46
TheIslamicateContext
preeminent
roles
inadministration,
politics,
and
all
aspects
of
public
affairs.
The
systematic
useofslaves
assoldiersconstituted
the
single
most
distinctivefeatureof
Islamicate
public
lifein
premodern
times.
13
Precisely
becauseofitsprominence
andwideextent,military
slavery
in Islamdom
defiesbriefdescription;
slavesfilledtoo
many
positions,
servedtoomany
functions.Thus,
comprehen-
sive
documentationoftheir
incidenceandactivities
cannotbe
given
here,
only
some
indicationoftheirdistribution.
Selected
examples
demonstrate
the
importance,
widespread
occurrence,
andfrequency
of
militaryslavery.
The
premierdynasties
of
Islamdom
nearly
alldepended
on
military
slaves.Theseare
the
governments
whichgoverned
the
greatest
areas,
lastedthe
longest,
and
mostinfluencedthede-
velopment
ofIslamicateinstitutions.I
haveselectedseventeen
preeminent
dynasties;
ofthem,it
appears
thatallbutonerelied
on
military
slaves.Theexception,
th
e
Umayyaddynasty,
pre-
cededtheexistence
ofa
military
slave
system;yet
evenitem-
ployed
the
unfreein amannerwhich
foreshadowed
military
slavery.
Abriefcharacterization
ofslavesoldiersintheseseven-
teen
dynasties
follows,
withsomereferencesto
the
secondary
literature.
1.
Umayyads
(41-132/661-750).
PartIIof
this
study
shows
themanner
inwhichthe
Umayyadgovernment
reliedonmaw-
las
whoresembled
military
slaves;theinstitution
of
military
slav-
ery
didnotexistbefore
the
3d/gth
century,
buttheUmayyads
103.Numerousscholarshave
pointed
outtheIslamicatedistribution
ofmili-
taryslavery,
including:Ayalon,L’Esclavage,p.
I;idem,"Preliminary
Remarks,"
p.
44;idem,"Aspects,"p.196;
Forand,
"Development,"
p.1;K6pstein,pp.
117-18;
Lvi-Provengal,
p.
131;C.Cahen,"Note
sur
l’esclavage
musulmanetle
Devshirmeottoman,
h
propos
detravauxrcents,"Journal
of
theEconomic
andSo-
cialHistory
of
theOrient 13 (1970):212,214;
C.Verlinden,Wo,wann
undwarum
gab
eseinenGrosshandel
mitSklavenwihrenddesMittelalters?
(Cologne,
1970),
p.
25;
S.
Vryonis,
inBalkanStudies 5 (1964):
145.
Perhaps
becausethe
systematic
andextensiveemployment
ofslavesassoldiers
had
no
parallel
inothercivilizations,historians
lackareference
point
formilitary
slavery,
andthisaccounts
in
part
forthe
subject’sattracting
solittleattention
relativetoits
importance.