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

TheFirstMilitarySlaveSystem 157

Amorium.

94

They

played

a

majorpart

inthe

conspiracyagainst

al-MuCtas.im

of al-Ma’mfn’s son al-CAbbhs.

95

For example,

Ashnhswas
tobeassassinatedby

a

fellowTurk,

his

drinking

companion.

9n

Whenthe

conspiracyfailed,

itwas

again

Turks

whoexecutedoneofitsleadersin223/838.

97

AI-Afshinsenta

TurkishmawlatokilloneofBbk’smenin

222/837.

9s

Turks

providedpersonalservicesfor

al-Muta.sim.

Ononeoc-

casion,hecalledfor

[takh

to

bringhimdates;

99

aTurkishslave

eunuchswattedfliesfromaround
al-Mueta.sim’s

head.

1

Turks

alsoservedother
persons

in

nonmilitaryways.

11

Perhaps

most

indicativeofthefavorbestowedontheTurks

wasthefact that
al-Muetas.im

reared oneof

them,al-Fath,

b.

Khqan,

along

withhis ownson

Jaefar,

the

future

Caliph

al-

Mutawakkil.

12

Theclose

relationship

betweenthesetwolasted

for
decades,andal-Fath,
played

avitalroleinal-Mutawakkil’s

reign.

13

But Turks could not do

everything.

When

al-MuCtas.im’s

forces
fought

theZugofthePersianGulf,awaterborne

people,

the
only

Abbasid

troops

thatcouldreachthem

weresome

Egyp-

tian
captives

who"wereaccustomed

towater

and

swam

likefish."

AI-Mutas.im

wasso

impressed by

their

military

skillsthathe

"tookanumberofthemintohisservice"
(37).Presumably,

then,

they

too

becameslavesoldiers

alongside

theTurks.

Assessments

AlthoughtheMuslimsourcesall

agree

aboutthe

militaryprow-

essofTurkishmilitaryslaves,they
disagree

ontheeffectsof

94.T,3:1076,1250;UH,p.394.

95.T,3:1267;Miskawayh,pp.501-02.

96.

T,

3:1257,1266.

97.T,3:1265.

98.T,3:1194.

99.T,3:1325.

100.MDh,4:50.

101.

Agtuinf,

7:155.

102.ITB,2:325.

103.O.Pinto,

"AI-Fat.h

b.

H

fiqfin,

favoritedial-Mutawakkil,"Revista

degli

studi

orientali 13 (1931-32):133-49.