The Mamluks

From humble beginnings as slaves in Egypt, the Mamluks trained as soldiers and rose in status to seize control of the largest empire in Islam. They ruled over Egypt and Syria for over two centuries. They saved the region from devastation by the Mongols and expelled the last of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. The Mamluks presided over the last flowering of the culture of medieval Islam, when scientific and artistic achievements were at least preserved, if not greatly advanced. The first Mamluks were Turks, chosen for their reputed pugnacious nature. A Turk and his horse always made a formidable combination, according to writings from the early period of the Arab conquests. As author John Brunton explains, ‘The tibaq system made soldiers of slaves. As a hybrid of the harsh nomadic tribesman and the well-trained knight, a Mamluk faris (cadet trooper) could certainly produce results.’ Conquest by the Ottomans of 1517 may have ended the Mamluke Sultanate, but the Mamluks themselves