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

Chapter One

What Is a

Military Slave?

The

purpose

oftheir

purchase

isnottoenslavethembuttointen-

sify

theirzealand

solidarity

and

strengthen

their

prowess.

--IbnKhaldfan

Ihavedefineda

military

slaveasa

person

ofslave

origins

who

is

acquired

ina

systematicway,

trainedfor

military

service,and

spendsmost

ofhislife

asa

professional

soldier.

The

twomost

common

questionsconcerning

himare:what

distinguishes

him

fromotherslaves,andishea"true"slave

(in

thestandardEn-

glish

senseoftheword)?

I

usetheEnglishterm

"military

slave"becauseitismoreuni-

versal,

precise,

andflexiblethanthe

equivalents

in

Islamicate

vernaculars.

Although

somewordshavecometomean

military

slave(notablyfat(,ghulZzm,kul,

and

mamlftk),

each

ofthemhas

onlylimited

usage

andnone

universallyacquired

the

meaning

of

"militaryslave."

In

otherwords,besideslimitationsintimeand

place,

eachof

these

words

also

has

othermeanings;notoneof

themrefers

exclusively

to

military

slaves.Thislackof

specificity

might

resultfromthefactthatMuslimshavenever

recognized

slavesoldiersasadistinct

type

ofslave

(seep.13).

Oftheseseveral

terms,

mamlfkhas

gained

thewidest

usagein

orientalistliterature,thankstoits

propagationby

David

Ayalon

inhis

many

worksonthis

subject

andtotherelativefameofthe

Mamluk

dynasty

inEgypt.Yetthisisthemost

ambiguous

ofall

thevernacularwords.

Maml(tk

meansnot

onlymilitary

slave,but

(1)any

slave,

(2)any

whiteslave,

(3)

therulersof

Egypt

from

648/1250to922/1517,and

(4)

the

ruling

elitein

Egypt

between

1.Clbar,5:371.Forfull

quote

intranslation,see

Appendix

2.