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--- The Mamluks --- |
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The Mamluks - a word which means
owned - are imported from outside the Muslim area, mainly Europe and Asia,
given a basic education, converted to Islam, and trained as soldiers. The
relationship of the Mamluks to his master was an odd kind of slavery; it
was one of kinship rather than servitude
The Ayyubid dynasty ended with the murder of the last caliph by Mamluks
troops. The Mamluks then chose one of them as the new ruler, the Chief
Mamluks Aybak, who began a period of Mamluks rule in Egypt that lasted
from 1250 to 1517.
There were two dynasties of Mamluks, the Bahri Mamluks, who ruled Egypt
until 1382, and the Circassian Mamluks. Being the ruling class of Egypt,
they were the only people to have political rights, whereas the fellahin -
Egyptian peasants - were considered mere providers of food and other
materials
Egypt under the Bahri Mamluks became a major force in the Muslim world.
But under the Circassian Mamluks, its fortunes declined until constant
bickering weakened the country and led to its conquest by the Ottomans. |
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