Burji Mamluks

The Burji Mamluks (Template:Langx) or Circassian Mamluks (Template:Langx), sometimes referred to as the Burji dynasty, were the rulers of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt from 1382 until 1517. As with the preceding Bahri Mamluks, the members of the Burji Mamluk ruling class were purchased as slaves (mamluks) and manumitted, with the most powerful among them taking the role of sultan in Cairo. During this period, the ruling Mamluks were generally of Circassian origin, drawn from the Christian population of the northern Caucasus. The name Burji, meaning 'of the tower', refers to the traditional residence of these Mamluks in the barracks of the Citadel of Cairo.

Although sultans typically designated their sons to succeed them after death, the latter rarely lasted more than a few years before being usurped by one of the powerful Mamluk commanders, usually from among the Mamluks purchased by previous sultans. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan.Template:Sfn

During this period, the Mamluks fought Timur and conquered Cyprus. Over the course of the 15th century, the sultanate was weakened by infighting and economic decline brought about by multiple factors. Although militarily powerful, they were eventually unable to compete with the more modern army of the Ottoman Empire, leading to their eventual conquest in 1517 by the Ottomans.Template:Sfn

History

Establishment and early challenges

File:Madrasa of Sultan Barquq DSCF9864.jpg

The funerary complex of Sultan Barquq in Cairo, completed in 1386

From 1250, Egypt had been ruled by the first Mamluk dynasty, the mostly Cuman-Kipchak Turkic Bahri dynasty. In 1377 a revolt broke out in Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Barakah and Barquq; Barquq was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389 but recaptured Cairo in 1390. Early on, the Zahiri Revolt threatened to overthrow Barquq though the conspiracy was discovered before agitators could mobilize. Permanently in power, he founded the Burji dynasty.

Faced with a common enemy, Timur, Barquq joined with Bayezid I and Toktamish in a combined resistance and executed Timur's peace envoys. In the following months Timur was engaged in Georgia and unable to respond to Barquq's actions, while Barquq had died by 1399. In 1401, Timur invaded Syria and sacked Aleppo and Damascus. Syria was regained by Barquq's son, sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj, after Timur died in 1405, but Faraj continually faced rebellions from the emirs there and he was forced to abdicate in 1412.

After Faraj, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'in was permitted to rule the sultanate in Cairo for several months, but the role of sultan was soon taken by another Mamluk, Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh.Template:Sfn

Apogee and decline

File:Mamluk Sultan Kayitbay by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo Galleria degli Uffizi.jpg

Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay ("Mag Caitbeivs Cairi Svltan") by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo (16th century), Galleria degli Uffizi

Under the reign of Sultan Barsbay, the Mamluk Sultanate grew to its widest territorial extent. In 1426, he invaded the Kingdom of Cyprus and forced its kings to become Mamluk vassals. However, Barsbay also introduced a number of economic policies that were damaging in the long term, such as a state monopoly on the spice trade.Template:Sfn During Barsbay's reign Egypt's population was greatly reduced from what it had been a few centuries before, with only one fifth of the number of towns. He frequently raided Asia Minor, but died in 1438.

During the reign of Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq an attempt to conquer Rhodes in 1444 from the Knights of St. John was repelled.

Sayf ad-Din Inal came to power in 1453 and had friendly relations with the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, who captured Constantinople later that year, causing great celebration in Egypt. The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks became more adversarial after this time. Both states constantly vied for control of the spice trade, and the Ottomans aspired to eventually take control of the Holy Cities of Islam. Under the reign of Khusqadam, of Greek origin, tensions increased. Both Khusqadam and Mehmed II supported different candidates to the principality of Karaman.

File:قلعة قايتباى الوجهه الامامي.jpg

The Citadel of Qaitbay in Alexandria, completed in 1479

After the death of Mehmed II in 1481, Sultan Qaitbay offended the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II by harboring his rebellious brother, Cem. Bayezid II later seized Adana, Tarsus and other places within Mamluk territory, but was unable to defeat the Mamluks during a prolonged war that ended in 1491.Template:Sfn Qaitbay also tried to help the Muslims in Spain by threatening the Christians in Syria, but without effect. He died in 1496, leaving several hundred thousand ducats in debts to the great Venetian trading families.

Following another several years of political instability and succession disputes, the last major Mamluk sultan was Qansuh al-Ghuri, who came to power in 1501. While he attempted some reforms, including the introduction of the first military regiment with gunpowder weapons, he was unable to fully integrate them into the Mamluk army and he could not fix the country's economic problems.Template:Sfn

Conquest by the Ottomans

By 1516, the Ottomans were free from other concerns — Sultan Selim I had just vanquished the Safavid Persians at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 —and turned their full might against the Mamluks, who still ruled in Syria and Egypt, to complete the Ottoman conquest of the Middle East. Al-Ghuri led his army to confront Selim I's invasion of Syria in 1516, but he died in the Battle of Marj Dabiq and the Mamluk army was routed.Template:Sfn

In 1517, the Ottomans completed their conquest with the capture of Cairo on January 22.Template:Sfn The centre of power transferred from Cairo to Constantinople. However, the mamluks continued to exist as a political and military class in Ottoman Egypt. While the governors were appointed by the Ottoman sultan, the mamluks vied for influence within the country and held many high political positions. They were finally destroyed and exterminated by Muhammad Ali Pasha during his rise to power in Egypt in the early 19th century.

Culture

Some of the Circassian Mamluks who composed the ruling elite in this period could speak the Circassian language of their origins, but they generally learned Turkish while in Egypt, specifically Kipchak Turkish,Template:Sfn as it was the main spoken language among the mamluks during the wider Mamluk Sultanate period.Template:Sfn The main language for writing was Classical Arabic, while the common language of the general population was a form of colloquial Arabic. Kipchak Turkish was also used in writing, but to a lesser extent and mainly for a mamluk audience. Over time, it was replaced in this role by Oghuz Turkish due to influence from Turkish Anatolia.

List of Burji Sultans

Titular Name(s)	Personal Name	Reign
Al-Zahir	Sayf-ad-Din Barquq	1382–1389 first reign
Sultan As-Saleh Al-Muzaffar Al-Mansur	Salah-ad-Din Hajji II	1389
Al-Zahir	Sayf-ad-Din Barquq	1390–1399 second reign
Al-Nasir	Nasir-ad-Din Faraj	1399–1405 first reign
Al-Mansur	Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz	1405
Al-Nasir	Nasir-ad-Din Faraj	1405–1412 second reign
Al-Adil	Al-Musta'in Billah	1412
Al-Mu'ayyad	Shaykh al-Mahmudi	1412–1421
Al-Muzaffar	Ahmad	1421
Al-Zahir	Sayf ad-Din Tatar	1421
As-Saleh	An-Nasir ad-Din Muhammad	1421–1422
Al-Ashraf	Sayf-ad-Din Barsbay	1422–1437
Al-Aziz	Jamal-ad-Din Yusuf	1437–1438
Al-Zahir	Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq	1438–1453
Al-Mansur	Fakhr-ad-Din Uthman	1453
Al-Ashraf	Sayf-ad-Din Inal	1453–1461
Al-Mu'ayyad	Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad	1461
Al-Zahir	Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam	1461–1467
Al-Zahir	Sayf ad-Din Bilbay	1467
Al-Zahir	Taimur Bugha	1467–1468
Al-Ashraf	Sayf-ad-Din Qait Bay	1468–1496
Al-Nasir	Muhammad bin Qait Bay	1496–1497 first reign
Al-Zahir	Template:Ill	1497
Al-Nasir	Muhammad bin Qait Bay	1497–1498 second reign
Al-Zahir	Qansuh Al-Ashrafi	1498–1500
Al-Ashraf	Al-Ashraf Janbalat	1500–1501
Al-Adil	Sayf-ad-Din Tuman Bay I	1501
Al-Ashraf	Qansuh Al-Ghawri	1501–1516
Al-Ashraf	Tuman Bay II	1516–1517
Burji dynasty of the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) falls to Ottoman Empire under Sultan Selim I in 1517 C.E.

• Orange shaded row signifies brief interruption in the rule of Burji dynasty by Bahri dynasty.
  • Silver shaded row signifies interruption in the rule of Burji dynasty by Abbasid dynasty.

See also

• History of Arab Egypt
• Black Sea slave trade
• History of Ottoman Egypt
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

Further reading

• Template:EI3