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

10 TheIslamicateContext

Uponcompletingtraining,military

slaves

join

thearmy.

No

support,auxiliary,

or

emergency

roleshere:

they

enrollasfull-

time

professional

soldiers.Theirmaster

gives

themdirectfinan-

cial

support,

so

they

haveno

competing

intereststodistractthem

from

military

service.Militaryslavesperformkeymilitaryduties

and

carryheavy

burdens;

they

serveall

year

round,formelite

corps,supplymany

officers, andrise

quickly

in the

military

hierarchy.

No

listing

oftheiractivitiescanbe

given

here;indif-

fering

circumstances,

they

undertakeevery

conceivable mili-

taryduty.

Unlikeordinaryslaves, theyhabitually

becomethe

mainstay

ofthearmies

they

serve.Andwhereas

ordinary

slaves

belong

to

private

individuals,

military

slaves

belong

toleaders;

sotheformertend

to

fightalongside

theirmasters,whilethe

latterform

largecorps

and

fight

in

separate

slaveunits.

By

virtueoftheir

militarystrength,

thelivesofthese men

differ

remarkably

fromthoseof

ordinary

slaves.Farfrombeing

lowly

domesticsorservile

laborers,theyenjoy

the

respect

and

the

power

ofsoldiers.

Althoughslaves,they

are

part

oftherul-

ing

elite;

they

beararms,haveaccesstotheruler,fill

important

positions,

and

enjoy

theamenitiesofwealthand

power.

Indeed,

they

enjoymanyadvantages

whichmost

free

mencannot

attain

and,asaresult,

theirslave

status

carrieswithit

nostigma.

Onthe

contrary,

itbecomesa

badge

ofdistinction; slavery,

in

an

ex-

traordinary

reversal,

gives

accessto

power

and

social

superiority

whichfreebirth
might

deny.Farfromconsidering

itahumilia-

tion,

freemencovet

thisstatus

andslaves

jealouslyguard

it.

Noneof

this,

of

course,

holdstruefor

ordinary

slaves.

The

power

held

bymilitary

slavesenablesthemto

gain

control

overtheirowndestinies.
Ordinary

slavesbecomefree

only

when

theirmaster
decidestomanumitthem.They

canfleeorrevolt,

buttheseefforts
usuallyfail;

slaverevoltscancause

greatup-

heavals and
bringgovernments

down,but

they

donot

place

slavesin
power

for

long.

Howdifferentthesituationwithmili-

tary

slaves!They

commonly

freethemselvesthroughagradual

shiftinrelationswiththeirmaster.Withtime,
they

evolvefrom

being

hissubordinatesinto

being

an

independentmilitary

force.

This
opportunity

of

acquiringpower

fromwithinis

completely

closedto
ordinary

slaves.