. [131] By the end of the Mamluk period, the ratio of Muslims to Christians in Egypt may have risen to 10:1. [129] Coptic bureaucrats would often be restored to their positions after the moment of tension passed. [207] Patrons, including sultans and high-ranking emirs, typically set out to build mausoleums for themselves but attached to them various charitable structures such as madrasas, khanqahs, sabils, or mosques. The Mamluk Sultanate A History Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2022 Carl F. Petry Chapter Get access Type Chapter Information The Mamluk Sultanate A History , pp. The Mamluks were Muslim warriors but were not of Arabic descent. [152] Hereditary rule was much less frequent during the Burji regime. From Arabic, Mamluk (or Mameluke) translates as "one who is owned." [113] Ethnic origin was a key component of an individual mamluk's identity, and ethnic identity manifested itself through given names, dress, access to administrative positions and was indicated by a sultan's nisba. [158] Three years later, Baybars reestablished the institution of the caliphate by making a member of the Abbasid family, al-Mustansir, caliph, who in turn confirmed Baybars as sultan. Commercial International Bank (CIB) Industrial Development Bank of Egypt. From bondservants to masters, the Islamic Mamluk warriors continued to prove themselves on the battlefield, in bureaucracy, and as exemplary leaders within the Medieval Dar Al-Islam. [43] Upon Qutuz's triumphant return to Cairo, he was assassinated in a Bahri plot. Nonetheless, the Mamluks lived on within the Ottoman Empire, positioning themselves as a high-level class in society. 4. Mosque lamps had a bulbous body with a wide flaring neck at the top. Secure now against Ismail I, in 1516 he drew together a great army aiming at conquering Egypt, but to obscure the fact he presented the mobilisation of his army as being part of the war against Ismail I. 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. [81] Isma'il ruled until his death in August 1345, and was succeeded by his brother al-Kamil Sha'ban. Although the Mamluk sultanate was destroyed, the Mamluks remained intact as a class in Egypt and continued to exercise considerable influence in the state. [44], Baybars rebuilt the Bahriyyah's former headquarters in Rawdah island and put Qalawun, one of his most senior associates, in command of it. In 1263, Baybars deposed al-Mughith of al-Karak based on allegations of collaborating with the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia, and thus consolidated his authority over Muslim Syria. Then, Aybak's successor, another Mamluk commander named Qutuz, officially founded the Mamluk Sultanate in 1250 CE. [163], The Ayyubid army had lacked a clear and permanent hierarchical system and one of Baybars' early reforms was creating a military hierarchy. [201] The production of high-quality paper at this time also allowed for pages to be larger, which in turn encouraged artists to elaborate new motifs and designs to fill these larger formats. 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. The Abbasid caliphs were the nominal sovereigns. [88] The rebellious mamluks were supported by Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban, who Yalbugha installed in 1363. Mamluk terracotta cup from the 14th century. [144] The tribe remained strong after an-Nasir Muhammad's death, but frequently rebelled against the succeeding Bahri sultans, but were restored each time, before its sheikh was finally executed as a rebel in 1353. The Abbasid Caliphate, for example, was ruled by caliphs, descendants of Muhammed, while the Mamluk Sultanate was ruled by non-descendant rulers: sultans. The first sultans (kings) of the Mamluk Sultanate were mamluks (slave-soldiers) in the armies of the Ayyubid dynasty. [200] Cairo, Damascus, and Aleppo were among the main centers of manuscript production. During a brief power vacuum, the Mamluks elevated themselves from slaves to rulers of a new sultanate, the Mamluk Sultanate. [90] Among the senior emirs who rose to prominence under Ali was Barquq, a Circassian mamluk of Yalbugha who was involved in Sha'ban's assassination,[89][90] and Baraka, another of Yalbugha's mamluks. Among them was that virtually all agriculture in Egypt depended on a single source of irrigation, the Nile, and the measures and rights to irrigation were determined by the river's flooding, whereas in Syria and Palestine, there were multiple sources of mostly rain-fed irrigation, and measures and rights were thus determined at the local level. 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. [178] However, prior to the Mamluks' rise, there was a growing tendency of iqta holders to treat their iqta as personal property, which they passed down to their descendants. [62] The dtente also saw a shift in Qalawun's building activities to focus on more secular and personal purposes, including a large, multi-division hospital complex in Cairo across from the tomb of as-Salih Ayyub. Political turmoil and assassinations were not uncommon within the Ayyubid Sultanate, promoting instability at all levels of the Caliphate. [102], Barsbay launched military expeditions against the Aq Qoyonlu in 1429 and 1433. [89], Sha'ban was succeeded by his seven-year-old son al-Mansur Ali, although the oligarchy of the senior emirs held the reins of power. [216] Some building types which first appeared in the late Mamluk period, such as sabil-kuttabs (a combination of sabil and kuttab) and multi-storied caravanserais (wikalas or khans), actually grew in number during the Ottoman period. Art depicting a Mamluk horseback rider. Shah Ismail I sent an embassy to Venice and Syria inviting them to join arms and recover the territory taken from them by the Ottoman Empire. Keep reading to learn more about the Mamluk Sultanate environment, culture, and more. [98] Faraj was able to hold onto power during this turbulent period, which in addition to Timur's devastating raids, the rise of Turkic tribes in Jazira and attempts by Barquq's emirs to topple Faraj, also saw a famine in Egypt in 1403, a severe plague in 1405 and a Bedouin revolt that virtually ended the Mamluks' hold over Upper Egypt between 1401 and 1413. [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. [92][93] The rebels took over Syria and headed for Egypt, prompting Barquq to abdicate in favor of as-Salih Hajji. Crime and Punishment in Industrial Britain, Advantages of North and South in Civil War, African Americans in the Revolutionary War, Civil War Military Strategies of North and South, Environmental Effects of The Columbian Exchange, Native Americans in the Revolutionary War. [99] During his reign, Shaykh reestablished the state's fiscal administration to replenish the treasury. [19], Tensions between as-Salih Ayyub and his mamluks came to a head later in 1249 when Louis IX of France's forces captured Damietta in their bid to conquer Egypt during the Seventh Crusade. [129] As a result of popular pressure, Coptic Christians had their employment in the bureaucracy terminated at least nine times between the late 13th and mid-15th centuries, and on one occasion, in 1301, the government ordered the closure of all churches. Drought's effects on the population slowed the Ottoman Empire's expansion in the 16th century. [53], An-Nasir Muhammad died in 1341 and his rule was followed by a succession of his descendants to the throne in a period marked by political instability. [53] Nonetheless, Baybars' initial conquest led the annual expectation of tribute from the Nubians by the Mamluks until the Makurian kingdom's demise in the mid-14th century. Indian merchants brought textiles, beads, gold, silver, metal good, and religious objects to these regions. [72] He then assigned emirates to over thirty of his own mamluks. 1. as being heretical by the Sunni establishment patronized by the Mamluks. [166] The reformation of iqta distribution created a clear link between an emir's rank and the size of his iqta. [47] According to historian Thomas Asbridge, the methods used to capture Arsuf demonstrated the "Mamluks' grasp of siegecraft and their overwhelming numerical and technological supremacy". [95] The new Egyptian niyabas were Alexandria, Damanhur and Asyut. After thorough training in various fields such as martial arts, court etiquette and Islamic sciences, these slaves were freed. [82], Following Hajji's death, the senior emirs of an-Nasir Muhammad hastily appointed another of his sons, the twelve-year-old an-Nasir Hasan. [110] The Mamluks contributed to the expansion of Arabic in Egypt through their victory over the Mongols and the Crusaders and the subsequent creation of a Muslim haven in Egypt and Syria for Arabic-speaking immigrants from other conquered Muslim lands. [189], Egypt and Syria played a central transit role in international trade in the Middle Ages. [84] Concurrently, Hasan began recruiting and promoting the awlad al-nas (descendants of mamluks who did not experience the enslavement/manumission process) in the military and administration, a process that lasted for the remainder of the Bahri period. In doing so, Petry reveals how the Mamluk Sultanate can be regarded as a significant experiment in the history of state-building within the pre-modern . Tensions between the Mamluks and Ayyubid leadership came to a head during the Seventh Crusade, an attack on Damietta orchestrated by French King Louis IX. [24], According to Humphreys, as-Salih's frequent wars against his Ayyubid relatives likely voided the Salihiyyah's loyalty to other members of the Ayyubid dynasty. Packed within defensive walls, the cities grew vertically, new temples and mosques built to tower over the older ones, only to be overshadowed by even newer buildings. [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. The Mamluk Sultanate was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) in the mid-13th-early 16th centuries. [80] This unorthodox move, together with his seclusive and frivolous behavior and his execution of loyal partisans, ended with Ahmad's deposition and replacement by his half-brother as-Salih Ismail in June 1342. [98] Six months later, Shakyh eased al-Musta'in out of power after neutralizing his main rival, Nawruz, and assumed the sultanate. Think king and his dominion, the kingdom. [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. Much of the art in the Mamluk Sultanate was inspired by or purchased from trading partners in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Sea Trades. [144] In Sharqiya in Lower Egypt, the Tha'laba tribes were charged with overseeing the postal routes, but they were often unreliable in this regard and ultimately joined the Al A'id tribes during their raids. Although the Crusade was a catastrophe for the Christian forces, initial differing strategies between the reigning Sultan and Mamluks resulted in the execution of many military commanders. They are made of engraved brass, with black bitumen filling parts of the surfaces in order to create contrast with the motifs in polished brass. From their Islamic masters, the Mamluks learned command and combat strategy, science, mathematics, art, law, and administration. [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. While not just a stepping stone between eras, the Mamluks represented a progression from the world of fragmented and disparate Islamic states to largely Turkic powers that exemplified cultural diversity and innovation. [199], Patronage varied over time, but the two high points of the arts were the reigns of al-Nasir Muhammad and of Qaytbay. The Mamlk sultanate was originally established in Egypt but soon came to control Palestine and Syria. [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). Mamluk sultans were known as Sultans of Egypt and Syria. [148] In Hama, the Mamluks had permitted the Ayyubids to continue to govern until 1341 (its popular governor in 1320, Abu'l Fida, was granted the honorary title of sultan by an-Nasir Muhammad), but otherwise the nuwwab of the provinces were Mamluk emirs. [15] Sultan as-Salih Ayyub (r.12401249), the last of the Ayyubid sultans, had acquired some 1 000 mamluks (some of them free-born) from Syria, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula by 1229, while serving as na'ib (viceroy) of Egypt during the absence of his father, Sultan al-Kamil (r.12181238). [144] Bedouin tribal wars frequently disrupted trade and travel in Upper Egypt, and caused the destruction of cultivated lands and sugar processing plants. ", "Chapter Nineteen Bedouin and Mamluks in Egypt-Co-Existence in a State of Duality", "Chapter 7 Personal loyalty and political power of the Mamluks in the eighteenth century", "The Art of the Mamluk Period (12501517)", "The logistics of the Mamluk-Mongol war, with special reference to the Battle of Wadi'l-Khaznadar, 1299 C.E. [88] Yalbugha was subsequently killed by his own mamluks in an uprising in 1366. The Mamluk Sultanate was founded in 1250 by the Mamluk commander Qutuz. [71] Concurrent with an-Nasir Muhammad's reign was the disintegration of the Ilkhanate into several smaller dynastic states and the consequent Mamluk effort to establish diplomatic and commercial relationships with the new political entities. Philipp and Haarmann 1998, p. 96. Having defeated the Hashashin assassins of Persia and successfully besieged the illustrious city of Baghdad in 1258, the Mongols seemed unstoppable. [187] Furthermore, the maintenance of the Mamluk army in Syria relied on the state's control over Syrian agricultural revenues.

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