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

Slavesin

War:TheHistoricalRecord

49

11. Delhisultanate
    (602-962/1206-1555)iTheDelhisultan-

atewasin

reality

sixdistinct

dynasties,allofwhichmadeuseof

military

slaves.Thefirstof

them,theMueizzis,werefounded

by

aslavesoldierwhobroke

away

from

hisGhurid

masters;

several

laterMuCizzi

andotherrulerswerealso

ofslave

origins,

and

slaves

played

a

prominent

military

role

throughout.1

in

12. Hafsids
    (625-982/1228-1574). The Hafsid rulers em-

ployedablackAfrican

bodyguard

of

slaves,butitisunclear

whetherthe

Turks

theyemployed

cameas

freemenorasslaves.

Ineither

case,slavesoldiershad

only

aminor

role?

17

13. Mamluks
    (648-922/1250-1517). The
    military

slave

dy-

nastypar

excellence;not

only

didalmostall

thesoldiers

begin

theircareers as

slaves,but

they

formedthe

government

and

passed

theruleonto

otherslaves.TheMamluks

maintaineda

self-perpetuating

slave

ofigarchyforcenturies,

recruitingmostly

in

CentralAsiaandtheBlackSea

region.

18

14. Ottomans

(680-1342/1281-1924).Along

with

theMam-

luks,theirsisthebest-known

system

of

militaryslavery.Slave

soldierswereintroducedsometime

inthe

8th/14th

century

and

theirlast

vestiges

were

only

abolished

in 1241/1826. Besides

supplying

the

army

with foot-soldiers

(the

Janissaries),

slaves

tookon

many

burdens

ofthecentraladministration?

9

Emergence

oftheMamluk

Army,"

Studia

lslamica 46 (1977):67-99, 147-82.

N.H.SaCdawi,

JayshM#r

fi

AymSal.

ad-Dn

(Cairo,1956).Idem,at-Ta’khal-

H.

arb-

aI-Mff

fi

cAhd

al.h

ad-ln

a/-lyy&-(Cairo,1957).Zaki,al-Jaysh,

pp.

79-87.

116. M.A.Ahmad,Political
     History&Institutions

of

the

Early

Turkish

Empire

of

Delhi
(1206-1290A.D.)(Lahore,
1949):

U.N.

Dey,"Military

Organization

ofthe

Sultanateof

Delhi(1210-1388),"

Journalof

the

UnitedProvincesHistorical

Society

14,

pt.

2

(1941):

48-57.G.

Hambly,"WhoWerethe

Chihilgn,

the

FortySlaves

of

Sult.in

ShamsaloDfnIltutmish

ofDelhi?"Iran 10

(1972):57-62.

I.

H.Qureshi,

TheAdministration

of

theSultanate

of

Delhi,

4th

ed.(Karachi,1958),

pp.

136-56.

117.R.

Brunschvig,

LaBerbbrieorientalesous

les

Hafsides:

des

origines

h

latin

du

XVesibcle
(Paris,1940-47),2:75-82.

118.D.

Ayalon,

StudiesintheMamb2ks

of

Egypt

(1250-1517)(London,1977)

andotherarticles.A.

Darrag,L’Egyptesouslargnede

Barsbay

825-841/1422-

1438 (Damascus,1961),
pp.

33-55.

Humphreys,

"Emergence."

119.A.DjevadBey,Etatmilitaire

ottoman,

vol.

1:LeCorps

deJanissaires,

trans.

G.

Macrids

(Constantinople,1882);Kldy-Nagy;B.Miller,ThePalaceSchool

of

Muhammadthe
Conquerer
(Cambridge,

Mass.,

1941); Papoulia;Uzun;arili;S.