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

92

TheIslamicateContext

toleratethechaoticnatureoftribal

warfare,so

they

forcedtheir

slavestolearn

discipline.

Throughmilitarytraining,

thenatural

courage

andhardiness

of

marginal

areasoldierswascombined

withthe

organization,

techniques,

and disciplineofgovernment

armies. The slaves

emergedsuperblyaccomplished

inthemartialartsandfully

in-

tegrated

intoan

organizedarmy.

The

maindrawbackofthe

trainingprogramlay

inthe

timeit

required;

whilemercenaries

andalliescame

fullyprepared

forbattle,

military

slaveshadto

be
acquired

andtrainedfarinadvanceoftheir

employnent.

They

couldbe

properly

used

only

inthecontext

of

long-range

planning.

81

Besidesbringingmilitarypower

to the

dynasty

asawhole,

military

slaves

provided

the ruler with

political

henchmen.

While

serving

the

armyagainst

externalenemies,they

also

sup-

ported

the

ruler

against

internalrivals.

Althoughcomplemen-

tary,

thesetwofunctionswerenotidentical.As

agents,they

were

totally

beholdentotheruler,devotedtohim,and

lackingany

traceof

envy;

nobetter

agents

could

befound.Mercenariesand

alliescouldnot

reliablyprovide

this

personal

service.

Muslimleaderscouldchoosetorecruitalien

marginal

area

soldiersinother

ways,

buttheseentailedmoredifficulties.For

example,

the

Mughals

did nothavemany military

slaves; in-

stead,theyemployed

Hindusas

palaceguards,

usedlower-class

men as

infantry,

and recruited

cavalry

from Iran and Cen-

tral Asia
by offeringespecially high

salaries.

82

However, the

Mughals

oftenhad

problemsacquiring

thesetroops

and

keeping

their

loyalty.

GiventheMuslims’needforalienmarginal

area

soldiers,

militaryslaverybrought

withitseveraladvantages

over

othermethods

of

organization;

theslaves’numbers,

quality,

and

youth

assuredthebestmaterialtoworkwith;

their

isolation,

training,

andindoctrinationassured

fineand

loyal

soldiers.

Noting

the

advantages

of

military

slaves,weshouldnotfind

their

military

roleinthemillennium820-1850

c.E.so

puzzling.

81.

Ayalon,

"Aspects,"p.208.

82.

On

military

slaves; W.Irvine,The

Army

of

theIndianMoghuls(London,

1903),p.11;

onothers,

Qureshi,pp.

131-33,124.