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

154 Origins

ofhis

powertoseveralCentralAsians.Theannalsofhis

reign

echowiththeirnames:Ashns,Itkh,

Bughal-Kabir,Was.if,

andal-Afshin.

58

ItwasAshns

59

who

defended

al-MuCtas.im

in

theincidentmentionedabove;hesavedthefuture

caliphfrom

an assailant’s

knife,

n

Ashns undertook two

expeditions

for

al-Ma’mfin; in

215/830

he led Abbasid

troops against

the

Byzantines

andtwo

years

laterledthemin

Egypt.

61

Whenal-

MuCtas.im

came to

power,

he

appointed

Ashnts

governor

of

Egypt.

62

Ashns retainedthistitleforsome

years

withoutac-

tuallylivingin

or

presiding

over

Egypt.

Indeed,thechroniclers

ignore

himalmost

completely

when

recounting

the

history

of

Egypt

during

histenure.It

appears

that

al-Mutas.im

wishedto

honorAshnswith

thegovernorshipwithout

losing

his

presence

atthecourt.In223/838Ashnfisleda

variety

ofunitsbothon

the

way

tothebattleofAmorium

inAnatoliaandonthereturn.

63

Againhonoring

Ashns,

al-Mutas.im

allowed

him

to sit

ona

throne

(kursz-)

in225/840.

64

A

year

laterAshnfiswentonthe

pil-

grimage

toMeccaand

al-MuCtas.im

paid

hima

yetgreater

honor

bygiving

himcontrolof

everyregionthrough

which

hepassed

betweenSamarraand Mecca.

6

Accordingly,

he issometimes

knownasthe
governor

of

Syria,al-Jazira,

and

Egypt,

66

though

heneverruled those
provinces.

Ashnsdiedin230/845.

67

58.

A1-MuCtas.im

himselfconsideredthesemen

(naming

themall

except

Bughfi

al-Kabir)hismost

importantagents(T,3:1327).

59.AshnfiscalledaTurk:T,3:1017,1306, 1338;MDh,4:55,60;KB,

p.

259;

TYac,2:475,479,481;Balami,4:524;ITB,2:243,245,255-56,274;Mis-

kawayh,p.

438;IbnKhalliktn,3:89;TMaw,

p.

352;Ibnal-Adim,1:69.

Ghulm:allthe

referencesinnote 56 above.Mamlk:KB,

p.

256.Mawla:

Yqfit,

3:16.MawlamraLmu’minn

(on

this

term,seemy"Mawlas"):

Balog,pp.

240-43
(fiveexamples).

60.Seethereferencesinnote 56 above.

61.T,3:1103andal-Kindi,

p.

192.

62.al-Kindi,p.194;ITB,2:229;TMaw,p.416.

63.ToAmorium:

(vanguard)

T,3:1236;TYac,2:475;

(cavalry)T,3:1241;(in-

fantry)

UH,

p.

393;

(leftwing)

T,3:1244.FromAmorium:

(rightwing)T,

3:1260;
(rearguard)

T,3:1261-62.

64.

T,3:1302;UH,p.

404.

65.T,3:1318.

66.Ibnal-eAdim,1:69.

67. T,3:1338.