Hujariyya (Fatimid Caliphate)
The Hujariyya (Arabic: حجرية, romanized: Ḥujariyya, lit. 'Men of the Chambers') were a special training corps in the Fatimid army, expanded to an elite cavalry corps of 3,000–5,000 men at the turn of the 12th century.
History
[edit]The name derives from the word for 'chamber, room' (ḥujra),[1] and refers to troops housed and trained in or near the caliphal palace and its chambers.[1][2] Such an institution existed in the Abbasid Caliphate during the early 10th century.[3]
The Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz (r. 953–975) established a palace training school (ḥujra) at the caliphal palace in Cairo, aiming to train officers in the art of war.[4] The eminent Fatimid general Anushtekin al-Dizbari was taught in this institution, but graduated early after only three years.[5] The general and future vizier in 1149–1154, al-Adil ibn al-Sallar, was also a graduate.[6]
The function of the school was transformed by the vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah in the late 11th century, who found that his troops were inferior to the Crusaders.[4] From a selective institution open only to a few,[6] al-Afdal expanded the Hujariyya to a fully-fledged military corps by recruiting 3,000 youngsters from the sons of the military and civil elites, with the purpose of creating horsemen capable of matching the Turkish ghilmān (slave-soldier cavalry) in skill. The corps was divided into seven barracks (ḥujarāt) during the training, with names like al-Manṣūra ('the Victorious') or al-Fatḥ ('Conquest'). The cadets were under the supervision of tutors (ustādhs) for a period of several years, during which they were taught various subjects and skills. After graduation, the soldiers were known as the 'youths of the household' (ṣibyān al-khāṣṣ).[7][8] Sometime after al-Afdal's tenure, the corps rose further to 5,000 men.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b EI2.
- ^ Kennedy 2001, p. 157.
- ^ Kennedy 2001, pp. 157, 160.
- ^ a b Beshir 1978, p. 47.
- ^ Beshir 1978, pp. 47, 48.
- ^ a b c Beshir 1978, p. 48.
- ^ Beshir 1978, pp. 47, 51.
- ^ Brett 2017, pp. 240, 269.
Sources
[edit]- Beshir, B. (1978). "Fatimid Military Organization". Der Islam. 55 (1): 37–56. doi:10.1515/islm.1978.55.1.37. ISSN 0021-1818.
- Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-4076-8.
- Kennedy, Hugh (2001). The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25093-5.
- Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J., eds. (1971). "Ḥud̲j̲ra". The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume III: H–Iram. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 545. OCLC 495469525.