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

20

TheIslamicateContext

us understand their

position.Typically,

a

purely

cash nexus

connectsthe

mercenary

tohisemployer,not

compulsion

or

loy-

alty.

The

military

slavewhoisstillatrueslave,

in

contrast,

istied

by

bondsof bothcontroland

loyalty

tohis

master;indeed,

his

interestsandhismaster’sare

nearlyinseparable.

Mercenaries

comeand

goaccording

tocircumstance,

but

military

slavesre-

quirelong-term

planning. Any

rulerwhodecidestocreatea

military

slave

corps

mustbe

prepared

towaitadecadebeforeit

becomesaneffective

fighting

force.When

they

aretrueslaves,

military

slavesresemblemercenaries

very

little.

The

superiority

of

military

slavesoverother

types

ofsoldiers

may

inducetherulertoincreasetheirnumbersandinfluence

too

rapidly

forthe

good

ofhis

dynasty.

As

theyreplace

other

troops

andinfiltratethe

upper

levelsofthe

army,

theruler

may

losecontroloverthem.Oncethebalance

betweenslaveandfree

forcesis

upset,

therulerno

longer

has otherforcestorestrain

theslaves.

When

military

slaves

acquirepower,

theyinevitablyuse

itfor

their

own

ends.Astherulercomes

torely

onthemtoo

heavily,

theyipsimit

themselvesand take

charge

in

very

un-slavelike

ways.Ipsimission

occurswhen

military

slavesrealizethat

they

no

longer

have to

obey

theirmaster. Note,however,thatnotall

military

slaves

ipsimit

themselves; Islamicate history

offers

numerous

examples

of

balance,

of

dynasties

inwhichtheslave

forcesdidnot

acquire

toomuch

power

butremainedtrueslaves

throughout.

The

timing

of

military

slaves’ self-assertionfollows aclear

pattern.

A

given

ruler

acquires

themintoo

greatquantities

and

relies

too

heavilyuponthem,

butstill

they

remain

subject

tohim.

Aweofhimand

personalloyalty

combineto

keep

theminhis

power.

Hissuccessor,evenhisson,oftenfindsthemno

longer

willing

to

obey.

26

Unableto

rally

otherforces

against

them,he

cando

nothing

to

prevent

their

ipsimission

and

eventually

falls

under their control. In this

manner,

the Turks

obeyed

al-

26.

P.G.Forand,"RelationoftheSlaveandtheClient,"

pp.

65-66.Ibn

Badrfin
(d.

608/1211)

explicitly

makesthis

point

foral-MuCtasimandhisson

al-Wfithiq(quoted

in

Appendix

3,17).