsfirsttwo

generations,

138-80/756-96,

conquering

marginal

areasoldiersandtheirdescendantsdominated

andtheunfree

had

only

asmall

military

role.

132

Majorchanges

took

place

dur-

ing

the

reign

of

al-H.

akamb.Hishm

(r.

180-206/796-822),who

introduced

large

numbersofslavesintothe

army:

"Hewas

the

first toincreasethe

numberofkhdms andthefirst

to

acquire

mamlks.He

calledthemamltks"theMutes"

(khurs),

onaccountoftheirnot

speaking

Arabic?

33

Thenumberof

mamlksreached5,000,ofwhich3,000werecavalry

and2,000

infantry.

’’134

Itisunclearwhether

al-

.Hakam

b.Hishmfoundedthemamlk

corps

or

merely

increasedthesizeofan

existingbody

of

troops:

"Manysay

he wasthefirstto assemblemamlks.

’’3

"Hein-

creasedthenumberofmamlks.

’’6

Welack

enough

detailedin-

132.Thefirst

Umayyad

rulerof

Spain,

cAbd

ar-Rah,

mn

(r.138-72/756-88),

usedunfreesoldiersonoccasion.Hehadamawla
corps

beforeeven

becoming

ruler

(BM,

2:41,42,44;AM,

p.67);

hismawlaslaterformeda

cavalrycorps(Ibn

al-Qfit.iya,p.

31);mawlas

helpedbesiege

Carmona

(Ibnal-Qfit.iya,p.

33;BM,

2:51;NT,

1:211);theyfought

arebel

(BM,2:53),

ledanassaultonToledo(AM,

p.103),andruledWashqa,Tartusha,andTarsuna(Ibnal-Abbr,1:143).

133.

NT,1:220.

134.ThissentenceiscombinedfromIbnSaeid,1:39,elbar,4:127,andNT,

1:220.

Clqd,

4:492,mentions1,000

cavalry

on

guard

at

al-H.

akam’s

palace

with-

out
indicating

that

they

wereslaves;

theymay

wellhavebeen,forslavesoften

performedthisfunction.SeealsoUH,3:363.

135.NT,

1:220.

136.NT,1:219;Ibar,4:125.