Introduction: Ghulam, derived from Persian, means trained slaves, Ghulam cavalry, is a special, professional army in the history of the Middle East, the soldiers in it are from the Turkic mercenaries, from the humble and lowly slaves selected, Ghulam cavalry produced by the European mercenary culture, when the number of soldiers in the system is insufficient, it expands from other places, once because of the shortage of manpower, the slaves are pulled to the battlefield, but through this to discover the slaves due to long-term hard work and the cultivation of strong physical strength, The ability to obey from exhaustion and the invincible fighting power stimulated by a strong sense of survival gave the rulers the advantage of training slaves into soldiers, and also contributed to the birth of the Ghulam cavalry.
For the slave Ghulam cavalry, to receive the most rigorous training, in the face of the most dangerous enemy on the battlefield, life and death are only a moment, but this is based on their original slave status, not a bad thing, after all, as a slave is always facing the slave owner's scolding, life is very low, but since becoming a Kalam cavalry, they have won the promotion of their status with the victory of the war, but also with advanced weapons and equipment, witty military strategy, In history, it has left a magnificent and brilliant miracle of war.
Ghulam
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the rise of the Ghulam cavalry stemmed from the ancient mercenary system of Europe</h1>
In 825 AD, the Arab legions of the Abbasid dynasty encountered the invasion of foreign enemies, this invasion brought great damage to the military strength of the Abbasid dynasty, and the main force of its army, the Khorasan Legion, broke out at the same time, internal and external troubles, in order to reshape the army, the ruler Mamun, so chose to form a small elite army in the palace, but it was very difficult to find the source of soldiers internally, so the ruler decided to use the mercenary system, which was handed down from the carthaginian military master Hannibal. Soldiers are not necessarily natives, but they can fight for the sake of the country, and the mercenary system alleviates the fact that the lack of soldiers in smaller countries has also made more peoples with excess force a career choice of mercenaries. The Abbasid dynasty employed the Huns with strong combat effectiveness, formed a short and lean Xiongnu mercenary army, good at riding and shooting, amazing combat effectiveness, and soon made up for the military shortcomings of the Abbasid dynasty, in 833 AD, Mamun died, the successor Mutasim decided to continue to develop and strengthen this Turkic mercenary army, and his ambition was to make this powerful army his confidant, in addition to himself, not controlled by external forces, so as to suppress the Khorasan legion of the high-ranking lord, Maintaining his fledgling imperial power, he hired more than four thousand Turkic soldiers from the steppes and deliberately selected Turkic soldiers who embraced Islam to facilitate his own control.
Turkic
Mutasim brought this Turkic mercenary to the city of Baghdad and renamed it Ghulam, but at this time Ghulam was not yet related to slaves, and the reason for taking this name was to hide people's eyes, after all, a newly enthroned ruler who brought a group of foreign armies into the city-state was easy to arouse suspicion and speculation. Mutasim immediately allocated funds to Ghulam, equipped with excellent horses, armor, weapons, and also studied the corresponding tactics and battles, coupled with harsh training, the comprehensive quality of Ghulam soldiers was greatly improved, an excellent Ghulam soldier is said to be able to shoot five arrows in a row in two and a half seconds, the speed of archery is ten times that of ordinary soldiers, in addition to long-range shooting ability, Ghulam soldiers also need to be skilled in the use of spears, swords, hammers and other weapons.
The emergence of the Ghulam army also led to the fusion of Turkic weapons and Islamic weapons, such as curved swords, such as the Kangar machete, which was influenced by the introduction of Turkic weapons culture, and the swords or knives of the Islamic world were more suitable for cutting or splitting, while Turkic weapons were suitable for stabbing. For example, the hammer spear, as a lethal armor-breaking weapon, also originated from the fusion of Islamic weapon culture and Turkic weapon culture, and the armor worn by Ghulam was also influenced by two armor styles.
Ghulam weapons
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Ghulam's subsequent development was beyond Mutasim's control, and he slowly came to power after dominance</h1>
Mutasim had intended to train Ghulam soldiers as his henchmen, but later developments exceeded Mutasim's predictions. After Ghulam became the strongest armed force of the Abbas, there was gradually a momentum of breaking away from the control of Mutasim, probably because it was not a country after all, the Turkic soldiers accepted the employment of Mutasim, but there was not much loyalty, and coupled with the arrogant and disobedient nature of the Turks, and the loopholes in the Abbasid administrative system, the power of the Ghulam gradually expanded, forming its own door valve, arrogant, kingless, open robbery in the capital, rape of women, no evil, causing great dissatisfaction among the subjects, But Mutasim had no choice but to impose a strong force against them, only to order them not to obey, and Mutasim could only choose to move the capital to the northern city of Samara.
But the power of the Ghulam is becoming more and more unstoppable, and they even try to infiltrate the Turkic bloodline into the Abbasid dynasty, of course, the first step is to first empty the power of the king, so what they do first is to improve their position, rely on the military threat, and then, delegate the power of the king, delegate to the ministers the power to privately organize and build their own Karam army, which is to take advantage of the ministers' yearning for force, the desire to master force, although they have seen the king's Kalam Janissaries so above their heads, And the king is no longer able to control it, but at the same time, they will yearn to have their own Kalam army, so that they can protect themselves, so after gaining power, the ministers have established their own Kalam.
And the king's Kalam actively helped, from the Turks to find a source of soldiers, when the Abbasid dynasty up and down were infiltrated by Arama, all the Karams then united by a common Turkic bloodline, became the real ruler of the country, from the king to the courtiers, no one could restrain them, they took the Turkic women, married them, or distributed the Turkic women to the princes and ministers, and the Turkic bloodline invaded the Abbasid dynasty in an all-round way.
Ghulam's position in abbasids was very high, although they still bore the name of this slave at this time, but enjoyed a very high honor, wearing gold and silver every day, expensive silk, belts decorated with various jewels, and in war, they were fully clothed with heavy armor, armed with advanced weapons, riding heroic war horses, and the gowns at dinner parties were even more luxurious. At the same time, Ghulam also established a perfect selection and promotion system, according to records, a Ghulam needs to train for a total of seven years, the fifth year can receive a hard hammer, the sixth year can receive a dress, and the seventh year can go to become a lieutenant.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > wars, the source of soldiers is scarce, and the sources of soldiers selected by Ghulam are officially from mercenaries to slaves</h1>
By the middle of the 9th century AD, Ghulam had basically complete control over the military and politics of the Abbasid dynasty, and after fully seizing power, they still handled state affairs according to their own habits and preferences, although some of their original people believed in Islam, but later with the influx of Turks who did not believe in Islam, Ghulam's emphasis on Islam declined, and he did not even deal with the religious problems encountered in the development of the country, indifferent to religious affairs, although he ruled the country. But not caring about the people at all, Ghulam gradually attracted the dissatisfaction of many people at home, many uprisings broke out, the country fell into division and disintegration internally, at the same time, abroad, foreign invasions came back, and the greater danger was the division of the entire Middle East, since 945 AD, the Baiyi Dynasty conquered Baghdad and Mesopotamia, the raging war seemed to be about to sweep in, and no country could hide.
Middle East
From the ninth century to the beginning of the tenth century AD, the Middle East was plunged into a protracted war of conquest and could not extricate itself, and the cruel war brought only the tragic life of the civilian population and the sharp regression of social productivity, the resources of various countries decreased, the population declined, but once the war began, it was difficult to stop, the rulers and the people were afraid of the war, but no one dared to rush to the armistice, and stopped all kinds of preparations for the war, on the contrary, a large number of military resources were still needed to supplement, but the civilians were no longer enough, the lessons of the past, the mercenaries did not dare to hire, But as the slave trade developed, slaves from Eastern Rome, the Caucasus, Egypt, and East Asia were continuously transported to various countries in the Middle East.
So the real Ghulam, that is, the trained slaves began to appear, the ruler ordered the slaves and prisoners of war to select the strong, young and strong, sent to undergo cruel military training, the slaves have undergone torture and heavy labor, can bear hardships and stand hard work, most of them have passed the training, come to the battlefield, this is still a very tragic fate for them, but it also provides them with a way to change their fate, after becoming Kalam, performing well on the battlefield, can gradually be promoted to middle and high-level commanders, He could even become a noble general and minister, completely freed from the fate of lifelong slavery. So in order to change their fate, the Karams fight to the death, bravely move forward, fearless.
Battlefields in the Middle East
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the Persian Samanid dynasty put Ghulam on the right track</h1>
As a result of years of continuous wars, the countries of the Middle East began to use slaves as a source of soldiers, train new soldiers, and strengthen military strength, although slaves are not fierce and brave Turks, they look loyal and have no second heart, but after all, the lessons of the Abbasid dynasty are there, but what really caused the Abbasid dynasty to be hollowed out by the Turks was not the ambition and rebellion of the Ghulam Turk mercenaries, but the administrative system of the Abbasid dynasty with a clear division of labor, and the management gap of this administrative system for the new type of army of Karam. First, in the Abbasid dynasty, the relationship between the king and the ministers, and the division of responsibilities between each other, were unclear, and the more qualified ministers in the court could rely on the old and sell the old, point fingers at the newly enthroned king, and meddle in the king's orders, and the ministers and the king seemed to be suspicious of each other, and there was no sense of trust to speak of, which made them both want to rely on external force to support themselves, which eventually led to widespread penetration of Ghulam.
Second, the Ghulam of Abbas was initially only the eyes and ears of the king, but the king did not want people to know that he had formed them, so he did not have time to integrate into the formal system, and the scope of Ghulam's power was not yet clear. But Ghulam expanded before that.
Abbasid dynasty
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the Persian Samanid Dynasty decided to institutionalize the Ghulam army, established a complete supervision system, and a direct military system, and optimized the training system of Ghulam, selecting younger teenagers to enter the Ghulam training camp for training, not only learning military knowledge, practical combat skills, but also learning Islamic culture, and the state strengthened ideological control over them. The reward and punishment system within Ghulam was also further improved, when the Ghulam troops were divided into three levels, Ghulam recruits, Ghulam, and elite Ghulam, and their troop structure was also changed to a mixed mode of light cavalry and heavy cavalry. Such reforms created the miracle of Ghulam cavalry sweeping through the Middle East and Europe, becoming a super-strong iron horse.
Conclusion: The development process of the Ghulam cavalry has undergone many changes, from the form of mercenaries to the training of slaves, the Ghulam cavalry once overshadowed a dynasty, and once became the hope of a country's final victory in the great melee, but in any case, the Ghulam cavalry in the military ability, combat effectiveness of the excellent is beyond doubt, for later slaves, becoming a Ghulam warrior is also one of the few ways to change their own destiny, so they fight for it, In the end, he exchanged victory for honor and dignity for himself. For the ruler, the Karam cavalry is more like a double-edged sword, infinitely powerful, used well can win for themselves, if used badly, it will be eaten by its huge power, how to use such a double-edged sword, is the cooperation of all parts of the country, the need for the ruler and the people, the king and the ministers of cooperation and trust.