HowMilitary
SlaveryFirstOccurred 193
formation
todecideOnthe
significance
of
al-H.
akamb.Hishfim’s
measuresandto
judge
whetherornot
they
constituteda
system
of
militaryslavery.
If
so,his
may
havethehonorof
preceding
theoneestablishedbyal-Ma’mfinand
al-MuCtas.im.
137
Wasitmerecoincidencethatthis
heavy
relianceonslavesin
Spain
occurred
simultaneously
withtheAbbasids’
development
of
militaryslavery?
Canitbeaccidentalthaia
systemunprece-
dented
inhuman
history
occurredintwo
places
atthesame
moment?Ithinknot.The
SpanishUmayyads
andtheAbbasids
sharedtwo
legacies:
theIslamicateneed(for
marginal
areasol-
diers)andthe
Marwanidanswer
(usingmarginal
area
soldiersin
an unfree
way,
as
mawlas).
In combination, these elements
prompted
both
dynasties
torecruit
marginal
areasoldiersas
slaves.
138
The
simultaneity
of
developments
in
Spain
andIran-
Iraqcanhardly
be
coincidental;together,
Islamicateneedand
Marwanidprecedent
accountfortheinitial
development
of
mil-
itaryslavery.
Conclusion
This
explanation
forthe
origins
of
militaryslavery
confirmsthe
argument
forits Islamicaterationale
proposed
in
chapter
3.
Briefly,
thatrationalemaintains:(1)thatthe
impossibility
ofat-
taining
Islamic
public
idealscaused
Muslim
subjects
torelin-
quish
theirmililtary
role;
(2)
that
marginal
area
soldiersfilled
this
power
vacuum;
(3)
that
they
became
rapidly
unreliable,
creating
theneedfor fresh
marginal
areasoldiersanda
way
to
bind
them;(4)
that
militaryslaverysupplied
a
way
both
to
ac-
quire
andtocontrolnew
marginal
areasoldiers.
Inthefirst
development
of
militaryslavery,
the
following
se-
137.
Papoulia,
p.13,notesthispossibilitytoo.Anotherdiscussionofal-
H.
akam’scorps:
Lvi-Provengal,
p.
130.
138.Mostoftheslaverecruitswere
Saqliba;Ayaion
hasannouncedadetailed
study
onthisterm
("Aspects,"p.
224),so referthereadertohisresearchforan
explanation
ofthiselusiveethnicidentification(itismore
ambiguous
inthe
Spanish
contextthanelsewhere).
SlavesalsocamefromNorth
Africa,bothBer-
hersandBlacks(S.
M.Imamuddin,Some
Aspects
of
theSocio-EconomicandCultural
History
of
Muslim
Spain
[Leiden,1965],
p.61).