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

34 TheIslamicateContext

clothing.

Theretainersdressedassoldiersstrolledfarfromthe

armsdepots,

relaxed

in

themanneroffree

men;

thesoldiers

dressedasretainers

stayed

nearthe

arms,going

abouttheirusual

tasks.

Seeing

this,the

enemy

imitatedits

opponents;

thesoldiersre-

laxedandstrollednonchalantlyoutsidethecamp

whiletheretain-

erssettoworkatthecorv6e.Atthis

point

the

signal

went

up;Iphic-

rates’soldiers

rapidly

tookto

arms,

rantothe

enemycamp,

and,as

theretainersthereran

away

andthesoldiers

sought

their

weapons,

they

killedsomeand

captured

others.

49

Inemergencies,thegovernment

oftenlookedtothelast

pool

of
manpower:

slaves.

Althoughignored through

the calmer

stages

ofwarfare,slavescouldfindthemselvesenrolledinthe

army overnight

when a crisis struck. In mass-slaveholding

societies,thismeasurecouldimmediatelyproduce

thousandsof

newsoldiers--forexample,

inancient Greeceand Rome, in

Brazil,Peru,theBritishWestIndies,andeveninthe

American

Confederacy.

5

These

emergencytroops

costboth

government

andslaveowners

heavily,

andtheirallegiances

were

probably

less

firm

thanthoseofslaveswho

foughtalongside

theirmasters,so

thismeasurewas

usually

reservedforextremesituations.Even

then,

theseslaves

usuallyfoughtdiligently

forthesamereasons

ofself-interestasothersdid.

’51

Finally,

lestI

give

the

impression

thatslaveswere

always

belli-

cose,

letmementionaslavewho

may

haveavertedabattle.The

story

hasitthattheArabians

peacefullyconquered

thecastle

of

Shuhriyfij

aroundthe

year

19/640thankstotheeffortsof

one

oftheirslaves.A

participant

recounts:

Wehad

besiegedShuhriyfij

foratleastamonthandthoughtwe

werenear

victory.

Oneday,afteranattack,wereturnedtoour

49.

Polyaenus,Strategematum

libri

octo,

iii.

9.52.

50. Greece:
    Sargent,pp.208-11;Garlan,pp.44,45,

48.Rome:

Ktihne,pp.

189,193,204;Westermann,

p.

61;Rouland,

pp.

46-47;

Treggiari,p.

68.Brazil:

A.G.B.andH.
J.

Fisher,

Slavery

andMuslim

Society

in

Africa

(Garden

City,

N.Y.,

1971),p.

160.Peru:

Bowser,p.309.Venezuela:Lombardi,p.37.BritishWest

Indies:
Buckley,pp.

43-53,

explains

howthis

possibility successfullyop-

posed;

Handler,

pp.

110-11.U.S.:CW,

pp.

280-81.

51. Westermann,
    p.

61.