Chapter
Three
An Explanation
Military Slavery
of
This
chapter
seekstoaccountforthetwobasicfactsof
military
slavery:that
it
existedatallandthatitoccurred
only
inIslam-
dom.
Whywouldanyonechoosetorecruitsoldiersasslaves?
Why
didMuslimsaloneinfactdoso?These
questions
arein-
tertwined;theraisond’@treof
militaryslavery
isbound
up
with
its
purely
Islamicateexistence;itscausescannotbeunderstood
apart
fromIslam.
AConnectiontoIslam?
Thedistribution
pattern
of
militaryslaverysketchedin
chapter
2 stronglysuggests
thatIslam
lay
behindthe
existenceofthis
institution.Yetbefore
inquiring
intotheroleof
Islam,letus
considerother
possible
factorsfortheexistenceof
military
slav-
ery.
Ofthealternatives,threestandout:climate,Turks,andthe
stirrup?
Muslim
landsfrom
Spain
tonortheastIndiasharea
basicclimatic
feature--dry
heat;
perhaps
this
orsomeother
environmentalfeaturecould
explainmilitaryslavery.
Without
attemptingtoelaborateonthisconnection,wecan
reject
itasa
cause
bynoting
thatthelands
fromSpaintoIndia
enjoyed
the
sameclimatebefore 622 C.E.Were
militaryslaveryrelatedto
climate,wewould
expect
ittohaveexistedinthosesame
regions
1.Thenotionthat
military
slaveswere
merely
mercenaries
in
Muslim
clothing
hasbeentreatedinchapter1.The
assumption
hereisthat
they
wereadistinct
phenomenon.
Somescholars
grant
thatmilitary
slavery
occurred
only
inIslam-
dorabutresisttheideathatitisconnectedtoIslam.
SeeM.A.Cook,introduction
toV.
J.
Parryetal.,A
History
of
theOttoman
Empireto 1730
(Cambridge,Eng.,
1976),p.7;FrederickCooper,Plantation
Slavery
ontheEo3tCoast
ofAfrica
(New
Haves1977),p.
194 n.183.
54