The Georgian Mameluks in Egypt

By Alexander Mikaberidze

“ I imagine what I could have done using a fistful of these warriors”

Napoleon

This articles aims to provide a brief overview of the Mameluks and their history. Military chronicles reveal a few organizations whose history is more extraordinary than that of the elite slave troops employed in the Middle East. These corps were not only the finest military organization of the time, but nearly for six hundreds years constituted the backbone of the armed forces of the such great empires as those of Persia, Ottoman Turkey and Egypt.

Mameluks in Egypt, Janissaries in Ottoman Turkey and Ghulams in Persia are real phenomena that had no parallel outside Islamic civilization.[1] For several hundreds years they uphold their countries, defending them from foreign conquerors, expanding their own influence and creating unique cultures. Without them, the geographical boundaries of Islam would have been much narrower. As for the struggle between Islam and Christian Europe, with its ever-growing technological preponderance, it must be pointed out that Islamic dominance on land was maintained for a good number of centuries mainly owing to the military might of the elite slave troops system. It was these soldiers who finally defeated and expelled the Crusaders, halted the Mongol advance across the Middle East and conquered south-eastern part of Europe.

The slavery was practiced in Middle East from the ancient times. The Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians and other great civilizations of the past attested its existence. Obviously, the first slaves were captives of the wars and most of them belonged to the royal and religious authorities. Therefore, there were a considerable number of slaves in the pre-Islamic Arabia and with the rise of Islam there number gradually increased, since Islam affirmed the slavery. At the very first stages of Islam, the professional slave soldier was not characteristic to the Islamic armies. The institute of the trained military slavery could be traced only at the later stages after the rapid expansion of Islam. This was a new institution in Islam that within a remarkably short time became the norm for Muslim rulers and rapidly developed into a mighty slave army serving to uphold the imperial authority of the ruler.

The literal meaning of the word “Mameluk” is “one owned by another”, a “bondsman”. Noteworthy, there were two different definitions of slavery. The term “abd” was the ordinary word for “slave” in Arabic. For centuries the great majority of slaves in western Arabia were colored people of African origins and in time the word “abd” lost its exclusive meaning and came to mean a black person regardless whether he was slave or free. Meanwhile a number of white slaves from northern territories were eventually brought by Arab caravaneers or captured by raiding armies. To distinguish the black slaves from the white, the word “Mameluk” was gradually introduced and confined to a fair-skinned slave horseman.

Generally, the history of Mameluks can be divided into three major periods:

The First Period

The First period includes the foundation of the Mameluk system and its early days.

The Mameluks who were brought by slave merchants belonged mainly to tribal societies, distinguished by their superb military qualities as cavalrymen. Only the best of them were chosen, after a strict selection. They were taken from their homelands at or near the age of puberty. When they reached their destination, usually the court of a ruler of an important military commander, they were converted to Islam. They were first taught the basics of Islam and later received the best training of the time. When the Mameluk completed the period of Islamic studies and military training, he was manumitted. Noteworthy, the act of manumission was, in fact, the beginning of a real relationship between patron and slave. The patron and his Mameluk were united by feelings of loyalty and subordination. Mameluks could be relied upon because of their extreme dependence on the patron. Being kidnapped or sold in early childhood, they lived in a society to which they were strangers and where they had no family or relative to support them. Therefore, they were dependent solely upon their master and by uniting with the other Mameluks formed a type of the families, clans. On other hand, the patron himself was also vulnerable since he depended on family for protection and political support. The Mameluks provided him with necessary security and support to establish himself in the society.

Another remarkable feature of the Mameluk is that they were an institution of one-generation nobility. The sons of the Mameluks were excluded from it for a number of reasons. The main reason was that in the environment of ease and comfort in which Mameluks lived, their children would be unable to preserve the military qualities of their parents. Also, it was possible that Mameluks would intervene on behalf of their children and facilitate their promotion. This meant that the Mameluk system had to be fed by a constant stream of fresh recruits from their countries of origin.

Before the rise of Mameluks, the majority of slave troops were recruited from the African states. The black slaves made appearance in 8^th Century, but not represented a strong military factor, and served in an auxiliary capacity. Egyptian rulers, particularly Ahmad Ibn Tulun, relied heavily on black slave soldiers. Ibn Tulun bought approximately 40,000 Nubians who were comparably inexpensive and well-known for being excellent archers. Meanwhile, most of white slaves were taken from Mongols and Turks. Noteworthy, the racial differences played important role in organization of the army, with black slaves serving in infantry, and whites in cavalry, generally considered as an elite troops. Though gradually tension developed between two groups and fierce clashes occurred. Black slave troops played important role in the rise of Fatimid Dynasty. The first Fatimids moved from Ifriqiya (Tunis) and captured Egypt in 969 with the help of black and Berber troops. But once the Fatimid state was firmly established, an internal tension between black slave regiments and those of other races gradually rose.

With the fall of the Fatimids, the black troops paid the price for their loyalty. Among the most faithful supporters of the Fatimid Caliphate, they were also among the last to resist its overthrow by Salah-ad-Adin (known in Europe as Saladin), the new master of Egypt. By the time of the last Fatimid caliph, al-'Adid, the blacks had achieved a position of power. The black eunuchs wielded great influence in the palace and the black slaves formed a major element in the Fatimid army. It was natural that they should resist Saladin’s aggression. In 1169, Saladin learned of a plot by the caliph's chief black eunuch to remove him, allegedly in collusion with the Crusaders in Palestine. Saladin acted swiftly and dismissed or executed most of the black eunuchs of the palace. In August 1169, Saladin finally defeated the black troops at the battle at Cairo, marking their end as a political factor in Egypt. Following this date, only white slaves were integrated into the military establishment of Ayyubids. This is an important period in the history of Mameluks as during this time, they were formed as a military organization, warrior clan. This is basement for their latter history of almost 600 years.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 828