Bahri Mamluks

Template:Short description The Bahri Mamluks (Template:Langx), sometimes referred to as the Bahri dynasty, were the rulers of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt from 1250 to 1382, following the Ayyubid dynasty. The members of the Mamluk ruling class were purchased as slaves (mamluks) and manumitted, with the most powerful among them taking the role of sultan in Cairo. While several Bahri Mamluk sultans tried to establish hereditary dynasties through their sons, these attempts were ultimately unsuccessful, with the role of sultan often passing on to another powerful Mamluk.

The Bahri Mamluks were of mostly Kipchak Turkic origin. Fourteen of eighteen sultans between 1279 and 1390 belonged to the Qalawunid lineage. After 1382/1390, they were succeeded by a second Mamluk regime, the Burji Mamluks, who were largely of Circassian origin. The name Bahri or Bahriyya means 'of the river', referring to the location of their original barracks on Roda Island in the Nile (Nahr al-Nil) in Cairo,Template:Efn at the citadel of Al-Rodah which was built by the Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub.Template:Efn

History

The Mamluks formed one of the most powerful and wealthiest empires of the time, lasting from 1250 to 1517 in Egypt, North Africa, and the Levant—Near East.

Development

In 1250, when the Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub died, the Mamluks he had owned as slaves murdered his son and heir al-Muazzam Turanshah, and Shajar al-Durr the widow of as-Salih became the Sultana of Egypt. She married the Atabeg (commander in chief) Emir Aybak and abdicated, Aybak becoming Sultan. He ruled from 1250 to 1257.Template:Efn

The Mamluks consolidated their power in ten years and eventually established the Bahri dynasty. They were indirectly helped by the Mongols' sack of Baghdad in 1258, which effectively destroyed the Abbasid caliphate. Cairo became more prominent as a result and remained a Mamluk capital thereafter.

File:Maqamat of al-Hariri. Enthroned Prince. Probably Egypt 1334.jpg

Enthroned Prince. Probably Egypt 1334. Maqamat of al-Hariri. "In the paintings the facial cast of these [ruling] Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored".

The Mamluks were powerful cavalry warriors mixing the practices of the Turkic steppe peoples from which they were drawn and the organizational and technological sophistication and horsemanship of the Arabs. In 1260 the Mamluks defeated a Mongol army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine and eventually forced the invaders to retreat to the area of modern-day Iraq. The defeat of the Mongols at the hands of the Mamluks enhanced the position of the Mamluks in the southern Mediterranean basin.Template:Efn Baibars, one of the leaders at the battle, became the new Sultan after the assassination of Sultan Qutuz on the way home.Template:Efn

In 1250 Baibars was one of the Mamluk commanders who defended Mansurah against the Crusade knights of Louis IX of France, who was later definitely defeated, captured in the Battle of Fariskur and ransomed. Baibars had also taken part in the Mamluk takeover of Egypt. In 1261, after he became a Sultan, he established a puppet Abbasid caliphate in Cairo,Template:Efn and the Mamluks fought the remnants of the Crusader states in Palestine until they finally captured Acre in 1291.Template:Efn

Tatars and Mongols

Many Tatars settled in Egypt and were employed by Baibars.Template:Efn He defeated the Mongols at the battle of Elbistan and sent the Abbasid Caliph with only 250 men to attempt to retake Baghdad, but was unsuccessful. In 1266 he devastated Cilician Armenia and in 1268 he recaptured Antioch from the Crusaders.Template:Efn In addition, he fought the Seljuks,Template:Efn and Hashshashin; he also extended Muslim power into Nubia for the first time, before his death in 1277.

Sultan Qalawun defeated a rebellion in Syria that was led by Sunqur al-Ashqar in 1280,Template:Efn and also defeated another Mongol invasion in 1281 that was led by Abaqa outside Homs. After the Mongol threat passed he recaptured Tripoli from the Crusaders in 1289. His son Khalil captured Acre, the last Crusader city, in 1291.

File:Golden Horde 1389.svg

Territory of the Golden Horde in 1389

The Mongols renewed their invasion in 1299, but were again defeated in 1303 in the Battle of Shaqhab. The Egyptian Mamluk Sultans entered into relations with the Golden Horde who converted to IslamTemplate:Efn and established a peace pact with the Mongols in 1322.

Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad married a Mongol princess in 1319. His diplomatic relations were more extensive than those of any previous Sultan, and included Bulgarian, Indian, and Abyssinian potentates, as well as the pope, the king of Aragon and the king of France. Al-Nasir Muhammad organized the re-digging of a canal in 1311 which connected Alexandria with the Nile. He died in 1341.

Decline

The constant changes of sultans that followed led to great disorder in the provinces. Meanwhile, in 1349 Egypt and the Levant in general were introduced to Black Death, which is said to have killed many inhabitants.Template:Efn

In 1382 the last Bahri Sultan Hajji II was dethroned and the Sultanate was taken over by the Circassian Emir Barquq. He was expelled in 1389 but returned to power in 1390, setting up an era where the sultanate was controlled by the Burji Mamluks.

Military organization

On a general level, the military during the Bahri dynasty can be divided into several aspects:

• Mamluks: The core of both the political and military base, these slave soldiers were further divided into Khassaki (comparable to imperial guards), Royal Mamluks (Mamluks directly under the command of the Sultan) and regular Mamluks (usually assigned to local Amirs).
• Al-Halqa: These primarily free born professional forces were also directly under the sultan's command.
• Wafidiyya: Turks and Mongols that migrated to the dynasty's border after the Mongol invasion, typically given land grants in exchange for military service; they were well regarded forces.
• Other levies: Primarily Bedouin tribes, but also on different occasions also different groups of Turkomans and other settled Arabs.

List of Bahri Sultans

Regnal name(s)	Personal name	Reign
al-Malikah Ismat ad-Din Umm-Khalil	Shajar al-Durr	1250–1250
al-Malik al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aybak al-Jawshangir al-Turkmani al-Salihi	Izz-ad-Din Aybak	1250–1257
Sultan Al-Ashraf	Muzaffar-ad-Din Musa	1250–1252Template:Efn
Sultan Al-Mansur	Nur ad-Din Ali	1257–1259
Sultan Al-Muzaffar	Sayf ad-Din Qutuz	1259–1260
Sultan Abul-Futuh – Al-Zahir - Al-Bunduqdari -	Rukn-ad-Din Baibars I	1260–1277
Sultan Al-Sa'id Nasir-ad-Din	Muhammad Barakah Khan محمد برکہ خان	1277–1279
Sultan Al-Adil سلطان العادل	Badr-al-Din Solamish بدر الدین سُلامش	1279
Al-Mansur – المنصور Al-Alfi - الالفی As-Salehi - الصالحی	Sayf-ad-Din Qalawun سیف الدین قلاوون	1279–1290
Sultan Al-Ashraf سلطان الاشرف	Salah-ad-Din Khalil صلاح الدین خلیل	1290–1293
Al-Nasir الناصر	Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ناصر الدین محمد	1293–1294 (first reign)
Al-Adil Al-Turki Al-Mughli العادل الترکی المغلی	Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha زین الدین کتبغا	1294–1297
Al-Mansur المنصور	Husam-ad-Din Lachin حسام الدین لاچین	1297–1299
Al-Nasir الناصر	Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ناصر الدین محمد	1299–1309 (Second reign)
Sultan Al-Muzaffar Al-Jashankir سلطان المظفرالجاشنکیر	Rukn-ad-Din Baibars II رکن الدین بیبرس	1309
Al-Nasir الناصر	Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ناصر الدین محمد	1309–1340 (Third reign)
Al-Mansur المنصور	Sayf-ad-Din Abu-Bakr سیف الدین أبو بکر	1340–1341
Al-Ashraf الأشرف	Ala-ad-Din Kujuk علاء الدین کجک	1341–1342
Sultan Al-Nasir سلطان الناصر	Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad شھاب الدین أحمد	1342
Sultan As-Saleh سلطان الصالح	Imad-ad-Din Ismail عماد الدین إسماعیل	1342–1345
Sultan Al-Kamil سلطان الکامل	Sayf-ad-Din Shaban I سیف الدین شعبان اول	1345–1346
Sultan Al-Muzaffar سلطان المظفر	Sayf-ad-Din Hajji I سیف الدین حاجی اول	1346–1347
Al-Nasir Abu Al-Ma'ali الناصر أبو المعالی	Badr-ad-Din Al-Hasan بدر الدین الحسن	1347–1351 (first reign)
Sultan As-Saleh سلطان الصالح	Salah-ad-Din bin Muhammad صلاح الدین بن محمد	1351–1354
Al-Nasir Abu Al-Ma'ali Nasir-ad-Din الناصر أبو المعالی ناصر الدین	Badr-ad-Din Al-Hasan بدر الدین الحسن	1354–1361 (second reign)
Al-Mansur المنصور	Salah-ad-Din Muhammad صلاح الدین محمد	1361–1363
Al-Ashraf Abu Al-Ma'ali الأشرف أبو المعالی	Zayn-ad-Din Shaban II زین الدین شعبان ثانی	1363–1376
Al-Mansur المنصور	Ala-ad-Din Ali علاء الدین علی	1376–1382
Sultan As-Saleh سلطان الصالح	Salah-ad-Din Hajji II صلاح الدین حاجی ثانی	1382 (first reign)
Al-Zahir الظاہر	Sayf-ad-Din Barquq سیف الدین برقوق	1382–1389Template:Efn
Sultan As-Saleh سلطان الصالح المظفر المنصور	Salah-ad-Din Hajji II صلاح الدین حاجی ثانی	1389 (second reign)

Following As-Saleh, the Burji dynasty took over the Mamluk Sultanate under Sayf-ad-Din Barquq in 1389–90 C.E.

See also

• Black Sea slave trade
• Timeline of the Turkic peoples (500–1300)
• Egypt in the Middle Ages
• List of Sunni dynasties

References

Bibliography

• Al-Maqrizi, al-Mawaiz wa al-'i'tibar bi dhikr al-khitat wa al-'athar, Matabat aladab, Cairo 1996, Template:ISBN
• Idem in French: Bouriant, Urbain, Description topographique et historique de l'Egypte, Paris 1895.
• Ayalon, D.: The Mamluk Military Society. London, 1979.
• Ibn Taghri, al-Nujum al-Zahirah Fi Milook Misr wa al-Qahirah, al-Hay'ah al-Misreyah 1968
• Idem in English: History of Egypt, by Yusef. William Popper, translator Abu L-Mahasin ibn Taghri Birdi, University of California Press 1954.
• Shayyal, Jamal, Prof. of Islamic history, Tarikh Misr al-Islamiyah (History of Islamic Egypt), dar al-Maref, Cairo 1266, Template:ISBN

External links

• Template:Commonscatinline