peoples (Turkish: Kölemen). They fought in bands, and demanded high pay for their services.

The idea of slave soldiers is sometimes projected back to the earliest Islamic period, but there is no evidence that the Prophet Muhammad or the Rashidun Caliphs organized slave armies. While individuals of slave origin, such as freedmen or war captives, may have joined battles voluntarily, the systematic use of slave soldiers did not exist at that time. Under the Umayyads, some Slavs and Berbers were