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

WhatIsaMilitarySlave? 21

Muetaim

butnothissonal-Wthiq;thefutureMamluksof

Egypt

obeyed a,ali.hAyyfib

butnotTfir5nsh5h; andtheeAbidal-

BukhrirevoltedafterthedeathofIsmaeilas-Samin.Oncethe

balance

is

upset,

thetakeovercanbedeferred

only

as

long

as

highlycompetent

rulers

consecutively

succeedoneanother;this

largely

accountsforhowtheOttomans

postponedmilitary

slave

dominationforafull
century,

fromthelate

9th/15th

tothelate

10th/16th

century.

Ofallslaves,

only

thosewhoaresoldierscan

ipsimit

them-

selves,for

onlythey

havea

politicalrelationship

withtheirmas-

ter.Whereas

otherslaves

performdomestic,economic,oreven

administrativeservices,

military

slaves

providemilitarypower.

Behindthetrustand

loyalty

betweentherulerandtheseslaves

liesa

complexadversaryrelationship:

themorehetruststhem,

themore

power

they

gain;

themore

power

they

gain,

theless

loyalthey

become.Asa

result,

amastercan

forego

theservices

ofotherslavesbuthecannotaffordtoreleasehis
military

slaves.

Their
military
support

affectshisown

powertoo

muchfor

him

everto

relaxhis

grip

onthem

voluntarily.

Ifhedoesreducehis

control,

hesurrenders

some

ofhis

power

base.

Yet,thoughtheir

military

and

politicalimportance

makesmanumissionunthinka-

ble,itmakes
ipsimissionpossible;military

slavescanseizefor

themselvesthefreedomtheirmasternever

gives

them.

Manumissionand

ipsimission

are

closely

related

yetvery

dif-

ferent;someclarificationisinorderhere.Fora

militaryslave,

ipsimission

is

by

farthemore

importantprocess;

manumission,

ifitoccurs,is

barely

morethana

formality.

Whenthemaster

manumits

militaryslaves,

hehasnointentionof

givingupany

realcontroloverthem,nordo

they

leavehim;

yet,

iftheslaves

ipsimit

themselves,their

legal

statusremains

unchanged.

The

master’s

militarydependence

onhis

military

slavesthushastwo

contraryimplications;

henever

voluntarily

relaxescontrolover

them,

but

theyhave

themeansto

escape

hiscontrol

againsthis

will.The

double-edged

swordof

politics

cutsboth

ways.

Theeventofmanumissionmarksa

majorchange

inthestatus

of

otherslaves,but

itmatterslittlefor

military

slaves

(unless

the

masterusesitasariteof

passage,

asdidtheMamluksof

Egypt).

Consequently,

no

significant

difference

distinguishes

thosemil-