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

Chapter

Three

An Explanation

Military Slavery

of

This

chapter

seekstoaccountforthetwobasicfactsof

military

slavery:that

it

existedatallandthatitoccurred

only

inIslam-

dom.

Whywouldanyonechoosetorecruitsoldiersasslaves?

Why

didMuslimsaloneinfactdoso?These

questions

arein-

tertwined;theraisond’@treof

militaryslavery

isbound

up

with

its

purely

Islamicateexistence;itscausescannotbeunderstood

apart

fromIslam.

AConnectiontoIslam?

Thedistribution

pattern

of

militaryslaverysketchedin

chapter

2 stronglysuggests

thatIslam

lay

behindthe

existenceofthis

institution.Yetbefore

inquiring

intotheroleof

Islam,letus

considerother

possible

factorsfortheexistenceof

military

slav-

ery.

Ofthealternatives,threestandout:climate,Turks,andthe

stirrup?

Muslim

landsfrom

Spain

tonortheastIndiasharea

basicclimatic

feature--dry

heat;

perhaps

this

orsomeother

environmentalfeaturecould

explainmilitaryslavery.

Without

attemptingtoelaborateonthisconnection,wecan

reject

itasa

cause

bynoting

thatthelands

fromSpaintoIndia

enjoyed

the

sameclimatebefore 622 C.E.Were

militaryslaveryrelatedto

climate,wewould

expect

ittohaveexistedinthosesame

regions

1.Thenotionthat

military

slaveswere

merely

mercenaries

in

Muslim

clothing

hasbeentreatedinchapter1.The
assumption

hereisthat

they

wereadistinct

phenomenon.

Somescholars

grant

thatmilitary

slavery

occurred

only

inIslam-

dorabutresisttheideathatitisconnectedtoIslam.
SeeM.A.Cook,introduction

toV.
J.

Parryetal.,A

History

of

theOttoman

Empireto 1730

(Cambridge,Eng.,

1976),p.7;FrederickCooper,Plantation

Slavery

ontheEo3tCoast

ofAfrica

(New

Haves1977),p.

194 n.183.

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