SlavesinWar:
TheHistoricalRecord
45
prepared for this dutyand
proved
themselves
admirably
in
warfare.
98
Theinterestofthis
particularuseofslavesassoldiers
liesin
the
factthattheGerman
authoritiestreatedthemas
thoughthey
were
ordinaryslaves,
deprivingthemoffood,not
paying
them,
and
punishing
them
brutally. When the
Dahomeys wrofea
supplicatingprotest
inMarch
1893,the
governor
who
wasre-
sponsiblefortheirmistreatment
reducedtheirfood
allotment.
99
Eventually,
provoked by
a
beating
of their
women, the
Dahomeys
revoltedon
15 December 1893;
theylastedseven
days
before
meeting
defeat?
The
ineptitude
of
theGerman
administrationherewas
quite
astonishing;
101
italso
accentuates
thedifferences
betweena
militaryslave
system
andother,more
haphazard,
usesof
slavesassoldiers.While
certain
parallels
with
militaryslavery
canbe
found
throughout
the
world,nowhere
outsideIslamdomdid
slaves
perform
thedutiesand
havethe
significance
which
Muslims
habituallygavethem.
InsideIslamdom
For
a
full
millennium,fromthe
early
3d/9th
century
until
the
early13th/19th, Muslims
regularly
and
deliberatelyemployed
slavesassoldiers.This
occurred
throughnearlythewholeof
Islamdom,fromCentral
AfricatoCentral
Asia,
from
Spain
to
Bengal,
and
perhaps beyond. Few
dynasties
within
this
long
time-spanandbroadareahadno
military
slaves? Evenacur-
soryglanceatthe
history
ofMuslim
peoplesrevealstheextraor-
dinary
role
playedbymenofslave
origins
inthe
armedforces.
Theyservedbothas
soldiersandasofficers,thenoften
acquired
- Ibid.,
pp.
105,112.
99.
Ibid.,
pp.
106,
ll0-11,108-10;113-14.
100o
Ibid.,pp.116-21,121-29.
101.The
mutinybytheEighthWestIndia
Regiments,9-12April1802,was
similarlycaused
by
"thefearof
beingsoldinto
[ordinary]slavery"
asa
resultof
the
slavesoldiers
having
been
compelledtodomenialwork
(Buckley,p.77;see
also
p.128).
102.
Negativeindicationsarehardto
find,butitdoes
appear
thatthe
Idrisids
madenouseof
militaryslaves.Cf.G.Marqais,LaBerberie
musulmaneetl’Orientdu
moyen
8ge
(Paris,
1946),pp.119-20.