WHO ARE THE MAMLUKS? (1250–1517)
Egypt is renowned as one of the oldest cities in the world in terms of creation, civilization and culture. Several classes of people have ruled over it and a lot of traces of its ancient civilization are still evident today.
According to Islamic history, after the coming of prophet Muhammad, Islam began to spread very fast in Arabia and beyond. After his demise, Amr bn Al-as conquered Egypt under the rule of Caliph Umar ibn Khattab, after that, a series of people began to rule over the region in succession among which are the Umayyads, Abbasid, Fatimids, Zenghids etc.
One of the ruling parties who ruled over it was the Ayyubid dynasty. The dynasty was established by Sultan Salahudeen Al Ayyubi, the pride of Palestine. In terms of military strength, the Ayyubid army comprises mainly Turkic slaves who were recruited from mainly the Caucasus mountains and the Balkan region, this group of slaves were known as the Mamluks.
They were trained just like the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire to be loyal to the Sultan and represent a main part of the army. They rose to power when Sultan As Salih Ayyub, the 7th sultan died just as a crusader army led by King Louis IX of France landed in the Nile Delta in 1249 for an invasion. Chaos was imminent but the Mamluks used this as a way to show their ability. They mobilized the army and defeated the crusaders before the new sultan and his other troops made it to the front.
This action of theirs frightened the new sultan and he was threatened by their growing influence and power, therefore, he attempted to expel them, which caused them to revolting several weeks later and claim control for themselves. These were the Bahri clan of the Mamluks. They took control of Cairo and started their rule.
Their rule witnessed one of the most prosperous times in Egypt. In the meantime, the Mongol scourge swept across the Middle East like wildfire. By the mid-13th century they had taken Russia, Central Europe, northern Iran, and the Caucuses, and in 1258, under Hulagu Khan, they invaded Baghdad and put an end to the remnants of the once-glorious ‘Abbasid Empire. From Iraq, the Mongols pressed forward into Syria and then towards Egypt which was the base of the Mamluk sultanate.
For the first time, the Mongols found a very strong rival against them. Their fate was sealed at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 when Sultan Qutuz was the Sultan and Ruknudeen Baybars (late became the next sultan) was his commander at the battle. This battle raised the reputation of the Mamluks in the whole Islamic world as it put a halt to the invasion of the Mongols into the west and also Arabia and the sacred mosques. When commander Baybars became the sultan, he took care of the remaining member of the Abbasid caliphate and reinstated them in Cairo mainly as a political Caliph of the Islamic world with no actual administrative or military power.
Towards the end of the 14th century, the Bahri clan of the Mamluk were also overthrown by another clan of the Mamluk, the Burji Mamluk. The takeover led to instability due to the change of power and loyalty. In 1517 CE, Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire took advantage of the increasing weakness of the Mamluk and wage a war over them. He defeated them and from there, the power of the caliphate of the Islamic world shifted to the Ottoman sultans.
Nevertheless, the Mamluk power was retained by the Ottomans but they lived mainly as the vassals of the Ottoman sultans of Constantinople. So was the situation in Egypt till the west invasion at the hand of Napoleon Bonaparte of France who defeated the army of Egypt under the Ottoman Empire in 1799.
