Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/99

 GREAT RULERS BRED FROM SLAVES 69 production of great men. While a brilliant ruler's son is apt to be a failure, the slaves of a real leader of men have often proved the equals of their master. The reason of course is that the son is a mere speculation. He may or may not inherit his father's talents; even if he does, the very success and power of the father create an atmosphere of luxury that does not encourage effort; and, good or bad, the son is an immovable fix- ture: only a father with an exceptional sense of public duty would execute an incompetent son to make room for a talented slave. On the other hand the slave is the " survival of the fittest; " he is chosen for physical and mental abilities, and he can hope to retain his position in his master's favour only by vigilant effort and hard service. Should he be found wanting, his fate is sealed. The famous Seljuk empire furnished a notable ex- ample of the influence of a great man upon his slaves. The mamluk guard of the emperor Malik Shah formed a school of capable rulers. However servile in origin, the pedigree carried with it no sense of ignominy. In the East a slave is often held to be better than a son, and to have been the slave of Malik Shah constituted a special title of respect. The great slave vassals of the Seljuks were as proud and honourable as any bas- tards of mediaeval aristocracy; and when they in turn assumed kingly powers, they inherited and transmitted to their lineage the high traditions of their former lords. The same process was seen in the great slave leaders who were among the earliest Mamluk Sultans of Egypt in the thirteenth century; and an equally