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

WhatIsa

MilitarySlave?

7

military

slaveismuch

morelimitedthanthatof

ordinaryslaves.

While evena

poor person

can own an

ordinary

slave,

only

leading political

figures--the

ruler, his

officials,

provincial

leaders--can

own

military

slaves,for

they

represent military

power.

Most

militaryslaves,infact,

belong

to

therulerandthe

central

government (and

this

chapter concentrates on them

alone),

a

This

exclusive

ownership

meansthat

military

slavesal-

ways

breatherarefied

airand

keepcompany

with

the

powerful.

Whilethedecisionto

purchasean

ordinary

slavecomesdown

primarilytoa

question

ofeconomics

(canthemasteraffordhis

domestic

servicesordoeshe

gain

froma

slave’seconomicac-

tivities?),acquisition

ofa

military

slave

depends

on

military

con-

siderations.Asa

result,

the

tradein

military

slaves

hasadrive

and

rhythm

ofitsown.

From

themomentaruleror

notablepersondecidesto

acquire

militaryslaves,helavishes

exceptional

careon

selecting

recruits.

Specifically,

the

prospective

ownerseekstwo

qualities:

military

potential

and

malleability.

As

regards

the

first,

he

insistson

greater

capabilities

thanthose

requiredof

ordinaryslaves;while

any

misfit

can

carry

wateror

dig

for

salt,afuturesoldierhasto

bear
graver
responsibilities.

A

preference

for

youthsofnobleor-

igins

andthe

highpricespaidfor

outstanding

recruits

reflect

themaster’sinterestin

finding

the

most

highlyqualified

pros-

pects

as

military

slaves.

4

Inonewell-knowncase,

al-ManfirQla’fin

al-Alff,

aMamluk

sultan(r.

678-89/1280-90),

issaid

tohave

receivedthelast
part

ofhis

name

(a/f,

Arabicfor

"thousand")

fromhis

purchaseprice,

1,000dinars.

5

Selection

criteriaalso

determine
geographical sources of
militaryslaves, for some

regions

areknownto

produce

better

soldiersthanothers.

So,

while Indian slaves do not often
fight, Central Asian male

slavesalmostinvariablydo.

6

3.The

military

slaves

belonging

toother

personsexistlessoften,their

pat-

ternsimitatetherulers’,and
they

arelesswelldocumented.

4.Nizimal-Mulk,SiydaatnKmeh,

p.

104;D.Pal,"The

InfluenceoftheSlavesin

the
MuslimAdministrationofIndia,"IslamicCulture 18
(1944):410-11.

5.

al-Maqrfzf,

Kit(b

as-Sulk,1:663.Formanymore

examples

ofthis

type,see

Ayalon,L’Esclavage,pp.

6-7.

6.D.

Ayalon,"Aspects

oftheMamlk

Phenomenon,"

pp.

198-204.