Ghilman (singular ghulam) describes either young eunuch servants in paradise or slave-soldiers in the Ottoman and Persian Empire.
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In Islamic paradise
According to the Qur'an, the ghilman are mythical creatures who work in heaven, alongside their female counterparts called the houris, in the service of the righteous Muslims. The promise of this reward is repeated four different times in the Qur'an.
These are those who are brought nigh, in gardens of delight … upon bejewelled couches, reclining upon them, facing one another. Upon them wait immortal youths [the ghilman]…
—the Qur'an
Secular
In the Ottoman Empire and Sassanid Persia, the ghilman (singular, ghulam) were slave-soldiers in service of kings and generals.
Since the break-up of the Abbasid Caliphate, the ghilman were grouped into whole armies. They were usually Turkic in origin and fought as cavalrymen.
The ghilman seem to have lived celibate lives. The absence of family life and offspring was one of the reasons why ghilman, even when attaining power, generally failed to start dynasties or proclaim their independence. The only exception to this was the Ghaznavid dynasty of Afghanistan, which originated amongst the ghilman of the Samanid dynasty.
Chroniclers also give accounts of the political connotations of their relationships; the ghulam Fatik, for example, briefly governed Aleppo for the Fātimids before being murdered in his sleep by his ghulam lover. Also, the Buwayhid prince Bakhtiyar's infatuation with a ghulam is given as one of the reasons as why he lost his throne and his life.
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