Bahri Mamluks
1250–1382
Flags according to the Catalan Atlas of c. 1375
Personal insignia of Baybars from 1260
The Mamluk Sultanate during the Bahri period
Status	Sultanate under the Abbasid Caliphate
Capital	Cairo
Religion	Sunni Islam
History
• Established	1250
• Disestablished	1382
Preceded by Succeeded by Ayyubid dynasty Burji Mamluks

The Bahri Mamluks (Arabic: المماليك البحرية, romanized: al-Mamalik al-Baḥariyya), sometimes referred to as the Bahri dynasty,^[1][2] 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.^[3] 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.^[3]

The Bahri Mamluks were of mostly Kipchak Turkic origin.^[3][4] Fourteen of eighteen sultans between 1279 and 1390 belonged to the Qalawunid lineage.^[5] After 1382/1390, they were succeeded by a second Mamluk regime, the Burji Mamluks, who were largely of Circassian origin.^[6] 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,^{[lower-alpha 1]} at the citadel of Al-Rodah which was built by the Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub.^{[8][lower-alpha 2]}

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.^{[11][lower-alpha 3]}

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.

Enthroned Prince. Probably Egypt 1334. Maqamat of al-Hariri.^[12] "In the paintings the facial cast of these [ruling] Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored".^[13]

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 present-day Israel and eventually forced the invaders to retreat to the area of modern-day Iraq.^[14] The defeat of the Mongols at the hands of the Mamluks enhanced the position of the Mamluks in the southern Mediterranean basin.^{[15][lower-alpha 4]} Baibars, one of the leaders at the battle, became the new Sultan after the assassination of Sultan Qutuz on the way home.^{[17][lower-alpha 5]}

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,^{[lower-alpha 6]} and the Mamluks fought the remnants of the Crusader states in Palestine until they finally captured Acre in 1291.^{[lower-alpha 7]}

Tatars and Mongols

Many Tatars settled in Egypt and were employed by Baibars.^{[lower-alpha 8][21]} He defeated the Mongols at the battle of Elbistan^[22] 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.^{[23][lower-alpha 9]} In addition, he fought the Seljuks,^{[lower-alpha 10]} and Hashshashin; he also extended Muslim power into Nubia^[21] 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,^{[25][lower-alpha 11]} and also defeated another Mongol invasion in 1281 that was led by Abaqa outside Homs.^[27] After the Mongol threat passed he recaptured Tripoli from the Crusaders in 1289.^[28] His son Khalil captured Acre, the last Crusader city, in 1291.^[29]

Territory of the Golden Horde in 1389

The Mongols renewed their invasion in 1299,^[30] but were again defeated in 1303 in the Battle of Shaqhab.^[31] The Egyptian Mamluk Sultans entered into relations with the Golden Horde who converted to Islam^{[lower-alpha 12]} and established a peace pact with the Mongols^[33] 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.^[34] Al-Nasir Muhammad organized the re-digging of a canal in 1311 which connected Alexandria with the Nile.^[33] He died in 1341.

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

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

See also

History of the Turkic peoples pre–14th century
Court of Seljuk ruler Tughril III, circa 1200 CE.
Turkic peoples Oghuz Turks Karluks Kipchaks Onogurs Kumyks Yakuts Dolgans Krymchaks Sabir people Crimean Karaites
Turkic Languages Turkish Azerbaijani Uzbek Kazakh Uyghur Turkmen Tatar Kyrgyz Bashkir Chuvash Qasgqai Karakalpak Sakha Kumyk Karachay-Balkar Tuvan Gagauz Karaim Krymchak
Turkic Mythology Belief system: Tengrism and Shamanism Chief gods and goddesses: Kayra and Ülgen Epics and heroes: Ergenekon and Asena Major concepts: Sheka and Grey wolf
Pre-14th century Yenisei Kyrgyz People 202 BCE–13th CE Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate Dingling 71 BC–?? AD Tiele (Gaoche) Göktürks First Turkic Khaganate 552–581 Western Turkic Khaganate 581–657 (Tokhara Yabghus, Turk Shahis) Eastern Turkic Khaganate 581–650 Second Turkic Khaganate 682–744 Sabiri People Khazar Khaganate 618–1048 Xueyantuo 628–646 Kangar union 659–750 Turk Shahi 665-850 Türgesh Khaganate 699–766 Kimek confederation 743–1035 Uyghur Khaganate 744–840 Oghuz Yabgu State 750–1055 Karluk Yabgu State 756–940 Kara-Khanid Khanate 840–1212 Western Kara-Khanid Eastern Kara-Khanid Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom 848–1036 Qocho 856–1335 Pecheneg Khanates 860–1091 Ghaznavid Empire 963–1186 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Sultanate of Rum Cuman–Kipchak confederation 1067–1239 Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231 Kerait Khanate 11th century–13th century Atabegs of Azerbaijan 1136–1225 Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526 Mamluk dynasty Khalji dynasty Tughlaq dynasty Qarlughid Kingdom 1224–1266 Golden Horde 1242–1502 Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) 1250–1517 Bahri dynasty Ottoman State 1299–1922

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bahri dynasty.

• Turkic peoples
• Timeline of the Turkic peoples (500–1300)
• Aybak
• Egypt in the Middle Ages
• Mamluk
• Qalawun complex
• Shajar al-Durr
• List of Sunni dynasties

Notes

References

External links

• Media related to Bahri dynasty at Wikimedia Commons