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

156

Origins

true,

then

Bugh

al-Kabirwasalready

anadultwhenhewasac-

quiredby
al-MuCtas.im.

Was.if

83

hadarole atAmorium

andserved

al-MuCtas.im

as

chamberlain;

s4

however,like

Bugh

al-Kabir,his

most

impor-

tantpositions

cameafter

al-Mutas.im’s

death.

Was.if

died in

253/867

AI-Afshin,

8n

whowas

al-Mutas.im’s

most

prominentgeneral,

already

led military campaigns

for

al-Ma’mfin,

s7

Under al-

Mutas.im

hedirectedthebattle

against

BtbSkandfought

inthe

conquest

ofAmorium.

88

I shallnot dwell

on his

important

career and

fascinating

downfall, however,

for

although

two

sources

callhima

Turk,

sa

hecamefromFarghana,

anIranian

cultural

region,

andwasnot

usually

considered

Turkish.

a

Several other lesser-known Turks

also had

leading posi-

tions: Simfi

ad-Dimashqi,

Smash-Sharbi, and

Muh.

ammad

b.

H.

ammd

b.Danfashallserved

al-Mutas.im

aschamberlains;

al

Bashirat-Turkiled

Farghaniantroops

in

anambush

against

Bbkin222/837.

a2

Anonymous

Turksfilleda

variety

ofmilitary

roles:somebe-

came

bodyguards,

either

forthe

caliph

orforothers;

93

Turks

guarded

Ibrfihim

b. al-Mahdi in

210/825 and

fought

at

83.

Waif

calledaTurk;

T,3:1351, 1479,1531, 1559,1687;Ibn.Habib,

p.260;

TYae,2:478;ITB,2:327,338,340;

Eutychius,

2:61-62.

Mamlk:KB,

p.

256;ITB,2:340.Mawla:UH,

pp.

409-10;’lqd,5:121;T,

3:1481.MawamraLmu’minn:T,3:1484-85;

FB,

p.235.

84.AroleatAmorium:

T,

3:1237.

As

.h(zjib:TYa%

2:478;UH,

pp.

409-10;

Ibn

H.

abe,p.260;’lqd,5:121;Eutychius,

2:61.

85.

TYa%

2:502;ITB,2:338,340.

86.AI-AfshincalledaTurk:

al-Is.t.akhri,p.

292;

J.

Saint

Martin,

Memoireshis-

toriques

et

gkographiques

surl’Armnie(Paris,1818-19),

1:344,

relying

onArmenian

historians.Mawla:Din,p.

403.Mawldamral-mu’minb:

al-Qalqashandi,

6:404.

87.T,3:1105,1106.

88.T,3:1170-1234,1236-56.

89. Seenote 86

above.

90.AI-Afshfn’strial(T,3:1303-18)ispermeated

withthefactofhisIranian

culture;noteespeciallyvol.3,pp. 1312

and1315.

91.TYa

,

2:478;Clqd,5:121.

Mu.hammadb..Hammed

b.Danfash’sname

seemstoindicatethathisfatherwas

already

aMuslim.

92.

T,

3:1215-16.

93.T,3:1076,1289.