Lesson 9: Military Slavery Flashcards
l-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh
was the eighth Abbasid caliph, ruling from 833 until his death in 842. A younger son of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, he rose to prominence through his formation of a private army composed predominantly of Turkish slave-soldiers (ghilmān). This proved useful to his half-brother, Caliph al-Ma’mun, who employed al-Mu’tasim and his Turkish guard to counterbalance other powerful interest groups in the state, as well as employing them in campaigns against rebels and the Byzantine Empire.
Al-Mu’tasim continued many of his brother’s policies, such as the partnership with the Tahirids, who ruled Khurasan and Baghdad on behalf of the Abbasids. With the support of the powerful chief qādī, Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad, he continued to implement the rationalist Islamic doctrine of Mu’tazilism and the persecution of its opponents through the inquisition (miḥna).
Mamluk
arabic meaning property,is an Arabic designation for slaves. The term is most commonly used to refer to non-muslim slave soldiers and Muslim rulers of slave origin.
These were mostly enslaved Turkic peoples but also form other ethnicities. Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly caste in various societies that were controlled by Muslim rulers. Particularly in Egypt, but also in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and India, mamluks held political and military power. In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as emirs or beys. Most notably, mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on Egypt and Syria, and controlled it as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut. They had earlier fought the western European Christian Crusaders in 1154–1169 and 1213–1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. In 1302 the mamluks formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades.
While mamluks were purchased as property, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In a sense they were like enslaved mercenaries. Due to islamic theology they needed to be non muslims at the time of their enslavement since a muslim can not enslave a mnuslim. Became a Military elite in the Abbasid dynasty.
Ghilman
were slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries in the armies of the Abbasid empire.
Ghilman were introduced to the Abbasid Caliphate during the reign of al-Mu’tasim (r. 833–842), who showed them great favor and relied upon them for his personal guard. The ghilman were slave-soldiers taken as prisoners of war from conquered regions or frontier zones, especially from among the Turkic people of Central Asia and the Caucasian peoples (Turkish: Kölemen). They fought in bands, and demanded high pay for their services. They were opposed by the native Arab population, and riots against the ghilman in Baghdad in 836 forced Mu’tasim to relocate his capital to Samarra. The ghilman rose rapidly in power and influence, and under the weak rulers that followed Mu’tasim, they became king-makers: they revolted several times during the so-called “Anarchy at Samarra” in the 860s and killed four caliphs.
Iqta
was an Islamic practice of tax farming that became common in the Abbasid Empire which was a form of administrative grant, often (wrongly) translated by the European word “fief”. The nature of the iḳṭāʿ varied according to time and place, and a translation borrowed from other systems of institutions and conceptions has served only too often to mislead Western historians, and following them, even those of the East. Unlike European systems, the Muqtis had no right to interfere with the personal life of a paying person if the person stayed on the Muqti’s land. Also, iqtas were not hereditary by law and had to be confirmed by a higher authority (like the sultan or the king). Individual iqta holders in Middle Eastern societies had little incentive to provide public goods to the localities assigned to them. The overarching theme was state power where the iqta was revocable and uninheritable. Though not an investment in a particular holding of land, the iqta—as a fiscal device—gave soldiers a vested interest in the regime. Created a disaster for the local inhabitants when generals would strip lands before they were to give them up.
Samarra
is a city in central Iraq, which served as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate from 836 to 892. Founded by the caliph al-Mu’tasim, Samarra was briefly a major metropolis that stretched dozens of kilometers along the east bank of the Tigris, but was largely abandoned in the latter half of the 9th century, especially following the return of the caliphs to Baghdad.
al-Mutawakkil ʽalà Allāh
- was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861. He succeeded his brother al-Wathiq. His assassination on 11 December 861 by the Turkish guard with the support of his son, al-Muntasir, began the troubled period of civil strife known as “Anarchy at Samarra”. Al-Wathiq’s death was unexpected, and although he had a young son, he had not designated a successor. Consequently, the leading officials, the vizier, the chief qādī, and the Turkish generals Itakh and Wasif al-Turki, and a few others assembled to determine his successor. The council chose the 26-year-old Ja’far, who became the caliph al-Mutawakkil. The officials hoped that the new Caliph would prove a pliable puppet, like al-Wathiq. However, al-Mutawakkil was resolved to restore the authority of the caliphal office and restore its independence by destroying the coterie of civil and military officials, raised by his father, that effectively controlled the state. He persecuted the dhimmi, curbed the power of the Turks and Persians in the Abbasid court, and was not a follower of Muʿtazila.
al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh
was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 to 892. His reign marks the end of the “Anarchy at Samarra” and the start of the Abbasid restoration, but he was largely a ruler in name only. Power was held by his brother al-Muwaffaq, who held the loyalty of the military. Al-Mu’tamid’s authority was circumscribed further after a failed attempt to flee to the domains controlled by Ahmad ibn Tulun in late 882, and he was placed under house arrest by his brother. In 891, when al-Muwaffaq died, loyalists attempted to restore power to the Caliph, but were quickly overcome by al-Muwaffaq’s son al-Mu’tadid, who assumed his father’s powers. When al-Mu’tamid died in 892, al-Mu’tadid succeeded him as caliph.
al-Muwaffaq bi-Allah
was an Abbasid prince and military leader, who acted as the de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate for most of the reign of his brother, Caliph al-Mu’tamid. His stabilization of the internal political scene after the decade-long “Anarchy at Samarra”, his successful defense of Iraq against the Saffarids and the suppression of the Zanj Rebellion restored a measure of the Caliphate’s former power and began a period of recovery, which culminated in the reign of al-Muwaffaq’s own son, the Caliph al-Mu’tadid.
al-Muqtadir bi-llāh,
was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 908 to 932 CE (295–320 AH), He came to the throne at the age of 13, the youngest Caliph in Abbasid history, as a result of palace intrigues. His accession was soon challenged by the supporters of the older and more experienced Abdallah ibn al-Mu’tazz, but their attempted coup in December 908 was quickly and decisively crushed. Al-Muqtadir enjoyed a longer rule than any of his predecessors but was uninterested in government. Affairs were run by his officials, although the frequent change of viziers—fourteen changes of the head of government are recorded for his reign—hampered the effectiveness of the administration.
Zanj
The Zanj were for centuries shipped as slaves by Arab traders to all the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs recruited many Zanj slaves as soldiers and, as early as 696 AD, we learn of slave revolts of the Zanj against their Arab masters in Iraq. The Zanj Rebellion was a series of uprisings that took place between 869 and 883 AD near the city of Basra in present-day Iraq. Many Zanj were taken as slaves and were often used in strenuous agricultural work. In particular, Zanj slaves were used in labor-intensive plantations, harvesting crops such as sugarcane in the lower Mesopotamia basin of what is now southern Iraq. Harsh circumstances apparently provoked three rebellions in the late 7th and 9th centuries. What is now called the Zanj Rebellion was the largest of these.
Amir al-Umara
(commander of commanders) was a senior military position in the 10th-century Abbasid Caliphate, whose holders in the decade after 936 came to supersede the civilian bureaucracy under the vizier and become effective regents, relegating the Abbasid caliphs to a purely ceremonial role. The office then formed the basis for the Buyid control over the Abbasid caliphs and over Iraq after 946.
