6 TheIslamicate
Context
648/1250andthemid-13th/19th
century.
Even
knowledgeable
scholarsconfusetheserelatedbutdistinct
meanings.
2
Besides
lacking
universaland
specificterminology,
thever-
nacularsalsohavenoabstraction
comparable
to
"military
slav-
ery."(This
isalso
why
I
prefer"military
slave"tothemore
pre-
ciseand
euphonic
"slavesoldier".)Ratherthancoina
neologism
inoneoftheIslamicate
languages,
itseemswisesttodiscussthis
unusual institution in
English terminology.
Such
practice
is
facilitated
by
the fact
that,
unlike the
majority
of
European
termsapplied
to non-Western institutions
(for
instance, feu-
dalism,clergy,bourgeoisie),"military
slavery"has
no
meaning
inWesterncivilization,soitcarries
withitnoWesternconnota-
tionstoconfuseor
misleadthereader.
DifferencesfromOtherSlaves
Incontrasttoallother
slaves,
the
military
slavedevoteshislifeto
military
service.Hischaracteristicfeaturesderivefromthefact
that
heworksasasoldier.Fromthetimeheis
acquired
until his
retirement,
he
lives
differently
fromotherslaves,forhe
partici-
pates
in a
lifelong system
with itsown rulesand rationale.
Specifically,
hediffersfrom
two
otherkindsofslaves:
ordinary
slaveswho
happen
to
fight
and
government
slaves.
OrdinarySlavesinWarfare
Ordinary
slavesareallthosenotinthe
army
or
government.
They
cometomindwhenonethinksof
slavery
initsusualform:
domesticserviceorlaboratsome
economicallyproductive
task.
Suchslavesdo
happen
to
fightoccasionally,buttheyareentirely
differentfrom
military
slaves.Forthesakeof
comparison
with
ordinary
slaves,thelifeofa
military
slave
may
bedividedinto
three
parts:acquisition,
transition, and
employment;
ateach
stage
his
life-pattern
differs
dramatically
fromthatoftheordi-
nary
slave.
The
differencesbegin
with
ownership,
forthe
possession
of
a
2.Forexample,E.Be’eri,Arab
Officers
inArabPoliticsand
Society(Jerusalem,
1969),
pp.
296-99.