Lasting from the deposition of the Ayyubid dynasty (c. 1250) to the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, this regime of slave-soldiers incorporated many of the political structures and cultural traditions of its Fatimid and Ayyubid predecessors. [114] As such, the ethnically Circassian mamluks who gained prominence with the rise of the Burji regime and became the dominant ethnic element of the government, were educated in the Turkish language and were considered to be Turks by the Arabic-speaking population. Amid conditions that stemmed the flow of mamluks from the Mongol-held lands to the sultanate, an-Nasir Muhammad resolved to make up for the loss of the purged mamluks by adopting new methods of training and military and financial advancement that introduced a great level of permissiveness. [92] Ali died in May 1381 and was succeeded by his nine-year-old brother, as-Salih Hajji. They were produced in the thousands and suspended from the ceiling by chains. [119] In addition, there was a significant minority of Coptic Christians. Before they established their official Sultanate, many Mamluks functioned in administrative and governing positions in the Ayyubid Sultanate. [100] Tatar died three months into his reign and was succeeded by Barsbay, another Circassian emir of Barquq, in 1422. [107] Two Ottoman era Mamluks, Iwaz Bey's Mamluk Yusuf Bey al-Jazzar and Jazzar Pasha were known for massacring Bedouins and given the name "butcher" (al-Jazzar) for it. [169] The ustadar was often referred to as the ustadar al-aliyah (grand master of the house) to distinguish from ustadar saghirs (lesser majordomos) whose authority was subordinate to the ustadar al-aliyah and who oversaw specific aspects of the court and citadel, such as the sultan's treasury, private property and the kitchens of the citadel. As stated previously, the Mamluks spoke Arabic and practiced Islam, but many came from foreign roots, whether from the Turkic tribes or Central Asia, or the Caucuses. [13] Mamluks had formed a part of the state or military apparatus in Syria and Egypt since at least the 9th century, rising to become governing dynasties of Egypt and the Levant during the Tulunid and Ikhshidid periods. The desert environment of the Mamluks was given life by the waters of the Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the Southeast. [195] These goods originated in Persia, India, and Southeast Asia and made their way to Europe via the Mamluk ports of Syria and Egypt. Title Did the Mamluks Have an Environmental Sense? The Mamluk Sultanate lasted until 1517 when it was consumed by the expanding Ottoman Empire. [100], Barsbay pursued an economic policy of establishing state monopolies over the lucrative trade with Europe, particularly regarding spices, to the chagrin of the civilian merchants of the sultanate. The Mamluks were well trained in combat, governance, and other skills in their slavery, equipping them with the tools necessary to rule a state. Suez Canal Bank. [217][218][219], State in Egypt, Hejaz and the Levant (12501517), Extent of the Mamluk Sultanate under Sultan, "The Cambridge History of Egypt", Volume 1, (1998) P. 250. [164] Baybars instituted uniformity within the army and put an end to the previous improvised nature of the various Ayyubid military forces of Egypt and Syria. [151] It more or less involved the election of a sultan by a council of emirs and mamluks (who would give him an oath of loyalty), the sultan's assumption of the monarchical title al-malik, a state-organized procession through Cairo at the head of which was the sultan, and the reading of the sultan's name in the khutbah (Friday prayer sermon). [100] To that end, his fiscal administrator led tax collection expeditions that were akin to plundering throughout the sultanate to compensate for the tax arrears that had accumulated under Faraj's reign. Source: Ro4444, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Ottoman sultan Selim I captured Cairo on January 20, the center of power transferred then to Constantinople. [93] Towards the end of the 14th century, challengers to the Mamluks emerged in Anatolia, including the Ottoman dynasty who absorbed the territory of the Karamanids in central Anatolia and installed a vassal as the leader of the Dulkadirids in 1399, and the Turkic allies of Timur, the Aq Qoyonlu and Kara Qoyounlu tribes who entered southern and eastern Anatolia in the same time period. [197] This contributed to and coincided with the fall of the sultanate. [95] The new Egyptian niyabas were Alexandria, Damanhur and Asyut. [138], Bedouin tribes served as a reserve force in the Mamluk military. Although the Mamluk sultanate was destroyed, the Mamluks remained intact as a class in Egypt and continued to exercise considerable influence in the state. [131] By the end of the Mamluk period, the ratio of Muslims to Christians in Egypt may have risen to 10:1. [48], In August 1266, the Mamluks launched a punitive expedition against the Armenian Cilician Kingdom for its alliance with the Mongols, laying waste to numerous to Armenian villages and significantly weakening the kingdom. [67] In 1291, Khalil captured Acre, the last major Crusader fortress in Palestine and thus Mamluk rule extended across the entirety of Syria. In an event greatly favoring the Mamluks, the Mongol Empire's leader Mongke Khan died in 1259 at the precipice of Hulagu Khan's invasion of Africa. [51] Furthermore, the Mamluks also received the submission of king Adur of al-Abwab further south. [166] For example, an emir of forty would be given an iqta a third of the size of an emir of one hundred's iqta. Abstract: Agriculture has been the main source of the economy for all dynasties established in Egypt and the Mamluk kingdom was no exception. [55], In July 1277, Baybars died en route to Damascus, and was succeeded by Barakah. [15] Each Ayyubid sultan and high-ranking emir had a private mamluk corps. The Abbasid Caliphate, for example, was ruled by caliphs, descendants of Muhammed, while the Mamluk Sultanate was ruled by non-descendant rulers: sultans. [163], The Ayyubid army had lacked a clear and permanent hierarchical system and one of Baybars' early reforms was creating a military hierarchy. The Ayyubids had owed their allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate, but the latter was destroyed when the Mongols sacked the Abbasid capital Baghdad in 1258 and killed Caliph al-Musta'sim. [81] Isma'il ruled until his death in August 1345, and was succeeded by his brother al-Kamil Sha'ban. [154] Often, the practical restrictions on a sultan's power came from his own khushdashiyyah,[155] defined by historian Amalia Levanoni as "the fostering of a common bond between mamluks who belonged to the household of a single master and their loyalty towards him. The Mamluk Sultanate appeared to be on a collision course with Hulagu's Ilkhanate, one of Mongol Empire's four khanates, whose forces were advancing through the Mamluk-held Levant. Create flashcards in notes completely automatically. [101] Moreover, Barsbay compelled Red Sea traders to offload their goods at the Mamluk-held Hejazi port of Jeddah rather than the Yemeni port of Aden in order to derive the most financial benefit from the Red Sea transit route to Europe. Sign up to highlight and take notes. [195] Mediterranean trade was dominated by spices, such as pepper, muscat nuts and flowers, cloves and cinnamon, as well as medicinal drugs and indigo. [90] However, power was in the hands of Barquq, as-Salih Hajji's regent; Barquq tried to succeed Ali as sultan, but his bid was vetoed by the other senior emirs. [79] Ahmad relocated to al-Karak and left a deputy to rule on his behalf in Cairo. Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan and leader of the Ilkhanate subdivision of the Mongol Empire, was marching through the Middle East. [44], Baybars rebuilt the Bahriyyah's former headquarters in Rawdah island and put Qalawun, one of his most senior associates, in command of it. The Mamluk Sultan Qutuz was not ready to let them rest. In 1265, the Mamluks launched an invasion of northern Makuria, and forced the Nubian king to become a vassal of the Mamluks. Map depicting the territorial holdings of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1337 CE. "Bahriyyah") elements of the Salihiyyah, by distributing to them iqta and other benefits. [58][59] The Ilkhanids took advantage of the disarray of Baybars' succession by raiding Mamluk Syria, before launching a massive offensive against Syria in the autumn of 1281. An emir's main source of income were the agricultural products of his iqta, and with those revenues, he was able to fund his private corps. Clearly, the Mamluks were not a military force to be trifled with. [98] Shaykh's main goal in office was restoration of the state's authority within the sultanate, which saw further plagues in 14151417 and 1420. On 5 April 1250, covered by the darkness of night, the Crusaders evacuated their camp opposite al-Mansurah and began to flee northward towards Damietta. [110] Similar to their Ayyubid predecessors, the Bahri sultans showed particular favoritism towards the Shafi'i madhab, while also promoting the other major Sunni madhabs, namely the Maliki, Hanbali and Hanafi. [199] One of the best examples of this period is the so-called Baptistre of Saint-Louis (kept at the Louvre today), a large brass basin inlaid with arabesques and horizontal scenes of animals, hunters, and riders playing polo. The early Mamlks carried out a host of large-scale construction projects developing, extending, and intensifying the irrigation system, widening and deepening canals, erecting and strengthening dikes, and constructing dams and sluices that helped to control the system during the Nile flood season. [123] It incorporated Sunni Islamic piety with its basis in the Qur'an and hadith, Sufi mysticism, and elements of popular religion such as sainthood, ziyarat (visitation) to the tombs of saintly or religious individuals, and dhikr (invocation of God). [41] The battle ended in a Mongol rout and Kitbuqa's capture and execution. The mamluk was an "owned slave", distinguished from the ghulam, or household slave. [63] Construction of the hospital, a contrast from his Mamluk predecessors who focused on establishing madrasas, was done to gain the goodwill of the public, create a lasting legacy, and secure his spot in the afterlife. [208][209] The decoration of monuments also became more elaborate over time, with stone-carving and colored marble paneling and mosaics (including ablaq) replacing stucco as the most dominant architectural decoration. [72] He then assigned emirates to over thirty of his own mamluks. [39] Qutuz sent military reinforcements to his erstwhile enemy an-Nasir Yusuf in Syria, and reconciled with the Bahriyyah, including Baybars, who was allowed to return to Egypt, to face the common Mongol threat. [63] Its location facing as-Salih's tomb was meant demonstrate Qalawun's lasting connection to his master and to honor the Salihiyyah. The Mamluk Sultanate ruled Egypt, Syria and the Arabian hinterland along the Red Sea. The Abbasid caliphs were the nominal sovereigns (figureheads). Warring continued between the Mamluks and Mongols, with the Mamluks consistently defeating the Central Asian invaders. Map 8.13. The Mamluk Sultanate (Arabic: , romanized:Salanat al-Mamlk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries. The Mamluks defeated the Mongolian Ilkhanate on multiple occasions, exhibiting their martial power and leading to a peace treaty in the 14th century. [168], The ustadar (from the Arabic ustadh al-dar, "master of the house") was the chief of staff of the sultan, responsible for organizing the royal court's daily activities, managing the personal budget of the sultan and supervising all of the buildings of the Cairo Citadel and its staff. [162] The Royal Mamluks were virtually the private corps of the sultan. What was the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate?