The Second Period

The second period, which lasted from 1250 till 1517 was a period when Mameluks made a successful coup d'etat and took power into their hands. During this period one of the most important roles was played by Baybars who gained his first major military victory as commander of the Ayyubid army at the city of al-Mansurah in February 1250 against the Crusaders' army led by Louis IX of France, who was captured and later released for a large ransom. Filled with a sense of their military strength and growing importance in Egypt, a group of Mameluk officers, led by Baybars, in the same year murdered Turan Shah. The death of the last Ayyubid sultan was followed by a period of confusion that continued throughout the first years of the Mameluk sultanate. Finally Mameluk Aybak became a Mameluk sultan of Egypt. He and his successors were capable enough to establish a powerful state within a short period of time.

During this period there were two Mameluk dynasties, which ruled Egypt:

- 1250-1382, Dynasty of Bahriyya (“Bahri”) Mameluks. The Arabic word "bahr" means "sea or ocean", however, in both ancient and modern oriental languages the term also signifies any quantity of water, and therefore could mean lake, river, or swamp. First Mameluks of this dynasty possessed on Nile a little island called Er-Rawda and were mostly of Turkish origin;

- 1382-1517 (in fact till 1811, including period of supremacy of Ottoman Empire) - Dynasty of Burji ("Burgites") Mameluks, mostly of Georgian and Circassian origin. Their name has its origins in the Arabic word "burj" which means tower, castle or fortress where the Mameluk garrisons was deployed.

By the time of the Mameluks, the arabization of Egypt must have been complete. Arabic was the language of the bureaucracy since the early 8^th Century and the language of religion and culture even longer. The specific Mameluk contribution to Arabic culture lay above all in their military achievement. By defeating the Mongols (battle of Ain Jalut, 3 September, 1260), the Mameluks provided a shelter in Syria and in Egypt for Muslims fleeing from Mongol devastation. Though, the extent of this haven was narrowed by subsequent Mongol attacks against Syria, one of which led to a brief Mongol occupation of Damascus in 1294-95, so that Egypt received an influx of refugees from Syria itself as well as from areas farther east. Concrete evidence of the stimulus the Mameluks gave to cultural life can be found chiefly in the fields of architecture and historiography. Dozens of public buildings erected under Mameluk patronage are still standing in Cairo and include mosques, colleges, hospitals, monasteries, and caravansaries. Historical writing under the Mameluks was equally monumental, in the form of immense chronicles, philosophical tractates and other works.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 855