WhatIsa
MilitarySlave?
19
Depending
on their
specific circumstances, then,
military
slaves
may
eitherbetrueslaves
ornot.An
analysis
oftheir
posi-
tion
must take into account the
changes
they undergo.
In
general,
military
slaves
begin
theirserviceto
a
dynasty
astrue
slavesand
gainpartialorfull
independence
over
time.
Again,
the
extentofthemaster’scontrolis
thekeyfactor;
they
aretrue
slavesas
longasamastercansellthemand
makesthevitaldeci-
sionsintheir
lives.If
they
havenosuch master
theyareno
longer
trueslaves.Itis
only
theirrelationswiththe
masterthat
determinetheirstatusas
slaves;otherconsiderationshaveno
ef-
fectonthis
status.
Seb/iktigin,
a
miliaryslavewholater
founded
theGhaznavid
dynasty,explained
what
being
a
trueslavemeant:
"TheMasterhadnot
commandedusto
fight;
ifwehad
fought
withoutthe Master’s
orders,
then
eachoneofuswouldhave
been
amasternotaslave,forthemark
ofaslaveisthathedoes
only
whathis
mastertellshim.
’’24
Some writers contest
the
servility
ofthese men.
Papoulia
doubts
thattheir
relationship
totheir
masterwasatrueslave-
masterbond. She
points to awider
pattern
of
relations be-
tweenanabsolute
rulerandhissubordinates:
Otherfactorsalso
playedaroleherebesidesthestatusofthe
[slave]
nobles.Thisisa
phenomenonwhichis
alwayspossible
under
ab-
solute
rule.Blindsubmissionresultedfrom
theireducation,from
thetimewhen
theydidserveastrueslaves,andit
wasmoreofa
religious
thana
political
principle.
2
Intruth,
regardless
ofother
circumstances,thesemenaretrue
slavesbecause
they
canbe
disposed
of
bytheirmasterand
they
must
obeyhim.Theyremaintrueslaves
regardlessofwhoelse
sharesthis
submission.
Our
concernhereiswith
militaryslaves;
if
itturnsoutthatothersinthe
courtsharetheir
servility,
this
doesnotaltertheir
ownstatus.Ifthemaster’s
powersasabso-
luteruler
complementthoseas
slavemaster,thenthey
only
in-
creasehiscontroloverthe
slavesandmakethemservilein
more,
notfewer,
ways.
Alternatively,
onecansee
militaryslavesasa
type
ofmerce-
nary;
butas
longas
they
aretrueslaves,this
viewdoesnot
help
24.
Ni.zim
al-Mulk,
pp.
126/105-106.
25.Papoulia,
p.
8 24.Thefinalassertionis
highlydubious.