The Mamelukes

Disintegration of the Islamic empire had given the great Saladin his opportunity to conquer and make Syria, Palestine and Egypt his empire. Then after his death in the 1190s his empire was divided among his sons, who, of course, fought each other. By 1229, crusaders from Europe had taken advantage of this and had taken control of some coastal cities in Palestine. In the mid-1200s a clique of slave army officers in Egypt took advantage of the chaos and seized power, beginning a succession of Islamic rulers known as the Mamelukes.

Far from championing human liberation - as some believe should be the natural response of liberated slaves - the Mamelukes, held onto the prevailing view of rule belonging to those who were the most effective practitioners of violence. Also, Mameluke soldiers - Greeks, Turks, Mongols and Armenians - killed each other regularly in the streets of Cairo. Rampages of rape and murder took place, the anarchy leaving no one feeling safe. The first Mameluke sultan, Barkuq, sent these soldiers into the countryside to put down revolts, giving them free reign, with disastrous consequences for the local populations.

A quick turnover of Mameluke rulers had occurred by 1250, the fourth Mameluke ruler that year beginning a series of campaigns of conquest in Palestine. In 1281 another Mameluke sultan defeated a Mongol advance into Syria. By 1291 the Mamelukes had driven out the last of the Christian crusaders from Palestine. Then the Mamelukes were challenged by a growing power in Asia Minor: the Ottoman Turks.

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