Mamluk facts for kids
The Mamluks were a special group of soldiers and leaders in the Muslim world. The word "Mamluk" means "one who is owned," like a slave. But Mamluks were not ordinary slaves. They were mostly young men from places like Southern Russia, Turkey, and the Caucasus region, who were bought and trained to be powerful warriors. They served Arab rulers and often gained great military and political power.
Mamluks became a very important military group, especially in Egypt. They started as slave-soldiers but grew into a strong knightly class. Over time, they included people from many different backgrounds, like Circassians, Georgians, Armenians, and even some from the Balkans. This system of using military slaves, called the "Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon," lasted for almost 1,000 years, from the 800s to the 1800s.
In some cases, Mamluks even became rulers themselves, like sultans. The most famous Mamluk rule was the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria (1250–1517). This sultanate was very powerful. They famously defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut. They also fought against the European Christian Crusaders, eventually driving them out of Egypt and the Middle East by 1302.
Unlike regular slaves, Mamluks were allowed to carry weapons and had a high social status. In Egypt, they were seen as "true lords" and "true warriors," even above the general population. They were like highly skilled, enslaved mercenaries.
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Who Were the Mamluks?
Historians believe that the large-scale use of military slave classes like the Mamluks began in Muslim societies around the 800s. Early Mamluks were sometimes called Ghilman. They were bought by rulers like the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.
By the late 800s, these slave warriors became very important in the military. Sometimes, conflicts arose between the Ghilman and the local people. For example, in 861, some slave soldiers even assassinated the caliph al-Mutawakkil.
Later, the Mamluk system developed further. It involved special training for young slaves in military and fighting skills. This system aimed to make these warriors very effective and loyal to their rulers.
After the Abbasid Empire broke into smaller parts, military slaves (Mamluks or Ghilman) were used across the Islamic world. For example, the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt trained young men from different backgrounds to be slave soldiers. They formed the main part of their army. Even powerful leaders like the vizier Badr al-Jamali were Mamluks.
Under Saladin and the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt, the Mamluks gained more power. Eventually, in 1250, they took control and formed their own sultanate. Rulers continued to use enslaved warriors until the 1800s. Even the Ottoman Empire had a similar system called devşirme for their Janissaries until the 1600s.
How Mamluks Were Organized
Under the Mamluk Sultanate in Cairo, young Mamluks were bought and raised in special barracks. They were kept separate from society, which meant they had no family ties or political connections outside their military group. This made them very loyal to their rulers.
Their training was strict and intense. It included sports like archery and practicing combat skills on horseback. This tough training helped keep Mamluk traditions strong.
Once their training was finished, they were released from slavery but remained loyal to the ruler who bought them. Mamluks relied on their patron (the person who bought them) to advance in their careers. In return, the patron's power grew with the success of his Mamluk recruits. Mamluks also felt a strong bond with their fellow warriors who trained with them.
Sultans owned the largest number of Mamluks, but smaller leaders also had their own troops. Many Mamluks rose to high positions, including army commanders. At first, their positions were not passed down to their children. However, over time, Mamluk forces in places like Egypt gained a lot of influence and became part of the ruling power structures.
Mamluks in Egypt
From the 900s to the 1400s, different dynasties ruled Egypt, such as the Ikhshidids, Fatimids, and Ayyubids. Throughout these periods, thousands of Mamluk soldiers and guards were used, and some even held high offices. The Ayyubid rulers became worried about the growing power of the Mamluks. Eventually, a Mamluk warrior became the sultan.
By 1200, Saladin's brother, Al-Adil, took control of the entire empire. He added the Mamluk soldiers of his defeated relatives to his own forces. This process continued with his son and grandson. The Ayyubid rulers found themselves increasingly surrounded by Mamluks, who started acting almost independently as regional leaders. Mamluks also became involved in the politics of the royal court, as different groups used them as allies.
French Attack and Mamluk Takeover
In June 1249, the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France, landed in Egypt and captured the city of Damietta. The Egyptian troops initially retreated, and the sultan punished many commanders for deserting.
When the Egyptian sultan as-Salih Ayyub died, his wife, Shajar al-Durr, took control with the help of the Mamluks. She launched a counterattack against the French. Mamluk troops, led by Baibars, defeated Louis's forces. King Louis was captured by the Mamluks in March 1250 and had to pay a large ransom to be released.
Because of pressure for a male ruler, Shajar al-Durr married the Mamluk commander, Aybak. After Aybak was assassinated, another Mamluk leader named Qutuz took over. He officially founded the Mamluk Sultanate and the Bahri dynasty. This first Mamluk dynasty was called Bahri because its soldiers were based on Rhoda Island in the Nile River.
Fighting the Mongols
In 1258, the Mongol Empire's troops, led by Hulagu Khan, destroyed Baghdad and moved towards Syria. The Mamluk leader Baibars went to Cairo, where Sultan Qutuz welcomed him. When Hulagu demanded that Egypt surrender, Qutuz refused. He had Hulagu's messengers killed and prepared his army with Baibars' help.
When the Mongol leader Möngke Khan died, Hulagu took most of his forces out of Syria to attend a funeral ceremony. He left a smaller army in Syria. The Mamluk army, led by Qutuz, ambushed the Mongols near the Orontes River at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. They completely defeated the Mongols and captured their commander.
After this great victory, Qutuz was assassinated by other Mamluks, and Baibars took power. In the centuries that followed, the Mamluks continued to rule, though sultans often changed every few years.
The Mamluks defeated the Mongols again in Syria and strengthened their control over the region. They built forts and set up communication routes. Baibars' troops captured several Crusader strongholds, including Acre in 1263, Caesarea in 1265, and Antioch in 1268.
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The Mamluks also fought off new Mongol attacks in 1271 and 1281. Although they were defeated by the Mongols and their Christian allies in 1299, the Mamluks won again in 1303/1304 and 1312. Finally, the Mongols and Mamluks signed a peace treaty in 1323.
The Burji Dynasty
By the late 1300s, most Mamluks were Circassians from the North Caucasus region. In 1382, the Burji dynasty took over, with Barquq becoming sultan. This dynasty was also based in the citadel of Cairo and was mostly made up of Circassians.
Barquq became an enemy of Timur, a powerful conqueror who threatened to invade Syria. Timur did invade Syria, defeating the Mamluk army and sacking Aleppo and Damascus. After Timur's death in 1405, the Mamluk sultan regained control of Syria.
Later, in 1421, Egypt was attacked by the Kingdom of Cyprus. However, the Egyptians forced the Cypriots to recognize the Egyptian sultan's authority. During this time, Egypt's population had become much smaller than it was centuries before.
In 1453, Al-Ashraf became sultan. He had good relations with the Ottoman Empire, which captured Constantinople that same year, a big victory for Muslims. However, under a later sultan, Egypt began to struggle with the Ottoman Empire.
Wars with the Portuguese
In 1497, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed around Africa and reached India. He attacked ships carrying goods and Muslim pilgrims in the Indian Ocean, causing fear among local rulers. The Mamluk sultan of Cairo, Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, was angered by these attacks, as they affected trade and religious sites. He vowed revenge on Portugal.
The rulers of Gujarat in India and Yemen also asked the Mamluk Sultan for help. They wanted a fleet to protect their important trade routes from Portuguese attacks. The city of Jeddah was fortified to protect Arabia and the Red Sea.
The last Mamluk sultan, Al-Ghawri, prepared a fleet of 50 ships. Since Mamluks were not experts in naval warfare, he asked the Ottomans for help. In 1508, the Mamluk fleet defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Chaul.
However, the next year, the Portuguese won the Battle of Diu and took control of the port city of Diu in India. Later, Portuguese forces also defeated Egyptian troops in Yemen. Al-Ghawri prepared a new fleet, but before it could do much, Egypt lost its independence. The Ottoman Empire took over Egypt and the Red Sea region.
Ottomans Take Over
The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II was fighting in Europe when new problems with Egypt began in 1501. This was partly due to relations with the Safavid dynasty in Persia. The Persian Shah tried to ally with Venice against the Ottomans, and the Mamluk Sultan was accused of helping Persian envoys.
After a major battle in 1514, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I decided to conquer Egypt. He gathered a large army in 1516. The Mamluk cavalry was no match for the Ottoman artillery and Janissary infantry. On August 24, 1516, at the Battle of Marj Dabiq, Sultan Al-Ghawri was killed. Syria then became part of the Ottoman Empire.
The Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt officially ended in 1517 when Selim captured Cairo. Even though the Mamluks no longer ruled as sultans, the Ottoman Empire allowed them to remain a powerful class in Egypt. They regained much of their influence, but they were now under Ottoman control.
Independence Attempts and Napoleon
In 1768, a Mamluk leader named Ali Bey Al-Kabir declared independence from the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans crushed this movement. During this time, new Mamluk recruits were brought in from Georgia.
Napoleon Invades Egypt
In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte led a French army to Egypt. The French aimed to protect their trade and weaken Britain's access to India.
The French defeated a Mamluk army at the Battle of the Pyramids. The Mamluks relied on large cavalry charges, while the French infantry formed strong squares and held their ground. Despite some French victories, the British navy defeated the French fleet, and conflicts in Europe made the French position in Egypt difficult.
Napoleon left Egypt in 1799. His successor, General Jean-Baptiste Kléber, was assassinated. The French army eventually surrendered to the British in 1801. Some Mamluks even joined the French army as allies, forming a special cavalry unit.
End of Mamluk Power in Egypt
After the French left in 1801, the Mamluks continued their fight for independence, this time against the Ottoman Empire. However, internal disagreements prevented them from taking full advantage of opportunities.
In 1805, the people of Cairo rebelled, which could have allowed the Mamluks to seize power, but their internal conflicts stopped them. In 1806, the Mamluks defeated Turkish forces in several battles. An agreement was made to remove Muhammad Ali Pasha, who had been appointed governor, and return authority to the Mamluks. But again, their disagreements meant they couldn't take this chance, and Muhammad Ali kept his power.
Muhammad Ali knew he needed to deal with the Mamluks to truly control Egypt. They still owned much of the land and held significant wealth and power.
On March 1, 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all the leading Mamluks to his palace in Cairo for a celebration. Between 600 and 700 Mamluks gathered. Muhammad Ali's forces then ambushed and killed almost all of them in a narrow road near the Al-Azab gates. This event became known as the Massacre of the Citadel. Only one Mamluk is said to have survived by forcing his horse to jump from the citadel walls.
In the following week, an estimated 3,000 Mamluks and their relatives were killed across Egypt by Muhammad Ali's troops.
Despite this massacre, some Mamluks escaped south into what is now Sudan. In 1811, they set up a small state there. In 1820, Muhammad Ali sent troops to invade Sudan, remove the remaining Mamluks, and reclaim the area for Egypt.
Impact of Mamluks
Some historians believe that the Mamluks' existence had a big impact on the political development of the Arab world. In Europe, rulers had to rely on local leaders for military forces, which gave those local leaders more power to demand things like representative government. However, Muslim rulers, by using Mamluks, didn't face the same pressure from local elites, which affected how their governments developed.
Other Mamluk Regimes
Mamluks also gained power in other places. For example, in the Tripolitania region of Libya, Mamluk governors ruled under the Ottoman Empire until 1912.
Mamluks in India
In 1206, a Mamluk commander named Qutb al-Din Aibak declared himself Sultan in India. He founded the Mamluk Sultanate in Delhi, which ruled until 1290.
Mamluks in Iraq
Mamluk soldiers were first brought to Iraq in 1702. From 1747 to 1831, Iraq was mostly ruled by Mamluk officers of Georgian origin. They managed to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire, stop tribal rebellions, and improve the economy and military. In 1831, the Ottomans finally took direct control of Iraq, overthrowing the last Mamluk ruler.
Images for kids
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Portrait of a Mamluk, 1779
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A Mamluk cavalryman, drawing by Carle Vernet, 1810
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The Second of May 1808: The Charge of the Mamluks by Francisco de Goya (1814)
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Armenian mamluk Roustam Raza was Napoleon's personal bodyguard; portrait by Jacques-Nicolas Paillot de Montabert
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Soldiers of Napoleon's 62ème régiment de ligne and a Mameluk (historical reenactment)
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Today's U.S. Marine Corps officers' Mameluke sword resembles those used by the Mamluks
Dynasties Started by Mamluks
- Tulunids (868–905)
- Ikhshidids (935–969)
- Ghaznavids (977–1186)
- Khwarazmian dynasty (1077–1231)
- Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi) (1206–1290)
- Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) (1250–1517)
- Bahri dynasty (1250–1382)
- Burji dynasty (1382–1517)
- Mamluk dynasty (Iraq) (1704–1831)
See also
In Spanish: Mameluco para niños
- Black Guard
- Jerusalem in the Mamluk period
- Mamluk carpets
- Mamluk architecture
- Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard
- Saqaliba
- Sultan of Egypt
