page_title: Black Guard
hierarchical_section_title: Black Guard
context_page_description: The Black Guard Arabic: عبيد البوخاري‎ "Slaves of al-Būkhārī"; also known as ‘Abīd al-Dīwān "slaves of the divan", Jaysh al-‘Abīd "the slave army", and ‘Abid al-Sultan "the sultan’s slaves" were the corps of black-African slaves and Haratin (free blacks) slave-soldiers assembled by the Alaouite sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif (reigned 1672–1727). They were called the "Slaves of Bukhari" because Sultan Isma‘il emphasized the importance of the teachings of the famous imam Muhammad al-Bukhari, going so far as to give the leaders of the army copies of his book. The ‘Abid al-Bukhari represent a Moroccan example of the Islamic slave army, examples of which abound in the history of the Islamic world, including the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and the janissaries of the Ottoman Empire.
context_section_description: The Black Guard (Arabic: عبيد البوخاري‎ "Slaves of al-Būkhārī"; also known as ‘Abīd al-Dīwān "slaves of the divan", Jaysh al-‘Abīd "the slave army", and ‘Abid al-Sultan "the sultan’s slaves" were the corps of black-African slaves and Haratin (free blacks) slave-soldiers assembled by the Alaouite sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif (reigned 1672–1727). They were called the "Slaves of Bukhari" because Sultan Isma‘il emphasized the importance of the teachings of the famous imam Muhammad al-Bukhari, going so far as to give the leaders of the army copies of his book. The ‘Abid al-Bukhari represent a Moroccan example of the Islamic slave army, examples of which abound in the history of the Islamic world, including the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and the janissaries of the Ottoman Empire.
caption: The sultan of Morocco with the Black Guard, 1862 painting by Eugène Delacroix
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