[123] While the Mamluks patronized the Sunni ulama through appointments to government office, they patronized the Sufis by funding zawiyas (Sufi lodges). The Mamluk Sultanate has been added to your Cart Add a gift receipt for easy returns Have one to sell? The quality and quantity of metalwork was also generally higher in the early period. The sultanate was established with the . [59] Among these early policies were the elimination of illegal taxes that burdened the merchant community and extensive building and renovation projects for Islam's holiest sites, such as the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. However, Aydughdi's growing ambitions made Aybak view him as a threat. The Mamluks grew uneasy. Due to the laws of the Islamic faith in the Medieval Era, it was illegal to enslave Muslims; however, any non-Muslim was allowed to be enslaved. 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? [136] The Maronite Church was especially suspected by the Mamluks of collaboration with the Europeans due to the high degree of relations between the Maronite Church and the papacy in Rome and the Christian European powers, particularly Cyprus. [113] While the Mamluk elite was ethnically diverse, those who were not Turkic in origin were Turkicized nonetheless. The Mamluk Sultanate (14th and 15th Centuries) Asia at the Death of Kublai Khan (1294 CE) Sufi Orders (1145-1389 CE) Travels of Ibn Battuta (1325-1354 CE) [165] To bring further uniformity to the military, Baybars and Qalawun standardized the undefined Ayyubid policies regarding the distribution of iqtaat to emirs. [41], The Mamluks entered Palestine to confront the Mongol army that Hulagu left behind under the command of Kitbuqa. King Louis IX and a few of his surviving nobles surrendered and were taken as prisoners, effectively ending the Seventh Crusade. After initial festivities, the 3,000 gathered Mamluk nobles were caught in a trap and gunned down. The Mamluk Sultanate ruled Egypt, Syria and the Arabian hinterland along the Red Sea. Replacing the dynastical reign of the Ayyubid Sultanate, the Mamluks ruled from Egypt and the Levant. [120] While the precedent set by the Ayyubids highly influenced the Mamluk state's embrace of Sunni Islam,[121] the circumstances in the Muslim Middle East in the aftermath of the Crusader and Mongol invasions also left Mamluk Egypt as the last major Islamic power able to confront the Crusaders and the Mongols. Moreover, the major industries of sugar and textile production were also dependent on agricultural products, namely sugar cane and cotton, respectively. Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia). [166] Baybars also began biweekly inspections of the troops to verify that sultanic orders were carried out, in addition to the periodic inspections in which he would distribute new weaponry to the mamluk troops. The Mamlk Sultanate in the reign of Baybars I (1260-1273) This was a short-term arrangement: Muslim political . The Mamluk Sultanate lasted until 1517 when it was consumed by the expanding Ottoman Empire. How did the Mamluks fair in combat against the Mongols? [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. [14] Mamluk regiments constituted the backbone of Egypt's military under Ayyubid rule in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, beginning with Sultan Saladin (r.11741193) who replaced the Fatimids' black African infantry with mamluks. [129], The Coptic decline in Egypt occurred under the Bahri sultans and accelerated further under the Burji regime. [92] This paved the way for Barquq's usurpation of the sultanate once more in February 1390, firmly establishing the Burji regime. [190] Early into their rule, the Mamluks sought to expand their role in foreign trade, and to this end Baybars signed a commercial treaty with Genoa, while Qalawun signed a similar agreement with Ceylon. Compared to the likes of the American Slave Trade, Mamluks were treated well and even granted freedom after years of initial servitude, though they were expected to keep loyal to their former masters. [163], The Ayyubid army had lacked a clear and permanent hierarchical system and one of Baybars' early reforms was creating a military hierarchy. Baybars ended the Ayyubid and early Mamluk tradition of selecting a Shafi'i scholar as qadi al-qudah (chief judge) and instead had a qadi al-qudah appointed from each of the four madhabs. [173] Typically, a qadi or Muslim scholar would occupy the post, but in the 15th century, Mamluk emirs began to be appointed as muhtasibs in an effort to compensate emirs during cash shortages or as a result of the gradual shift of the muhtasib's role from the legal realm to one of enforcement.[175]. However, Ghazan withdrew most of his troops from Syria shortly after due to a dearth in fodder for their numerous horses and the residual Ilkhanid force retreated in 1300 at the approach of the rebuilt Mamluk army. [19] As-Salih believed Damietta should not have been evacuated and was rumored to have threatened punitive action against the Damietta garrison. Art depicting a Mamluk horseback rider. [176] Iqtaat were a central component of the Mamluk power structure. Warring continued between the Mamluks and Mongols, with the Mamluks consistently defeating the Central Asian invaders. 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. Sultanate versus Caliphate, Sultan versus Caliph: What's the difference? [143] The Al Fadl tribe eventually lost favor, while the Bedouin tribes of al-Karak were strengthened by the later Bahri sultans. 1: Map of the Mamluk Sultanate, 1317 CE Author: User "Ro4444" Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC BY-SA 4.0. 76-80 Seljuk Empire Mamluk Sultanate Delhi Sultanate Geographic Location and Dates they maintained powe r 11 century, Middle east North Africa 1250-1517 South Asia Social Social classes & social hierarchy Who has power in society? The main source of popular hostility was resentment at the privileged positions many Christians held in the Mamluk bureaucracy. The Mamluk Sultanate was a state that controlled Egypt, Palestine, and Syria from 1250 to 1517. Nonetheless, with rare exception, the Burji sultans were all linked to the regime's founder Barquq through blood or mamluk affiliation. [57] However, the latter's ineptness precipitated a power struggle that ended with Qalawun being elected sultan in November 1279. By registering you get free access to our website and app (available on desktop AND mobile) which will help you to super-charge your learning process. [101] The first expedition involved the sacking of Edessa and the massacre of its Muslim inhabitants in retaliation for the Aq Qoyonlu's raids against the Mamluks' Mesopotamian territories. [171][183] Agricultural products were the main exports of Mamluk Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The Mamluk sultans are usually divided into two dynasties, the Bahris (1250-1382), chiefly Turks and Mongols, and the Burjis (1382-1517), chiefly Circassians who were chosen from the garrison of Cairo. [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. Some manuscripts could be monumental in size; for example, one Qur'an manuscript produced for Sultan Sha'ban measured between 75 and 105 centimetres tall. [19] While historian Stephen Humphreys asserts that the Salihiyyah's increasing dominance of the state did not personally threaten as-Salih due to their fidelity to him, Clifford believes that the Salihiyyah developed an autonomy within the state that fell short of such loyalty. [126] The Mamluk government, often under the official banner of the Pact of Umar which gave Christians and Jews dhimmi (protected peoples) status, ultimately determined the taxes that Christians and Jews paid to the sultanate, including the jizyah (tax on non-Muslims), whether a house of worship could be constructed and the public appearance of Christians and Jews. 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 Mamlk sultanate was originally established in Egypt but soon came to control Palestine and Syria. [97] To that end, Barquq dispatched the Berber Hawwara tribesmen of the Nile Delta to Upper Egypt to keep the Arab tribes in check. 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. [140], Sultans Baybars and Qalawun, and the Syrian viceroys of an-Nasir Muhammad during his first two reigns, emirs Salar and Baybars II, were averse to granting Bedouin sheikhs iqtaat, and when they did, the iqtaat were of low quality. [4] The less than year-long reign of Caliph al-Musta'in as sultan in 1412 was an anomaly. [119] The Mamluks were motivated in this regard by personal piety or political expediency for Islam was both an assimilating and unifying factor between the Mamluks and the majority of their subjects; the early mamluks had been brought up as Sunni Muslims and the Islamic faith was the only aspect of life shared between the Mamluk ruling elite and its subjects. [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. [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. [123] While Ibn Taymiyyah was not a typical representative of Sunni orthodoxy in the sultanate, he was the most prominent Muslim scholar of the Mamluk era and was arrested numerous times by the Mamluk government for his religious teachings, which are still influential in the modern-day Muslim world. [162] As emirs were promoted, the number of soldiers in their corps increased, and when rival emirs challenged each other's authority, they would often utilize their respective forces, leading to major disruptions of civilian life. The Mamluks defeated the Mongolian Ilkhanate on multiple occasions, exhibiting their martial power and leading to a peace treaty in the 14th 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. [45], Through opening diplomatic channels with the Mongols, Baybars also sought to stifle a potential alliance between the Mongols and the Christian powers of Europe, while also sowing divisions between the Mongol Ilkhanate and the Mongol Golden Horde. By the 16th century, gunpowder was becoming increasingly popular and effective in combat, and the Mamluks were slow to the draw. Jamdariyyah) and Bahri (pl. In 1265, the Mamluks launched an invasion of northern Makuria, and forced the Nubian king to become a vassal of the Mamluks. [191] By the 15th century, internal upheaval as a result on Mamluk power struggles, diminishing iqta revenues as a result of plagues, and the encroachment of abandoned farmlands by Bedouin tribes led to a financial crisis in the sultanate. [152] Despite the electoral nature of accession, dynastic succession was nonetheless a reality at times,[74] particularly during the Bahri regime, where Baybars' sons Barakah and Solamish succeeded him, before Qalawun usurped the throne and was thereafter succeeded by four generations of direct descendants, with occasional interruptions. 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. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks (manumitted slave soldiers) headed by the sultan. [122], The Mamluks also embraced the various Sufi orders that existed in the sultanate. [79] Ahmad relocated to al-Karak and left a deputy to rule on his behalf in Cairo. [90] Nonetheless, in the following year, Barquq toppled as-Salih Hajji with the backing of Yalbugha's mamluks and assumed the sultanate, adopting the title of Baybars, "al-Malik az-Zahir". [98] Thus, Mamluk authority throughout the sultanate was significantly eroded, while the capital Cairo experienced an economic crisis. [117], A wide range of Islamic religious expression existed in Egypt during the early Mamluk era, namely Sunni Islam and its major madhabs (schools of thought) and various Sufi orders, but also small communities of Ismai'li Shia Muslims,[118] particularly in Upper Egypt. Having defeated the Hashashin assassins of Persia and successfully besieged the illustrious city of Baghdad in 1258, the Mongols seemed unstoppable. [174], The Mamluks created an administrative body called the hisbah to supervise the market, with a muhtasib (inspector-general) in charge of the body. [151] The process was not formalized and the electoral body was never defined, but typically consisted of the emirs and mamluks of whatever Mamluk faction held sway; usurpations of the throne by rival factions were relatively common. [181] Land was assessed by the periodic rawk (cadastral survey), which consisted of a survey of land parcels (measured by feddan units), assessment of land quality and the annual estimated tax revenue of the parcels, and classification of a parcel's legal status as waqf (trust) or iqta. [46], Baybars attempted to institute dynastic rule by assigning his four-year-old son al-Said Barakah as co-sultan, thereby ending the Mamluk tradition of electing a leader, but this effort was ultimately unsuccessful, at least for his Zahirid household; successful rulership became highly dependent on Baybars' personal qualities[clarification needed]. The Mamluk sultans also controlled south-eastern Asia Minor and western Arabia. [186] In order to ensure that rural life was undisturbed by Bedouin raiding, which could halt agricultural work or damage crops and agrarian infrastructure and thus decrease revenues, the Mamluks attempted to prevent Bedouin armament and confiscate existing weapons from them. [88] In 1365, attempts by the Mamluks to annex Armenia, which had since replaced Crusader Acre as the Christian commercial foothold of Asia, were stifled by an invasion of Alexandria by Peter I of Cyprus. At around the same time, Baybars' forces captured Safad from the Knights Templar, and shortly after, Ramla, both cities in interior Palestine. The latter's forces fell into a Mamluk trap once they reached the springs of Ain Jalut, with Baybars's men turning around to confront the Mongols and Qutuz's units ambushing the Mongols from the hills. Profits from trade in these regions led consolidation of their political control. 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