By Mahisha Hussain
Edited by Fatmanour Chouseinoglou and Mark Potter
Did the varied social and cultural roles of the qiyan give them greater agency compared to elite Abbasid women?
Slaves in Abbasid Baghdad permeated all of society and were readily used as they carried out
several duties. This included concubines, domestic servants, eunuchs, hand maids for elite
women and entertainers. Agency is a term usually associated with the notion of acting against a patriarchal and repressive system, but this definition is severely restrictive.[1] Instead, this essay will explain agency as one’s ability to work around and/or negotiate with existing social norms and controls that women were expected to uphold, in order to advance their own interests.[2] The singing slave girls, known as the qiyan in Arabic, could be categorised as both entertainers and concubines as they were ‘trained to perform ... as singers.’[3] The dual role they played allowed them to negotiate with the normative assumptions concerning gender dynamics and the status of slaves within society.[4] By working within the system rather than against it, the qiyan were able to advance their own interests and enjoy freedoms that one would otherwise not associate with slaves.
It has been contested by many historians whether the qiyan had any real agency. Some, such
as Orlando Patterson have argued that it is not possible for any slave to have agency, as by
nature they are in a submissive position in society. In his book Slavery and Social Death, he
argues that the body and the mind of a slave is exclusively owned by her master, this alienates her from society and thus leaves no room for agency.[5] This view, however, has been challenged by many other historians such as Matthew Caswell and Kristina Richardson. Richardson convincingly argues that it was in fact through sexual manipulation that the qiyan were able to “gain prestige, political prominence, and important allies” and their servitude was not ‘self-denying’ as Patterson suggests.[6] Caswell goes as far as to say that the qiyan ‘in many respects is better than that of her free-born sister’.[7] Of the two arguments presented the latter seems most credible and therefore this essay will argue that despite their social role as subordinates due to their slave status, the qiyan within Abbasid Baghdad had greater agency than the elite Abbasid women, in some respects. They were better able to navigate their subordinate position in society to advance their own interests. However, it is important to note, though the qiyan had some agency, they were not immune to the maltreatment that one would affiliate with slaves.
Though in theory the qiyan were slaves, their social roles as entertainers typically for the elite
classes required that they were educated and trained in many fields. The qiyan were well versed in literary arts, music performance, and compositions.[8] Al-Jahiz (776 – 868/9), one of the most influential Arabic authors of the Abbasid era, described an accomplished qayna as having “a repertoire of upwards of four thousand songs, each of them two to four verses long”.[9] Moreover, the qiyan’s role as a concubine also demanded that their masters would have full sexual access to their body.[10] Al-Jahiz pronounced in his Epistle on Singing Slaves that ‘they provide a man with a combination of pleasures such as nothing else on the face of the earth does’.[11] It was these skills and their expectational beauty, that set them apart from other female slaves and furnished them an esteemed social status. By contrast, elite Abbasid women were defined in opposition to the slave women. When addressing free women there is a recurrent theme of piety and privacy, that is not found when focussing on the qiyan.
Inan Al-Natifi was known as the ‘most gifted poet’ of her generation.[12] Her story stresses that the qiyan did have some agency, despite their subordinate role in society. Inan was a qayna who was able to attain positions of authority and prestige in her early life and held the ambition to join the harem of the caliph. Inan was “one of the most frequently quoted Abbasid women in classical Arabic literature.”[13] The skills she held gave her opportunities for social mobility that other women, including elite Abbasid women could not enjoy. The fact she was a slave meant that she could be bought and sold. Matthew Caswell highlights that because the qiyan were ‘marketable [it] gives her social mobility, and the prospect through succession of changes of ownership to climb socially’.[14] Inan would accompany many men and was friends with famous male poets, including Abu Nuwas. Through this she was able to create a name for herself and attract wealthy visitors and potential buyers. There are also several accounts of Inan conspiring with the vizier’s son Ja’far, and eventually the vizier himself, to persuade the sultan to purchase her.[15] She was able to use her talents to advance her interests to attract the wealthiest men in Baghdad and eventually hoped to attract the attention of the caliph. Through this it is clear that the qiyan were able to strategically take advantage of their social roles and skills in order to move up the social ladder by attracting wealthy buyers. This same sort of social mobility cannot be found amongst the elite Abbasid women, because they were free women and therefore not subject to trade as they were not viewed as a commodity. Thus, it would be just to argue that the qiyan did have greater agency than elite Abbasid women, as they were able to work within the system to make the best of their subordinate position.
Though in some areas the qiyan may have greater agency than the elite Abbasid women, it was still limited. Despite Inan’s talents she was subject to beating by her master due to her slave status. Ibn Jarrah (d.296) mentions a particular moment in which Inan was physically
mistreated by her owner in his account al-Waraqa:
Al-Mubarrad said, “Abu Nuwas came to Inan one day after her master had beaten her
and found she was crying.” He also said, “Abu Zayd Umar ibn Shabba commented that
Ahmad ibn Muawiya had told him that Marwan ibn Abi Hafsa had said that he entered
al-Natifi’s house after he had beaten Inan and reported: “Inan wept so that her tears
flowed/ as pears slip off the string. “She answered, with tears in her voice: “May it wither
on the whip / the right hand of him who struck her unjustly.” Then Marwan said, “By
God, she is the most poetic among jinn and humans.”[16]
The fact that she was beaten stresses her subordinate role as both a woman and a slave.
However, it is important to note that despite being in a fragile state Inan was still able to speak up against the injustice she faced in a poetic manner. Moreover, her master did not object to Inan’s open defiance because her ‘biting verse added value to her’, which was economically beneficial for him. When thinking critically it is also true that elite Abbasid women were still subject to beating by their husbands similar to the qiyan. Therefore, it is just to argue that despite the qiyan’s dual subordinate role they did have greater agency than free women, as Inan was able to speak up against the injustices she faced because she had monetary value.
The social roles of the qiyan meant that they were exempt from hijab (veiling) and they were
also permitted to reside within the public domain, this gave them relative agency. Medieval
Muslim Jurists have explained that the qiyan were not required “to cover their hair, face or
arms because they live an active economic life.”[17]Access to the public sphere for other women was very much restricted. Free women, particularly from the aristocratic and merchant classes, had strict rules that regulated their visibility in society. They were forbidden from free mixing and were expected to maintain propriety in both the public and private spheres.[18] Abiding to these regulations was essential in preserving their virtuous image and upholding religious piety as propagated by the Quranic verse 33:59: ‘O Prophet say to thy wives and daughters and the believing women, that they draw thy veils close to them’.[19] The hijab was not just a symbol of righteousness for a woman, but was an indication of their high social status, which differentiated them from slave women.[20] The qiyan however, were not bound by the same restrictions or pressures as free women and could perform in a mixed company.[21] The qiyan’s social role placed them in a unique position, where they were able to work within social controls and yet transgress without being stigmatised, which was a luxury that elite Abbasid women could not afford.
Freedom from the hijab meant that the qiyan had a special opportunity to solicit patronage
through displays of intimacy and viability.[22] The proximity the qiyan could have with elite men, allowed them to assert their own agendas, they were able to financially exhort men or even move up the social ladder. Their lack of hijab meant that they could sexually manipulate men and even flip the power dynamics present between slave and master. Ibn al-Washsha, a ninth-century writer argued that once trapped with passion, singing girls caused their masters to sink into debt and ultimately neglect their families and social positions.[23] This highlights that the qiyan did have greater agency than elite Abbasid women in terms of their ability to sexually entice men and further their own economic and social interests.
However, withholding the hijab was not always beneficial in giving the qiyan agency and in
some cases tarnished their reputation. The reputation of Inan as being sexually promiscuous,
proved to be detrimental to her ambitions as it dissuaded the caliph from purchasing her. Abu Nuwas, after a particularly bad fall out with Inan, went as far as to state no one would buy her “except for the son of a whore or a pimp.”[24] Though it was common for the qiyan to gain some agency through sexual manipulation of men, it did not however always pertain to a positive ending. Inan despite her extraordinary talents was still categorically a slave, her visibility in the public eye and exemption from the hijab could not give her any agency and freedom if refused by elite men or in this case the caliph. Nevertheless, though the qiyan had unique opportunities for agency that the elite Abbasid women did not have, it was limited. It was possible that like in Inan’s case a reputation for sexual promiscuity acted as a downfall and instead proved to be counterproductive in gaining greater agency, exposing the reality that both women, free and slave, were subordinate to men.
In Abbasid Baghdad, the qiyan were given certain freedoms once they had attained the status
of umm walad (mother of a child), this gave them agency greater than the elite Abbasid women. The newfound status provided the qiyan with key legal benefits, that would improve their lives. It ensured that “men were not allowed to sell their concubines if they had given birth to their children.”[25] Moreover, it was common that masters manumitted their child’s mother out of his own will, which would mean that she was no longer a slave, but a freewoman.[26] This in turn, detached her from her previous subordinate position and gave her agency and control over her own life as she could enjoy the freedoms associated with free women. Moreover, the child once born would automatically be free and would be given the opportunity to inherit the father’s name and reputation rather than their mother’s. There are many examples of a qayna receiving the status of umm walad, Marajil, a Persian slave girl is probably one of the most famous examples, as she was the mother of Caliph al-Ma’mun.[27] This highlights that the social roles of the qiyan under the Abbasid culture, gave them special opportunities to not only be free but yield extraordinary status and power that elite women could not experience.
The law however, failed to safeguard elite Abbasid women in the same way. Instead, the law
stipulated that men could divorce the wives with relative ease and urged that they would have to move out with their children once divorced.[28] Despite the fact that elite Abbasid women were amongst the ‘free’ they seem to have considerably little agency and power in the case of a divorce. Their status seems to significantly decrease in the case of divorce and the law does little to protect the free women. By contrast, regardless of the fact the qiyan were slaves, they were better protected by the law. Once they bore their master’s child, they were in a position to be free and in special cases could become the mother of a future caliph, which in turn allowed them to enjoy the luxuries associated with that position. Thus, it is just to argue that the qiyan were given greater agency in some respects that the free Abbasid women did not have.
To conclude, the qiyan did have greater agency than the elite Abbasid women as they were
better able to navigate their subordinate position in society to work to their advantage. The
Abbasid culture allowed the qiyan to move up the social ladder, even if it was not done through conventional means. Whilst this was true, being a slave meant that the qiyan were subjected to abuse and trapped in a continuous cycle of being bought and sold. However, it was also possible for the singing slave girls to become free women by becoming umm walads. The qiyan were better able to manipulate their roles in order to advance their own interests, unlike the elite Abbasid women.
Notes
[1] Alyssa Gabbay, Gender and Succession in Medieval and Early Modern Islam (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020), pp. 7-8.
[2] Martha Howell, “The Problem of Women’s Agency in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe”, in Sarah J. Moran and Amanda Pipkin (eds.), Women and Gender in the Early Modern Low Countries (Leiden: Brill, 2019), p. 24.
[3] Matthew Caswell, The Slave Girls of Baghdad: the Qiyan in the Early Abbasid Era (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011), p. 1.
[4] Howell, “The Problem of Women’s Agency in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe”, p.24.
[5] Orlando Patterson, Slavery and the Social Death (London: Harvard University Press, 2018), p. 46.
[6] Kristina Richardson, “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan) of the ‘Abbasid Court in Ninth and Tenth Centuries”, in Kristina Richardson (ed.), Children in Slavery Through the Ages (Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2009), p. 105.
[7] Caswell, The Slave Girls of Baghdad, p. 2.
[8] Matthew Gordon, “Introduction: Producing Songs and Sons”, in Matthew S. Gordon and Kathryn A. Hain (eds.), Concubines and Courtesans (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 6.
[9] Kamal Abu Deeb, The Epistle on Singing Girls of Al- Jahiz, A.F.L. Beeston (ed. and trans.), (Warminster: Arts & Phillips, 1980), p. 33.
[10] Yossef Rapoport, “Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, His Wife, Her Slave-girl: Romantic Triangles and Polygamy in Fifteenth-century Cairo”, Annales Islamologiques, 47 (2013), pp. 328-329.
[11] Abu Deeb, The Epistle on Singing Girls of Al-Jahiz, p. 30.
[12] Ibn al-Sa’i, Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, Shawkat M. Toorawa (ed.), (New York: Library of Arabic Literature, 2015), p. 11.
[13] Pernilla Myrne, “A Jariya’s Prospect in Abbasid Baghdad”, in Matthew S. Gordon and Kathryn A. Hain (eds.), Concubines and Courtesans (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 52.
[14] Caswell, The Slave Girls of Baghdad, p. 2.
[15] Caswell, The Slave Girls of Baghdad, p. 2.
[16] Ibn Jarrah’s al-Waraqa cited Myrne, p. 65.
[17] Richardson, “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan)”, p. 98.
[18] Lisa Nielson, “Visibility and Performance: Courtesans in the Early Islamicate Courts (661-950)”, in Matthew S. Gordon and Kathryn A. Hain (eds.), Concubines and Courtesans (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 76.
[19] The Holy Qur’an, 33:59, trans. by Abdallah Yusuf ‘Ali.
[20] Richardson, “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan),” p. 98
[21] Richardson, “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan),” p. 98.
[22] Lisa Nielson, “Gender and the Politics of Music in the Early Islamic Courts”, Early Music History, 31 (2012), p. 250.
[23] Nielson, “Gender and the Politics of Music”, p. 256.
[24] Myrne, “A jariya’s Prospect in Abbasid Baghdad”, p. 65.
[25] Myrne, “A jariya’s Prospect in Abbasid Baghdad”, p. 63.
[26] Richardson, “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan)”, p. 107.
[27] Richardson, p. 100.
[28] Myrne, “A jariya’s Prospect in Abbasid Baghdad”, p. 64.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Ibn al-Sa’i, Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad, Shawkat M.
Toorawa (ed.). New York: Library of Arabic Literature, 2015
The Holy Quran. ‘Abdallah Yusuf ‘Ali (trans.). Kitab Bhavan: Delhi, 1973
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Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020
Gordon, Matthew. “Introduction: Producing Songs and Sons”. In Mathew S. Gordon and
Kathryn A. Hain (eds.) Concubines and Courtesans. New York: Oxford University Press,
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Europe”. In Sarah J. Moran and Amanda Pipkin (eds.) Women and Gender in the Early
Modern Low Countries. Leiden: Brill, 2019
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2017
Nielson, Lisa. “Gender and the Politics of Music in the Early Islamic Courts”. Early Music
History. 31. 2012
Nielson, Lisa. “Visibility and Performance: Courtesans in the Early Islamicate Courts (661-
950)”. In Mathew S. Gordon and Kathryn A. Hain (eds.) Concubines and Courtesans. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2017
Patterson, Orlando. Slavery and the Social Death. London: Harvard University Press, 2018
Rapoport, Yossef, “Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, His Wife, Her Slave-girl: Romantic Triangles and
Polygamy in Fifteenth-century Cairo”. Annales Islamologiques. 47. 2013
Richardson, Kristina. “Singing Slave Girl (Qiyan) of the ‘Abbasid Court in Ninth and Tenth
Centuries”. In Kristina Richardson (ed.) Children in Slavery Through the Ages. Ohio: Ohio
University Press, 2009
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