ʿAbīd al-Bukhārī

ʿAbīd al-Bukhārī, army of Saharan blacks organized in Morocco by the ʿAlawī ruler Ismāʿīl (reigned 1672–1727). Earlier rulers had recruited black slaves (Arabic: ʿabīd) into their armies, and these men or their descendants eventually formed the core of Ismāʿīl’s guard.

The ʿabīd were sent to a special camp at Mechraʿ er-Remel to beget children. The communal children, male and female, were presented to the ruler when they were about 10 years old and proceeded to a prescribed course of training. The boys acquired such skills as masonry, horsemanship, archery, and musketry, whereas the girls were prepared for domestic life or for entertainment. At the age of 15 they were divided among the various army corps and married, and eventually the cycle would repeat itself with their children.

Ismāʿīl’s army, numbering 150,000 men at its peak, consisted mainly of the “graduates” of the Mechraʿ er-Remel camp and supplementary slaves pirated from black Saharan tribes, all foreigners whose sole allegiance was to the ruler. The ʿabīd were highly favoured by Ismāʿīl, well paid, and often politically powerful; in 1697–98 they were even given the right to own property.

After Ismāʿīl’s death the quality of the corps could not be sustained. Discipline slackened, and, as preferential pay was no longer forthcoming, the ʿabīd took to brigandage. Many left their outposts and shifted into the cities, and others became farmers or peasants. Those who remained in the army were an unstable element, ready for intrigue. Under strong rulers, the ʿAbīd al-Bukhārī were periodically reorganized, though they never regained their former military and numerical strength. The ʿabīd were finally dissolved late in the 19th century, with only a nominal number retained as the king’s personal bodyguard.