Note 765 — Chapter IX
Reading edition
The name of Slaves (Ṣaqáliba) was originally applied to prisoners of war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to the Arabs of Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all foreign slaves serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their nationality. Like the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a privileged corps under the patronage of the palace, and since the reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III their number and influence had steadily increased. Cf. Dozy, Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq.