Black Guard
The Black Guard or ‘Abīd al-Bukhari (Arabic: عبيد البخاري, lit. 'Slaves of al-Bukhārī'; also known as ‘Abīd ad-Dīwān "slaves of the diwan", Jaysh al-‘Abīd "the slave army", and ‘Abid as-Sultan "the sultan’s slaves") were the corps of sub-Saharan African slaves and Haratin slave-soldiers assembled by the 'Alawi sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif (reigned 1672–1727). They were called the "Slaves of Bukhari" because Sultan Isma‘il emphasized the importance of the teachings of the famous imam Muhammad al-Bukhari, going so far as to give the leaders of the army copies of his book.