16
TheIslamicateContext
poraries
referred
tohim
simply
asaslave,
usually
without
ds-
tinguishing
betweenthe
important
differences.
InitsIslamicate
meaning,
slaveisshorthand
for"a
person
of
slave
origins";similarly,military
slave
means"asoldierofslave
origins."
Theslaveappellation
refers
only
toa
person’sorigins
and
nottohis
subsequentposition
orfunction.In
this
sense,
it
resemblesthetitle"doctorof
philosophy"
in
ourculture.This
kindofdoctorreceiveshistitleoncompleting
adoctoraleduca-
tionand
keeps
itregardless
ofhis
subsequent
career.Doctorin
thissensedoes
notdefineastatusor
activity
butindicates
an
educational
background;
heis"a
person
of
graduate
schoolori-
gins."
TheIslamicateusage
ofslave
similarly
describes
nothing
inlaterlife,only
an
earlyexperience.
Slave
inthis
study
hasitsIslamicate
meaning:
a
person
ofslave
origins.
Freereferstoa
person
whohasneverexperienced
slav-
ery,
someonenotofslave
origins.
Admittedly,
these
usages
do
not
correspond
to
their
standard
Englishmeanings,
butanIs-
lamicate
institutionmustbedescribedinitsownterms.Asever,
onemustbecautiousin
applying
thevocabulary
fromonecivili-
zationtoanother.Trueslaverefersto
theslave
as
heis
commonly
understoodin
English:
a
person
inastateof
legal
andactualser-
vility.
Itisinthissense
thatweaskwhetherthe
military
slaveisa
trueslave;
doeshefitthestandard
Englishmeaning
ofthe
word
slave?Ordoeshefitonlythemoregeneral
Islamicate
meaning,
a
person
ofslave
origins?
TheDiversePositions
ofTrueSlaves
The
argumentagainst
military
slaves
being
trueslavesfocuses
ontheir
highly
favorable
position
assoldiersandmembersofthe
ruling
elite.Itisan
apparent
contradictionforatrueslave
to
sharemorewiththe
mighty
thanwiththe
weak.
This view
presupposes
thata
slavemustlive aservileand
wretched
life
in
orderto
qualify
asatrueslave,
yet
thistoo
is
plainlywrong.
Occidentals,
particularly
Americans,
haveanar-
rowideaof
slavery,perhaps
in
part
because
they
associateitwith
Simon
Legree
and
thesometimes
exaggerated(?)
z2
horrorsof
22.EventheU.S.situation beseeninadifferent
light.
SeeR.
W.
Fogel