SlavesinWar:TheHistorical
Record
51
Thefirst
large-scale
expedition
ofslave
soldiersin
history
was
probably
thatof
al-MuCtaim
in 213/828, which
consistedof
4,000
Turkssentto
Egypt
for
two
years.
124
Asmilitary
slaves
cameto
forma
largepart
of
theAbbasid
army
inthe
following
decades,
they
gained
a
greater
roleinEgypt
aswell,culminating
in254/868
whenthesonofaTurkishmilitary
slave,
Ah.
madb.
Tfilfin,
becamegovernor
oftheprovince
andthenindependent
ruler,
relying
inlarge part
on anarmed
force made
up
of
slaves.
125
By
the
time the Abbasids
won back controlof
the
country
in
292/905,slavesoldiershad
a
major
roleinthemili-
tary
structure.
Underthe
Ikhshidids,
"many
freed
slavescarried
arms
and entered the military organization,
some of them
reachinghighpositions
init.
’’16
Kffir,
ablackslaveeunuch
with
military
experience,
tookover
theIkhshidid
government
in
334/946
(becoming
itsofficialhead
in
355/966)
and
ruleduntil
just
before
theFatimid
conquest
of
Egypt
in
358/969.1
Withtheadventof
Fatimidrule,
lz8
military
slaves
acquired
new
importance;
perhaps
mostcharacteristically
soldiers
ofdi-
verseoriginsfought
under
theShiC
leadership,
whichledto
constant
turmoil in the armed
forces. From
the time the
Ayyubids
tookoverin
564/1169,slavesof
CentralAsian
origins
predominated.
In
timetheirholdoverthearmy
andthe
gov-
ernment
increased,until
648/1250
they
tookoverthe
rule,too,
keeping
itforovertwoand
halfcenturies.Evenafter
theOtto-
man
conquest
in922/1517,military
slavesandtheir
descendants
continuedtodominateEgyptianpolitics?
9
They
losttoNapo-
leonin
1213/1798andweremassacredby
Muh.ammad
AIin
1226/1811,
whichendedtheir
holdover
Egyptian
public
life.
Some
oftheirdescendants,dubbedTurco-Egyptians,
retained
124.
AI-Kindi,
pp.
188-89;
ITB,
2:208-09.
125.C.
H.
Becker,Beitrige
zur
Geschichte.Tlgyptensunter
demIslam(Strassburg,
1902-03),
pp.
192-94.
126.
S.I.Kshif,
M#rJ3
CAs.r
al-lkhshdyn,
2ded.(Cairo,1970),p.
255.
127.
Onhim,seeI.al-Abyirf,
Ab’l-Misk
Kfr
(Cairo,1382/1962).
128.
OntheFatimid,Ayyubid,
andMamlukuse
of
military
slaves,seenotes
109,
115,and 118 above.
129.A.Raymond,Artisans
et
commerants
auCaire
auXVIIIesi’ecle(Damascus,
1973-74),
pp.
659-726.