Mamluks

Mamluk Sultanate Environment

The Mamluks were ubiquitous in Egypt within the Ayyubid Sultanate (1171–1250). Later, when the Mamluks replaced the Ayyubid Sultanate, they controlled Egypt, the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. The famous Egyptian city of Cairo was their capital. After so many other cities were destroyed by the Mongols, Cairo became possibly the greatest city in Afro-Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. 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.

Map depicting the territorial holdings of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1337 CE. Source: Ro4444, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

The Mamluks Establish Their Sultanate in Egypt

The Mamluks quickly rose from a caste of enslaved people to rulers within the Dar Al-Islam. Before they established their official Sultanate, many Mamluks functioned in administrative and governing positions in the Ayyubid Sultanate.

Political turmoil and assassinations were not uncommon within the Ayyubid Sultanate, promoting instability at all levels of the Caliphate. 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. 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. The Mamluks grew uneasy.

During the 7th Crusade, the widow Sultaness Shajar al-Durr sought a suitable marriage to consolidate her power. She chose Aybak, a Mamluk commander. Although he was assassinated years later, the precedent of a Mamluk rule was evident to all. Then, Aybak's successor, another Mamluk commander named Qutuz, officially founded the Mamluk Sultanate in 1250 CE.

Mamluks vs Mongols

One of the Mamluk Sultanate's first tests and most significant accomplishments would be against the mighty Mongol Empire. Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan and leader of the Ilkhanate subdivision of the Mongol Empire, was marching through the Middle East. Having defeated the Hashashin assassins of Persia and successfully besieged the illustrious city of Baghdad in 1258, the Mongols seemed unstoppable. The Dar Al-Islam was on its heels, the Islamic Golden Age at its end. The Ilkhanate was poised to tread into a new continent: Africa.

14th-century art depicting the Battle of Homs. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

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. When word of his death reached Hulagu, the Ilkhanate's Khan pulled back to Mongolia with a large portion of his army. He left about 20,000 men to fortify their position in the Middle East. The Mamluk Sultan Qutuz was not ready to let them rest. He took the attack to the Mongols.

The 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut ensued, ending in a significant victory for the Mamluks. The Ilkhanate licked their wounds and returned the same year, only to be defeated again at the First Battle of Homs. Warring continued between the Mamluks and Mongols, with the Mamluks consistently defeating the Central Asian invaders. In 1323, the two parties signed a peace treaty. Clearly, the Mamluks were not a military force to be trifled with.

Mamluk Sultanate Culture

The reign of the Mamluk Sultanate can be divided into two main periods, the Bahri and Burji regimes, characterized by the predominated ethnic culture during each regime; Turkic during the Bahri period (1250-1382) and Circassian during the Burji period (1382-1517). 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. Either way, the Mamluks were proud of their heritage.

Mamluk terracotta cup from the 14th century. Source: RomanDeckert, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Mamluk leaders enjoyed lavish and luxury goods, displaying their power while simultaneously reminding them how far they had come from their slave caste roots. Glassware was a hallmark of Mamluk art, in addition to textile production, metalwork, and pottery making. Much of the art in the Mamluk Sultanate was inspired by or purchased from trading partners in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Sea Trades.

The Mamluk's largest industry was agriculture, yet their urban areas became increasingly impressive. 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.

Mamluk Massacre

The Mamluk Sultanate lasted until 1517 when it was consumed by the expanding Ottoman Empire. By the 16th century, gunpowder was becoming increasingly popular and effective in combat, and the Mamluks were slow to the draw. Nonetheless, the Mamluks lived on within the Ottoman Empire, positioning themselves as a high-level class in society. That is, until the Mamluk Massacre of 1811.

Art depicting the Mamluk Massacre of 1811. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

After Napoleon Bonaparte weakened the Ottoman Empire by occupying Egypt in the early 19th century, the Ottoman Empire tumbled into civil war. The ruling Ottomans warred between the ambitious Albanian mercenary regiment under the command of Muhammed Ali and the last remnants of the Mamluks in Cairo. Muhammed Ali temporarily aligned himself with the Mamluks, inviting them to a grand celebration at the Citadel in Cairo. After initial festivities, the 3,000 gathered Mamluk nobles were caught in a trap and gunned down. The Mamluks were no more.

Significance of the Mamluks

Why do historians concern themselves with the Mamluks, a brief period of rule between the fall of the Ayyubid Sultanate and the Abbasid Caliphate, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire? 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. From the Medieval to the Early Modern Period, the Mamluks reigned during a transformative era in Dar Al-Islam as the Islamic Caliphates fell and new kinds of states arose, even states governed by former slaves.