SlavesinWar:TheHistorical
Record 37
continuedto
fight
onhorsebackalongside
theirowners,andthis
system
wasnotdiscardeduntiltheseventeenth
century,
when
most
slaves
were
ultimatelyrelegated
to
guarding
the
baggage
train,
n
Finally,
inthe
eighteenthcentury,
"theslaveswere
displacedby
peasant
recruits.
TM
"Oneof
theminorissuesinRussian
historiography"
revolves
around the
question
oftheslaves’
military
role in
Muscovy.
Somethink
theyfought
alongside
their
masters,
others
say
that
"they
had
largely
noncombat,secondary
roles,suchasaccom-
panying
and
guarding
the
baggage
train,
keeping
thehorses,
getting
foodandfodder,andsoon.
’’2
Whatevertheirexact
role
was,
andhowevernumeroustheslaveswere,
it
is
clear
they
did
nothavethe
important
functionsof
military
slaves.
TheManchus.
TheChinesethemselvesmadealmostnouseof
slavesas
soldiers
(thoughgiven
theirlowestimationofthe
mili-
tary
asacareer,it
might
seem
likely).
Theone
approach
toan
organized
useofslaves
inwartook
place
whentheManchus
were
in
theprocess
of
conquering
China.
The Manchus, a semibarbarian
people
whose habitat ex-
tendedfromtheforestsofManchuria
tothenorthofChina,
unitedunderNurhaciin 1613 andbegan
a
vigorous
attackon
the
Ming
government
ofChinain1618;
by
1621
they
had
cap-
tured
severalChinesecities.
Many
Chinesefell
captive
tothe
Manchusandweremadetheirslaves.
At
first,
theseslaves
(Man-
chu:booi,Chinese:pao-i,usually
translatedinto
English
"bond-
servant")didmostly
menialhouseholdchoresand"wererarely
used in actual
fighting.
’’63
With time, however,
the Manchu
leaders found this "loose
system
of
privately
owned slaves"
deficientfortworeasons:
itdidnotallowthemtocentralize
power
nortocontrol
their
manpower
directly.Also,
"astheMan-
chus
conqueredincreasing
amountsof
territory
settled
by
the
Chineseitbecamea
practical
necessitytoorganize
the
captured
meninsome
way
thatwas
moreformalthan
allotting
themto
60.Ibid.,p.165;idem,
"Muscovite
Slavery,"p.
177.
61.Hellie,Enserfment,p.
221.
62.Ibid.,pp.
368 n.167,290n.119.
63.
Spence,p.
7.