Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

AnExplanation

ofMilitary

Slavery

87

the

filthoflustful

pleasures,unmarred

by

the

habitsof

civilisation,

withtheir

youthful

strengthunshattered

byexcessesof

luxury.

7

The

advantagesofenslavementwill

beillustrated

by

comparing

slaves withthe

twoalternate

typesof

marginal-areasoldiers

fightingfor

governments:mercenariesand

allies.

Acquisition

A

government

could

procureslaves

more

easily

thanit

could

either

mercenariesor

allies.It

mightpurchase,

capture,abduct,

or

steala

slave,but

obviously

nota

freeman.A

slavecouldbe

compelledto

join

the

army;mercenaries

hadtobeenticed

to

serve,

and

allieshadtofindit

expedient.

The

slavewas

subjectto

moreactiveand

flexiblemeans

of

persuasion.By

recruiting

him

through enslavement, the ruler

did not have to

wait until

cooperativemarginalareasoldiers

appeared

onthe

scene,

7

a

common

predicament

of

governments

that

didnotenslavesol-

diers

(suchas

Byzantium

and

China).Incontrast

tothelimited

conditions

underwhich

mercenariesorallies

agreed to

fight,

slavescame

accordingtocircumstance:

somearrivedas

tribute;

othersas

merchandise,

booty,contraband,orstolen

property.

Militaryslaveswere

usuallyprocuredaschildrenand

this,too,

facilitatedtheir

acquisition.

While

mercenariesandallies

could

onlybefound

among

friendlypeoples, childrencouldbeab-

ducted or

captured

from

enemies inwartime

and,

through

trainingmadeintofaithful

soldiers.The

pool

of

potentialslaves

couldbe

manytimes

larger

than

thatoffreerecruits.

Enslavement

gave

accesstoawide

variety

ofnationalitiesand

this
provided

the

army

withabeneficial

diversity

of

troops,

as

they often
brought withthemthe
specialskills oftheir own

peoples:

73

This

multiplicity

of

ethnic

backgrounds

and

skills

contributed
directly

tothe

flexibilityandtactical

power

of

Is-

lamicate
armies.Though
mercenariesandallies,too,could
have

71.Clbar5:371

(adoptedfromAyaion,"Yhsa"

C1;119;see

Appendix2).

72.Hrbek,

p.

545.

73.

Bosworth,

Ghaznavids,p.108.