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Mamluks - Military slave dynasty. | |||
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Their name is derived from the Arabic mamluk ("taken into possession"). In 1250 the predominantly Turkish military slaves of the Ayyubids seized power in Cairo and recruited non-Muslim boys, whose loyalty was guaranteed through strict quartering in barracks and isolation from the population; the system became less severe later, but established an exceptional degree of political stability. Under the outstanding Sultan Baibars (1260-1277), the Mamluks stopped the Mongol expansion westwards and successfully fought against the Crusaders; in 1291 they drove the last of the Crusaders out of Acre. Cairo became the most important center for trade between the East, India, and Europe, and the economy flourished. Sultan Barquq (1382-1399) successfully resisted Timur lenk's advance to the southwest and organized the new state.
Sultan Barsbai (1422-1438) pursued an unfortunate economic policy based on state monopolies, but led a successful expedition to Cyprus. After 1450, there came a period of economic decline, which coincided with the obsolescence of the dynasty's war machinery. In 1517 the Mamluks were ousted by the Ottomans under Selim I and their territories annexed. For reasons of religious legitimating, the Mamluks had Abbasid shadow caliphs under their charge in Cairo since 1260.
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