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

SlavesinWar:The

HistoricalRecord 33

burned

bridges

andcarried

flags

in

earlyIslam,

fought

initial

skirmishesbeforethefull-scalebattleinancient

India,protected

the

Byzantine

andMuscovite

baggage

trains,

patrolledthebor-

dersofthe

Roman

Empire,

andformedtheruler’s

bodyguard

in

Rome,insomeofits

successorstates,andin

seventeenth-century

Ethiopia.

44

If

theyjoined

the

regulararmy,

slavesstill

commonly

foundthemselvesnotinthemainhostbutin

auxiliarycorps.

Andwhen

they

did

jointhemain

army,they

stillwere

likely

to

dobattleintheless

important

contests.

4

Ordinary

slavesenteredbattlemostoften

as

personal

retain-

ers,

accompanying

theirmasterand

joining

himintheircom-

mondefense.

4n

Although

very

widespread,

thisroleexcitedlittle

attention;

thecommon

sight

ofa

slave

fightingby

hismaster’s

side

rarely

drewanobserver’s notice.

Onlywhenwe

possess

exactinformationonthecombatantscanweestimate

theirrole.

Thelistsofwarriorsatthe

mainbattlesbetween

Muh.

ammad

and

Quraysh

indicatethatslaves

andfreedmenformedasizable

proportion

ofthe

fighting

forcesofeach

side,andmostofthem

fought

withtheirmasters.

47

Iftheselistsare

accurate,

aMuslim

slave retainer

killed a

Qurashfcounterpart

at the Battle of

U.hud.

4a

The

following

anecdotefromancientGreecereveals

something

aboutboththe

extentoftrust

placed

inslaveretain-

ersandthe

generally

low

opinion

oftheir

military

abilities:

Iphicrates,

ashewas

campaigning against

the alliesofLace-

daemon,changedthedressof

his

men

during

thenight,putting

thesoldiers inretainer’s

clothing

and theretainersinsoldier’s

44.

Early

Islam:UH,

3:72;IH,2:78;T, 1:1939-40,3175,3203;2:1582,

1926.India:Chanana,

p.

41.

Byzantium:K6pstein,p.109.Muscovy:Hellie,Eno

serfment,pp.165, 290

n.

119, 368 n.167.Rome:Barrow,

p.

147.Rome’ssuccessor

states:

Rothenh6fer,pp.53,101.Ethiopia:M.Abir,"The

Ethiopian

SlaveTrade

andItsRelationtothe

IslamicWorld"(photostat),Conferenceon

Slavery

and

RelatedInstitutionsinIslamicAfrica

(Princeton,1977),

p.

5.

45.Rome:Duff,

p.

140;Rouland,

p. 22 n.5.U.S.:AR,pp.74-75.

Rouland,

p.9.

46.Greece:Sargent,

p.

204;Garlan,

pp.

46-47.Rome:Rouland,

pp.

28 ff.for

extensivedetails.SasanianIran:UA,1:149.

Early

Islam:UA,1:180;T,2:937,

1572;FB,p.424;IbnMuzihim 183 T,1:3266-67.Islamiclaw:as-Sarakhsf,

Sharh.,p.

919.

Muscovy:Heilie,

Enserfment,

p. 368 n.167.

47.IH,1:677-706.

48.IH,1:710.