Slavery, defined by Orlando Patterson as "the permanent and violent domination of people alienated by birth and generally dishonored" (Patterson, 1985: 13) has been and continues to be a flexible practice that adapts to diverse spaces and timelines.
In al-Andalus, there are other goods besides expensive textiles (ṭirāz), which are often exported to distant places like Khurāsān and elsewhere. Among the most famous of its goods are slaves; beautiful slave girls (jawāri) and boys (ghilmān) who are captured in the land of the Franks (Ifranja) and Galicia (Jalikiyya, in northern Spain), as well as eunuchs ṣaqāliba. All eunuchs ṣaqāliba on earth are imported from Al-Andalus. Because when [the ṣaqāliba] approach [the territory of Al-Andalus], they are castrated. Those who do this are Jewish merchants.
Ibn Ḥawqal, 1938-39: 110
In the medieval Islamic world, social status was defined by family origin, that is, each individual's future was determined based on their place of birth. Nevertheless, there were opportunities to rise socially through work, scholarship, piety, or public donations (Goitein, 2000: 77).
The Islamic society of the time was defined in five social classes according to Geniza manuscripts: the powerful (professionals and businessmen), upper-middle class, lower-middle class (defined as beggars), and lastly, artisans. Theoretically a slave would never be above any of these, but in practice there are documented cases of slaves reaching positions of great responsibility, for example eunuchs who participated in politics (Goitein, 2000: 79; Franz, 2017: 64).
When we talk about slavery, we can define two types of societies: slaveholding societies or societies with slaves. The medieval Islamic world was part of the second; it was not a slaveholding society, but rather a society with slaves. Following the parameters established by Moses Finley, a slaveholding society requires three essential points: 20% of the population must be enslaved, slaves must have great importance in the production of surpluses, and thirdly, they must have an impact on culture (Finley, 1980: 79-82). In this way, based on these parameters we would not be dealing with a slaveholding society. For example, it is estimated that during the peak of slavery in Al-Andalus (tenth century) slaves never exceeded 10% of the population (Phillips, 2010: 151).
Regarding the network and sale of slaves (Fig. 1), we must take into account that they are conquering territories where slavery was already practiced previously (Christian kingdoms or pre-Islamic societies, for example). Within the European network initiated in the tenth century moved Jewish, pagan, Christian... but without a doubt the majority were Slavs; from here comes the word we use today, "slave" in English translated to Arabic as ṣaqāliba (Phillips, 2013: 25-26). Leaving European space, the other major network was African. This network gained strength from the twelfth century where mainly Ethiopian, Egyptian and Nubian slaves were moved (Phillips, 2010: 154-155; 2013: 69; Goitein, 2000: 134, 137).
As for the type of slave, there was a clear difference between city slaves and rural slaves. In terms of rural slavery, agricultural work, mining, and marsh labor predominated (Lewis, 1990: 18-19). In the case of al-Andalus, women were the main workforce in the fields, both slave and free (De La Puente, 2010: 139). Furthermore, thanks to Ibn Ḥawqal we know that the Andalusian countryside of the tenth century was not very Islamicized or that the administration of Córdoba had no connection with rural areas (De La Puente, 2010: 140). As for city slaves in the Iberian Peninsula, most were Yilliqiya (from Galicia). They performed various jobs: bakers, cooks, seamstresses, artisans, masons, accountants...
In conclusion, the Islamic world was part of a global phenomenon such as slavery. A society with slaves based on the Qurˀān and Islamic law; different from Christianity, more flexible, but which we cannot idealize. Permanent and violent domination was a constant fact that maintained an established social order by the powerful and even led to rebellions (Rebellion Zanŷ) against imposed power. Domination and repression under the protection of God.
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