Ghulam (English spelling) ghulām

Japanese: グラーム（英語表記）ghulām

Arabic for a boy or a servant, especially a slave servant. Historically, it refers to the so-called "slave soldiers" who served as the royal guards of the monarchs in Islamic countries in Western Asia and India, and eventually gained influence in the military and royal courts. They were mainly composed of Turkish nomads from the northern Eurasian steppes, but later they were also recruited from Georgians, Armenians, Circassians, and even Slavs. In the mid-9th century, the Abbasid caliph Mu'tasim purchased 3,000 Turkish slaves from Samarkand to serve as his royal guards, and they became highly valued by Islamic countries. They were skilled warriors in horse riding and archery, and had the advantage of having no vested interests in the area and sworn absolute loyalty to their master, making them ideal as the royal guards for a monarch who aimed for centralization. They were given not only military training but also academic training by the monarch, and were then appointed to important posts, eventually becoming an important foundation supporting the administrative organizations of Islamic states such as the Samanids, Ghaznids, Seljuk Dynasty, Fatimids and Mamluks in Egypt, and the Delhi Sultanates in India. However, they often formed warring factions and fought with each other, often causing political turmoil and the downfall of the state, and sometimes even established their own governments. The Tulunids, Ikhshids, and Mamluks in Egypt, the Ghaznids and Khwarezmian Dynasties in Iran, and the Slave Dynasty in India were all founded by people of Ghurami origin. They continued to be important in Iran under the Safavid and Qajar dynasties, but were abolished in the 19th century under Western influence. In the Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, they were the most powerful members of the Janissary Corps in the 16th century, but lost their importance after the defeat in the Balkans at the end of the 17th century, and were abolished in the 19th century with the adoption of a Western-style court organization.

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Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

少年または召使い，特に奴隷の召使いを意味するアラビア語。歴史的には，西アジアやインドのイスラム諸国家において君主の親衛兵として仕え，やがて軍隊や宮廷内に勢力をもつにいたったいわゆる「奴隷軍人」をいう。主として北方ユーラシア草原のトルコ系遊牧民出身者から成るが，のちにはグルジア人，アルメニア人，シルカシア人，さらにはスラブ人からも徴発された。9世紀中頃，アッバース朝カリフ，ムータシムが 3000人のトルコ人奴隷を親衛兵とするためにサマルカンドより購入して以後，イスラム諸国家において重用されるにいたった。彼らは，騎馬，弓射に巧みな戦士であるうえに，当該地になんら利害関係がなく，主人たる君主に対して絶対的忠誠を誓うという利点から，中央集権を目指す君主の親衛兵として最適であった。彼らは君主から軍事教練のみならず，学問的素養をも与えられたのち，要職につけられ，やがてサーマン朝，ガズニー朝，セルジューク朝やエジプトのファーティマ朝，マムルーク朝，さらにインドのデリー・スルタン諸王朝などイスラム諸国家の行政機構を支える重要な基盤となった。しかし，彼らはしばしば軍閥を形成して互いに争い，政治的混乱や国家の滅亡をもたらすことが多く，ときにはみずから政権を樹立することもあった。エジプトのトゥールーン朝，イフシード朝，マムルーク朝，イランのガズニー朝，ホラズム・シャー朝，インドの奴隷王朝などはいずれもグラーム出身者によって建てられたものである。その後イランでは，サファビー朝やカージャール朝においてなお重用されたが，19世紀に西欧の影響下に廃止された。一方，オスマン帝国においては，イェニチェリ軍団の成員として 16世紀に最も大きな勢力を有したが，17世紀末のバルカンでの敗退後重要性を失い，19世紀に西欧風の宮廷組織の採用とともに廃止された。