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Article: If you had lived back then.(life and society circa year 1000)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- August 16, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At the turn of the last millennium, most of Europe's population was dirt-poor, scratching out an existence at the whim of a lord. Elsewhere, things weren't much better, though a lucky few could control their destinies.
A soldier's fortune
As the third son born to a chieftain of a small principality in Turkistan, Abu Mansur Subuktigin seemed destined for a life of shepherding and marauding. But by the time of his death in A.D. 997, he had become a renowned statesman and founded the powerful Islamic Ghaznavid dynasty.
Such was life for the ambitious Islamic slave soldier.
The import of slaves to be used as soldiers probably began on a ...