Black Guard (Morocco)
The Black Guard or Abid al-Bukhari ( Arabic عبيد البوخاري, DMG ʿAbīd al-Bukhārī 'Slaves of al-Bukhari'), also called Buakhar , was an army formed from black Africans , which was set up in Morocco by the Alawid ruler Mulai Ismail (r. 1672–1727). His predecessors had already recruited black slaves ( Arabic : ʿabīd) who, together with their descendants, may have formed the core of Ismail's guard .
education
The ʿabīd were sent to a special camp in Mechra er-Remel - not far from the Sebou , between Meknes and Salé - and lived there with their families. Their children, both male and female, were presented to the Sultan at the age of 10 and then completed a prescribed training program. The boys acquired skills as stonemasons , horsemen , archers, and musketeers , while the girls were prepared for domestic life or for entertainment purposes. At the age of 15 they were split up among the various army units and married, and the cycle continued with their children.
Ismail's army
Ismail's army, which at its height comprised 150,000 men, consisted mainly of "graduates" of the Mechra-er-Remel camp and other slaves captured by black African tribes, whose only allegiance was to the sultan. The ʿabīd were in high favor with Ismail, they were well paid and politically very influential; 1697–98 they were granted the right to property .
resolution
After Ismail's death, the quality of the units could no longer be maintained. There was discipline decay and stayed away when wage payments, some went'Abid for robbery over. Many left their outposts and moved to the cities, while others tried their luck as farmers . Those who stayed behind in the army were unpredictable and always ready for intrigue . Under strong rulers, the Black Guard was repeatedly reorganized, although it never regained its old military strength and numerical strength. At the end of the 19th century, the ʿabīd was finally dissolved, with only a few members remaining in the king's personal bodyguard .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Abid al-Bukhari. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved November 21, 2017 .
- ^ Charles-André Julien , Roger Le Tourneau: History of North Africa , London 1970, p. 250.