Mamluk

Mamluk Sultanate
سلطنة المماليك
Saltanat Al-Mamaleek
Mamluk Sultanate سلطنة المماليك; Saltanat Al-Mamaleek
1250–1517
	Mamluk Flag
	Eastern Mediterranean 1450
Capital	Cairo
Common languages	Arabic, Kipchak Turkic
Religion	Islam
Government	Monarchy
History
• As-Salih Ayyub's death	1250
• Battle of Ridanieh	1517
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Ayyubid dynasty
Ottoman Empire
Today part of	Egypt; Saudi Arabia; Syria; Palestinian Authority; Israel; Lebanon; Jordan; Turkey; Libya

A mamluk (Arabic: مملوك (singular), مماليك (plural), "owned"; also transliterated mameluk, mameluke, mamaluke, or mamluke) was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. Over time, they became a powerful military caste often defeating the Crusaders. On more than one occasion, they seized power for themselves; for example, ruling Egypt in the Mamluk Sultanate from 1250-1517.

Overview

The first mamluks served the Abbasid caliphs at the end of the 9th century Baghdad. The Mamluk system was an evolution of a previous system, the Ghulam system, invented by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim, in which Turkish prisoners of war became the caliphal guard. This system ended in disaster in the 860s with the murder of four caliphs in a row, and the Mamluk system was created on its ruins. The main difference was that the Mamluks were captured as children and then trained and moulded within the Islamic world to ensure their loyalty to their masters. The Abbasids "recruited" them mainly from areas near the Caucasus (mainly Circassian and Georgian) in later periods, and in the 13th-14th centuries from areas north of the Black Sea (mainly Turkic, most of whom were Kipchak Turks) and of Yoruk background^{[citation needed]} , as well as boys from East Slav populations^{[citation needed]} . Those captured were of non-Muslim origin.

The mamluk system gave rulers troops who had no link to any established power structure. Local non-mamluk warriors were often more loyal to their tribal sheiks, their families, or nobles than to the sultan or caliph. If a commander conspired against the ruler, it was often not possible to deal with the conspiracy without causing unrest among the nobility. The mamluk slave-troops were strangers of the lowest possible status who could not conspire against the ruler and who could easily be punished if they caused trouble, making them a great military asset.

Organization

After mamluks had converted to Islam, many were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamluks had to follow the dictates of furusiyya, a code that included values such as courage and generosity, and also cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds, etc.

Mamluks lived within their garrisons and mainly spent their time with each other. Their entertainments included sporting events such as archery competitions and presentations of mounted combat skills at least twice a week. The intensive and rigorous training of each new recruit helped ensure continuity of mamluk practices.

While they were no longer actually slaves after training, they were still obliged to serve the Sultan. The Sultan kept them as an outsider force, under his direct command, to use in the event of local tribal frictions. The Sultan could also send them as far as the Muslim regions of Iberia.

Sultans had the largest number of mamluks, but lesser amirs could have their own troops as well. Many mamluks rose to high positions throughout the empire, including army command. At first their status remained non-hereditary and sons were strictly prevented from following their fathers. However over time, in places such as Egypt, the mamluk forces became linked to existing power structures and gained significant amounts of influence on those powers.

A similar evolution occurred in the Ottoman Empire with the Janissaries.

Mamluk power in Egypt

Origins

The origins of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt lie in the Ayyubid Dynasty that Saladin (Salah al-Din) founded in 1174. With his uncle Shirkuh he conquered Egypt for the Zengid King Nur al-Din of Damascus in 1169. By 1189, after the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin had consolidated the dynasty's control over the Middle East. After Saladin's death his sons fell to squabbling over the division of the Empire, and each attempted to surround himself with larger expanded mamluk retinues.

By 1200 Saladin's brother Al-Adil succeeded in securing control over the whole empire by defeating and killing or imprisoning his brothers and nephews in turn. With each victory Al-Adil incorporated the defeated mamluk retinue into his own. This process was repeated at Al-Adil's death in 1218, and at his son Al-Kamil's death in 1238. The Ayyubids became increasingly surrounded by the power of the mamluks and soon involved them in the internal court politics of the kingdom itself.

In 1315 they invaded and conquered a great part of Nubia, but the power remained with a Nubian prince converted from Coptic Orthodox to Islam.

French attack and Mamluk takeover

In June 1249, the Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France landed in Egypt and took Damietta. The Egyptian troops retreated at first. When the Egyptian sultan As-Salih Ayyub died, the power passed briefly to his son Turanshah and then his favorite wife Shajar Al-Durr (or Shajarat-ul-Dur). She took control with mamluk support and launched a counterattack. Troops of the Bahri commander Baibars defeated Louis's troops. The king delayed his retreat too long and was captured by the Mamluks in March 1250, and agreed to a ransom of 400,000 livres (150,000 of which were never paid)^[3]. Political pressure for a male leader made Shajar marry the mamluk commander Aybak; he was later killed in his bath, and in the power struggle that ensued vice-regent Qutuz took over. He formally founded the first Mamluk sultanate and the Bahri dynasty.

The first Mamluk dynasty was named Bahri after the name of one of the regiments, the Bahriya or River Island regiment. The name Bahri (بحري meaning "of the sea or river") referred to their center in al-Rodah Island in the Nile. The regiment consisted mainly of Kipchak Turks.

Mamluks and the Mongols

When the Mongol troops of Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad in 1258 and advanced towards Syria , Mamluk Emir Baibars left Damascus to Cairo where he was welcomed by Sultan Qutuz ^[4] . After taking Damascus, Hulagu demanded that Qutuz surrender Egypt but Qutuz had Hulegu's envoys killed and, with Baibars' help, mobilized his troops. Although Hulegu had to leave for the East when great Khan Möngke died in action against the Southern Song, he left his lieutenant, the Christian Kitbuqa, in charge. Qutuz drew the Mongol army into an ambush near the Orontes River, routed them at the Battle of Ain Jalut and captured and executed Kitbuqa. ( see Qutuz ).

After this great triumph, Qutuz was assassinated by conspiring Mamluks. It was said that Baibars, who seized power, was involved in the assassination. In the following centuries power was often transferred this way: the average reign of a mamluk ruler was seven years.

The mamluks defeated the Mongols a second time in Homs in 1260 and began to drive them back east. In the process they consolidated their power over Syria, fortified the area, formed mail routes, and formed diplomatic connections between the local princes. Baibars's troops attacked Acre in 1263, captured Caesaria in 1265, and massacred the inhabitants of Antioch in 1268.

Mamluks also defeated new Mongol attacks in Syria in 1271, 1281 (2nd Battle of Homs), 1303/1304 and 1312. They were defeated by the Mongols and their Christian allies at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299.

Burji dynasty

In 1382, the Bukri or Burji dynasty took over. Burji (برجي meaning "of the tower") referred to their center in the citadel of Cairo. The dynasty consisted mainly of Circassians.

Ottomans

The Mamluk Sultanate survived until 1517, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The institution of the mamluks continued under the Ottomans, although not in the same form as under the Sultanate.

Mamluks independence from the Ottomans

In 1768 Sultan Ali Bey Al-Kabir declared independence from the Ottomans, but the Ottomans crushed the movement and retained their position after his defeat. By this time new slave recruits were introduced from Georgia in the Caucasus.

Napoleon defeated Mamluk troops when he attacked Egypt in 1798 and drove them to Upper Egypt. The Mamluks still used their cavalry charge tactics, changed only by the addition of muskets.

After the departure of French troops in 1801 Mamluks continued their struggle for independence, this time against the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. In 1803 Mamluk leaders Ibrahim Beg and Usman Beg wrote a letter to the Russian consul-general and asked him to act as a mediator with the Sultan to allow them to negotiate for a cease-fire, and a return to their homeland Georgia. The Russian ambassador in Istanbul categorically refused to mediate because the Russian government was afraid of allowing Mamluks to return to Georgia, where a strong national liberation movement was on the rise which might have been encouraged by a Mamluk return.

In 1805 the population of Cairo rebelled. This was an excellent opportunity for the Mamluks to seize power, but internal tension and betrayal prevented them from exploiting this opportunity. In 1806 the Mamluks defeated the Turkish forces several times, and in June the rival parties concluded a peace treaty by which Muhammad Ali, who had been appointed as governor of Egypt on 26 March 1806, was to be removed and the state authority in Egypt returned to the Mamluks. However, they were again unable to capitalize on the opportunity due to conflicts between the clans; Muhammad Ali kept his authority.

End of Mamluk power in Egypt

Muhammed Ali knew that eventually he would have to deal with the Mamluks if he ever wanted to control Egypt. They were still the feudal owners of Egypt and their land was still the source of wealth and power.

On March 1, 1811, Muhammed Ali invited all Mamluks to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamluks paraded in Cairo. Near the Al-Azab gates, in a narrow road down from Mukatam Hill, Muhammad Ali's forces ambushed and killed almost all in what came to be known as the Massacre of the Citadel. According to the tradition, only one Mamluk, named Hasan, survived when he cut his way through the Turks and jumped his horse over a precipice to freedom.

During the following week, hundreds of Mamluks were killed throughout Egypt; in the citadel of Cairo alone more than 1,000 were killed. Throughout Egypt an estimated 3,000 Mamluks and their relatives were killed.

Despite these attempts by Muhammad Ali to defeat the Mamluks in Egypt, a party of them escaped and fled south into what is now Sudan. In 1811, these Mamluks established a state at Dunqulah in the Sennar as a base for their slave trading. In 1820, the sultan of Sennar informed Muhammad Ali that he was unable to comply with a demand to expel the Mamluks. In response, the pasha sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan, clear it of Mamluks, and reclaim it for Egypt. The pasha's forces received the submission of the kashif, dispersed the Dunqulah Mamluks, conquered Kordofan, and accepted Sennar's surrender from the last Funj sultan, Badi VII.

Offshoots

There were various offshoots of the Mamluks.

India

In 1206 the mamluk commander of the Muslim forces in India, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, proclaimed himself sultan, becoming in effect the first independent Sultan-e-Hind. This Mamluk dynasty lasted until 1290.

Iraq

The Mamluk corps were first introduced in the part of the Ottoman Empire that is now Iraq by pasha Hasan of Baghdad in 1702. From 1747 to 1831 Iraq was ruled, with short intermissions, by the Mamluk officers of Georgian origin who succeeded in asserting autonomy from the Sublime Porte, suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of the Janissaries, restored order, and introduced a program of modernization of the economy and the military. In 1831 the Ottomans managed to overthrow Daud Pasha, the last Mamluk ruler, and imposed direct control over Iraq.^[5]

Under Napoleon

Napoleon formed his own Mamluk corps, the last known Mamluk force, in the early years of the 19th century, and used Mamluks in a number of his campaigns. Even his Imperial Guard had Mamluk soldiers during the Belgian campaign, including one of his personal servants. Napoleon's famous bodyguard Roustan was a Mamluk from Egypt.

One of the pictures by Francisco de Goya shows a charge of Mamluks against the Madrilene on 2 May 1808.

Throughout the Napoleonic era there was a special Mamluk corps in the French army. In his history of the 13th Chasseurs Colonel Descaves recounts how Napoleon used the Mamluks in Egypt. In the so-called "Instructions" that Bonaparte gave to Kleber after departure, Napoleon wrote that he had already bought from Syrian merchants about 2,000 Mamluks with whom he intended to form a special detachment. On 14 September 1799 General Kleber established a mounted company of Mamluk auxiliaries and Syrian janissaries from Turks captured at the siege of Acre.

On 7 July 1800 General Menou reorganized the company, forming 3 companies of 100 men each and renaming it the "Mamluks de la République". In 1801 General Rapp was sent to Marseille to organize a squadron of 250 Mamluks under his command. On 7 January 1802 the previous order was canceled and the squadron reduced to 150 men. The list of effectives on 21 April 1802 reveals 3 officers and 155 other ranks. By decree of 25 December 1803 the Mamluks were organized into a company attached to the Chasseurs-à-Cheval of the Imperial Guard.

Mamluks fought well at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December, 1805, and the regiment was granted a standard and its roster increased to accommodate a standard-bearer and a trumpet. A decree of 15 April 1806 defined the strength of the squadron as 13 officers and 147 privates. Despite the decree of 21 March 1815 that stated that no foreigner could be admitted into the Imperial Guard, Napoleon’s decree of 24 April prescribed amongst other things that the Chasseurs-à-Cheval of the Imperial Guard included a squadron of two companies of Mamluks for the Belgian Campaign.

With the First Restoration, the company of the Mamluks of the Old Guard was incorporated in the Corps Royal des Chasseurs de France. The Mamluks of the Young Guard were incorporated into the 7th Chasseurs-à-Cheval.

Mamluk uniform

During their service in Napoleon’s army, the Mamluk squadron wore the following uniform:

Before 1804: The only "uniform" part was the green cahouk (hat), white turban, and red saroual (trousers), all to be worn with a loose shirt and a vest. Boots were of yellow, red, or tan soft leather. Weapons consisted of an "Oriental" scimitar, a brace of pistols in a holder decorated with a brass crescent and star, and a dagger.

After 1804: The cahouk became red with a brass crescent and star, and the shirt was closed and had a collar. The main change was the addition of a "regulation" chasseur-style saddle cloth and roll, imperial green in color, piped red, with a red and white fringe. The saddle and harness remained Arabic in style. The undress uniform was as for the Chasseurs-à-Cheval of the Guard, but of a dark blue cloth.

Mamluk rulers

In Egypt

Bahri Dynasty

1250 Shajar al-Durr (al-Salih Ayyub's Widow de facto ruler of Egypt)
1250 al-Muizz Izz-ad-Din Aybak
1257 al-Mansur Nur-ad-Din Ali
1259 al-Muzaffar Saif ad-Din Qutuz
1260 al-Zahir Rukn-ad-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari
1277 al-Said Nasir-ad-Din Barakah Khan
1280 al-Adil Badr al-Din Solamish
1280 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Qalawun al-Alfi
1290 al-Ashraf Salah-ad-Din Khalil
1294 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun first reign
1295 al-Adil Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha
1297 al-Mansur Husam-ad-Din Lajin
1299 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun second reign
1309 al-Muzaffar Rukn-ad-Din Baybars II al-Jashankir
1310 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun third reign
1340 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Abu-Bakr
1341 al-Ashraf Ala'a-ad-Din Kujuk
1342 al-Nasir Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad
1342 al-Salih Imad-ad-Din Ismail
1345 al-Kamil Saif ad-Din Shaban
1346 al-Muzaffar Zein-ad-Din Hajji
1347 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan first reign
1351 al-Salih Salah-ad-Din Ibn Muhammad
1354 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan second reign
1361 al-Mansur Salah-ad-Din Mohamed Ibn Hajji
1363 al-Ashraf Zein al-Din Abu al-Ma'ali ibn Shaban
1376 al-Mansur Ala-ad-Din Ali Ibn al-Ashraf Shaban
1382 al-Salih Salah Zein al-Din Hajji II first reign

Burji Dynasty

1382 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq , first reign
1389 Hajji II second reign (with honorific title al-Muzaffar or al-Mansur) - Temporary Bahri rule
1390 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq, Second reign - Burji rule re-established
1399 An-Nasir Nasir Addin Faradj
1405 Al-Mansour Azzaddin Abdal Aziz
1405 An-Nasir Nasir Addin Faradj (second time)
1412 Al-Adel Al-Mustayn (Abbasi Khalef, proclaimed as Sultan)
1412 Al-Muayad Saif Addin Shayh
1421 Al-Muzaffar Ahmad
1421 Az-Zahir Saif Addin Tatar
1421 As-Salih Nasir Addin Muhammad
1422 Al-Ashraf Saif Addin Barsbay
1438 Al-Aziz Djamal Addin Yusuf
1438 Az-Zahir Saif Addin Djakhmak
1453 Al-Mansour Fahr Addin Osman
1453 Al-Ashraf Saif Addin Enal
1461 Al-Muayad Shihab Addin Ahmad
1461 Az-Zahir Saif Addin Khushkadam
1467 Az-Zahir Saif Addin Belbay
1468 Az-Zahir Temurbougha
1468 Al-Ashraf Saif Addin Qaitbay
1496 An-Nasir Muhammad
1498 Az-Zahir Qanshaw
1500 Al-Ashraf Djanbulat
1501 Al-Adel Saif Addin Tumanbay I
1501 Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri
1517 Al-Ashraf Tumanbay II

In India

Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206–1210)
Aram Shah (1210–1211)
Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211–1236). Son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aybak.
Rukn ud din Firuz (1236). Son of Iltutmish.
Razia Sultana (1236–1240). Daughter of Iltutmish.
Muiz ud din Bahram (1240–1242). Son of Iltutmish.
Ala ud din Masud (1242–1246). Son of Rukn ud din.
Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–1266). Son of Iltutmish.
Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266–1286). Ex-slave, son-in-law of Iltutmish.
Muiz ud din Qaiqabad(1286–1290). Grandson of Balban and Nasir ud din.
Kayumars (1290). Son of Muiz ud din.

Similar terms

Mameluco is a Portuguese word derived from "mamluk" (also named Mameluco in Spanish), used to identify people of mixed European and Amerindian descent in South America. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Mameluco also referred to organized bands of Portuguese slave-hunters based at São Paulo, known primarily as bandeirantes.

Mameluk was used in Hungary in the last decades of the 19th century as a nickname for Members of Parliament belonging to the governing "Liberal" party. This party governed Hungary for 30 years (1875-1905) and its members in Parliament fulfilled all wishes of party leader and prime minister Kálmán Tisza in order to preserve their parliamentary seats and accompanying privileges.

Officers of the United States Marine Corps carry a ceremonial Mameluke Sword, and Mamluke swords are used by US army in festivals.

Mamluk office titles and terminology

English	Arabic	Notes
Alama Sultaniya	علامة سلطانية	The mark or signature of the Sultan put on his decrees, letters and documents.
Al-Nafir al-Am	النفير العام	General emergency declared during war
Amir	أمير	Prince
Amir Akhur	أمير آخور	supervisor of the royal stable
Amir Majlis	أمير مجلس	Guard of Sultan's seat and bed
Atabek	أتابك	Commander in chief
Astadar	أستادار	Chief of the royal servants
Barid Jawi	بريد جوى	Airmail (mail sent by carrier-pigeons, amplified by Sultan Baibars)
Bayt al-Mal	بيت المال	treasury
Dwadar	دوادار	Holder of Sultan's ink bottle
Fondok	فندق	Hotel (some famous hotels in Cairo during the Mamluk era were Dar al-Tofah, Fondok Bilal and Fondok al-Salih)
Hajib	حاجب	Doorkeeper of sultan's court
Iqta	إقطاع	Revenue from land allotment
Jamkiya	جامكية	Salary paid to a Mamluk
Jashnakir	جاشنكير	Food taster of the sultan (to assure food was not poisoned)
Jomdar	جمدار	An official at the department of the Sultan's clothing
Kafel al-mamalek al-sharifah al-islamiya al-amir al-amri	كافل الممالك الشريفة الاسلاميةالاميرالأمرى	Title of the Vice-sultan (The guardian of the dignified Islamic kingdoms the commanding prince)
Khan	خان	A store that specialized in selling a certain commodity
Khaskiya	خاصكية	Courtiers of the sultan and most trusted royal mamluks who functioned as the Sultan's bodyguards/ A privileged group around a prominent Amir
Khond	خند	Wife of the sultan
Khushdashiya	خشداشية	Mamluks belonging to the same Amir or Sultan.
Mahkamat al-Mazalim	محكمة المظالم	Court of complaint. A court that heard cases of complaints of people against state officials. This court was headed by the sultan himself.
Mamalik Kitabeya	مماليك كتابية	Mamluks still attending training classes and who still live at the Tebaq (campus)
Mamalik Sultaneya	مماليك سلطانيه	Mamluks of the sultan;to distinguish from the Mamluks of the Amirs (princes)
Modwarat al-Sultan	مدورة السلطان	Sultan's tent which he used during travel.
Mohtaseb	محتسب	Controller of markets, public works and local affairs.
Morqadar	مرقدار	Works in the Royal Kitchen
Mushrif	مشرف	Supervisor of the Royal Kitchen
Na'ib Al-Sultan	نائب السلطان	Vice-sultan
Qa'at al-insha'a	قاعة الإنشاء	Chancery hall
Qadi al-Qoda	قاضى القضاة	Chief justice
Qalat al-Jabal	قلعة الجبل	Citadel of the Mountain (the abode and court of the sultan in Cairo)
Qaranisa	قرانصة	Mamluks who moved to the service of a new Sultan or from the service of an Amir to a sultan.
Qussad		Secret couriers and agents who kept the sultan informed
Ostaz	أستاذ	Benefactor of Mamluks (the Sultan or the Emir)
Rank	رنك	An emblem that distinguished the rank and position of a Mamluk
Sanjaqi	سنجاقى	A standard-bearer of the Sultan.
Sharabkhana	شرابخانة	Storehouse for drinks, medicines and glass-wares of the sultan.
Silihdar	سلحدار	Arm-Bearer
Tashrif	تشريف	Head-covering worn by a Mamluk during the ceremony of inauguration to the position of Amir.
Tawashi	طواشى	A Eunuch responsible for serving the wives of the sultan and supervising new Mamluks.
Tebaq	طباق	Campus of the Mamluks at the citadel of the mountain
Tishtkhana	طشتخانة	Storehouse used for the laundry of the sultan
Wali	والى	viceroy
Yook		A large linen closet used in every mamluk home

Footnotes

^ The Mamluk sultans Ruled from Qal'at al-Jabal ( The Citadel of the Mountain ) which was situated on the Muqatam Mountain in Cairo where the Mosque of Muhammed Ali and the remains of Saladin's Citadel stand now. From Cairo They ruled their dominions in Syria and al-Kark by the Sultan's dupties. ( Al-Maqrizi, p.327/vol.3 ): al-Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar,Matabat aladab,Cairo 1996, ISBN 977-241-175X Idem in French: Bouriant, Urbain , Description topographique et historique de l'Egypte,Paris 1895 )
^ Kennedy, Hugh N. The Historiography of Islamic Egypt (C. 950-1800). Brill Academic Publishers, 2001. [1]
^ Madden, Thomas F. Crusades the Illustrated History. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan P, 2005. 159
^ Al-Maqrizi , p. 509/vol.1 , Al Selouk Leme'refatt Dewall al-Melouk, Dar al-kotob, 1997.
^ Iraq. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.