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

124

Origins

Whilemostofthewarfare

ofthis

period

tookplace

inthefar

western and eastern regions,

the

Muslims also occasionally

fought

desultory campaignsagainst

Byzantium.

In

75/695 a

mawlaofCaliph

eAbdal-Malikserved

as

governor

of

Qinnasrin

and

led

Umayyad troops

to victory

at the

battles ofeAmq

MarCashand

Jisr

Yaghra;

alsoduring

cAbdal-Malik’sreign,

a

slaveof

Greek

origins

becameamajor

commander

ofMuslim

troopsagainst

the

Byzantines?

MawlasdefendedEgypt

from

Byzantine

attackinabout

102/721.

l1

Littleisknown

aboutunfreesoldiers

inthe

conquest

ofNorth

Africa;

innorthwestIndia,they

led 200

horsemenasan

advance

guard.

12

Incontrast,

theiroutstanding

roleinthewars

tocon-

trol

Spain

and

CentralAsiaiswell

documented.

Spain.

Mffsfib.Nus.ayr

wasthe

key

figure

fortheexceptional

im-

portance

ofslavesand

mawlasinthe

conquest

of

Spain;

he

di-

rectedthecampaign

andisremembered

forhis

connectionto

unfreesoldiers.

Mfisfi’sown

origins

areamatterof

debate;he

may

havebeen

anArabianofeither

theBakrb.Wfi’il,

Lakhm,or

Arfisha

tribes;a

captive

from

Ayn

at-Tamr;

a

wasSf

manumitted

by

Abdal-Azizb.

Marwfin

(the

fatherofCaliph

CUmarII);a

mawlaoftheBanff.Dabba,

BanffUmayya,

BanffLakhm;

and

soforth?

3

Whetherhimself

ofslave

origins

ornot,

Mfisfiwas

oneof

theforemostemployers

ofmawlasduring

theArabian

period,acquiring

themfrom

among

the

huge

numbersofcap-

tivestakenin

thecourseofhisconquests;

thesources

mention

figures

of30,000,

50,000,60,000,

100,000,and300,000

andal-

ludetoeven

greater

numbers?

4

One

contemporary

of

Mffs/’s

100.FB,

pp.

188-89, 160-61.

For atranslation

and discussion,seep.

189.

101.al-Kindi,

p.

70.

102.al-Kfafi,

p.

139.

A.M.T.al-Mubrakbfri,

aI-Fut.t

al-lslgzmyajff’l-Hind,

aw

al-Clqd

ath-Thamn (Bombay,

1388/1968)

mentionsnoslavesor

mawlas

fighting.

103.NT,1:141,156;T,

1:2064;Khalifa,p.

102;FB,

p.

247;al-Kindi,p.

52.

104.30,000:

Imama,2:75;ITB,1:229;

NT, 1:144,175.50,000:

ITB,1:207.

60,000:Inma, 2:71.

100,000:NT,

1:148. 150,000: ITB, 1:229 (implied).

200,000:NT,

1:148

(implied).

300,000:

BM, 1:40(implied).

500,000:Imma,

2:91(implied).

Greater

yet:

AM,

p.

6;NT,1:159.