WhatIsaMilitarySlave? 21
Muetaim
butnothissonal-Wthiq;thefutureMamluksof
Egypt
obeyed a,ali.hAyyfib
butnotTfir5nsh5h; andtheeAbidal-
BukhrirevoltedafterthedeathofIsmaeilas-Samin.Oncethe
balance
is
upset,
thetakeovercanbedeferred
only
as
long
as
highlycompetent
rulers
consecutively
succeedoneanother;this
largely
accountsforhowtheOttomans
postponedmilitary
slave
dominationforafull
century,
fromthelate
9th/15th
tothelate
10th/16th
century.
Ofallslaves,
only
thosewhoaresoldierscan
ipsimit
them-
selves,for
onlythey
havea
politicalrelationship
withtheirmas-
ter.Whereas
otherslaves
performdomestic,economic,oreven
administrativeservices,
military
slaves
providemilitarypower.
Behindthetrustand
loyalty
betweentherulerandtheseslaves
liesa
complexadversaryrelationship:
themorehetruststhem,
themore
power
they
gain;
themore
power
they
gain,
theless
loyalthey
become.Asa
result,
amastercan
forego
theservices
ofotherslavesbuthecannotaffordtoreleasehis
military
slaves.
Their
military
support
affectshisown
powertoo
muchfor
him
everto
relaxhis
grip
onthem
voluntarily.
Ifhedoesreducehis
control,
hesurrenders
some
ofhis
power
base.
Yet,thoughtheir
military
and
politicalimportance
makesmanumissionunthinka-
ble,itmakes
ipsimissionpossible;military
slavescanseizefor
themselvesthefreedomtheirmasternever
gives
them.
Manumissionand
ipsimission
are
closely
related
yetvery
dif-
ferent;someclarificationisinorderhere.Fora
militaryslave,
ipsimission
is
by
farthemore
importantprocess;
manumission,
ifitoccurs,is
barely
morethana
formality.
Whenthemaster
manumits
militaryslaves,
hehasnointentionof
givingupany
realcontroloverthem,nordo
they
leavehim;
yet,
iftheslaves
ipsimit
themselves,their
legal
statusremains
unchanged.
The
master’s
militarydependence
onhis
military
slavesthushastwo
contraryimplications;
henever
voluntarily
relaxescontrolover
them,
but
theyhave
themeansto
escape
hiscontrol
againsthis
will.The
double-edged
swordof
politics
cutsboth
ways.
Theeventofmanumissionmarksa
majorchange
inthestatus
of
otherslaves,but
itmatterslittlefor
military
slaves
(unless
the
masterusesitasariteof
passage,
asdidtheMamluksof
Egypt).
Consequently,
no
significant
difference
distinguishes
thosemil-