Enslaved people did not all come from the same world. They were a mixed ethnic and national mosaic. At the same time, Arabic texts highlighted the differences in status between enslaved persons of European descent and those of African origin. These social disparities, including in high-ranking military and political functions, were not unique to the Iberian world. More than their fair-skinned counterparts, enslaved blacks were often exposed to colour prejudice (Djāhiz, Risāla fí fakhr al-Sūdān, 1964, tome 1, pp. 173-226; Ibn Kutayba, 1992, p. 26; Al-Mas'ūdī, I, pp. 82-3; Ibn Khaldūn, vol. I, p. 92; Ibn Buṭlān, Risāla, 1957). ${ }^{3}$ Alongside the mass of Spaniards and neo-Muslims (muwalladūn), Slavs and Sudanese formed an essential component in the settlement structure of the Peninsula. Numerically, they were ranked third; an intermediary position, just behind the Berbers but well ahead of the Arab and Oriental immigrants who, despite their political supremacy and successive waves of immigration, remained in the minority. While enslaved people originating from continental and northern Europe were called Sakäliba (and also mamälik, gbilmān and fitiyän), their coloured counterparts were generally identified by the generic term of 'abid and that of Sūdān. Most of them came from West Africa. Seville, like the other Andalusian kingdoms, had a strong army led by Saklabis and Africans. ${ }^{4}$