.svg.png.webp)
The Military of the Mamluk Sultanate (Egyptian Arabic: جيش السلطنة المملوكية), officially known as Al-Asakir al-Masria (العساكر المصرية, lit. 'Egyptian troops') or Al-Askar al-Masri (العسكر المصري, lit. 'Egyptian troops') or Al-Jund al-Masri (الجند المصري, lit 'Egyptian soldiers') or Al-Asakir al-Mansoura (العساكر المنصورة, lit 'Victorious troops'), was the official armed forces of the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate.[1][2][3]
History
The Mamluk Army was established in 1250 by the first Mamluk Sultan Aybak of Egypt, but it was reformed in 1260 by Sultan Baybars.[4][2][5][6]
The entire army did not have an official census, but as a percentage and proportion, the Egyptians were the vast majority of the army, and this is clear from the division of the army. If we were to suffice with comparing the Volunteer corps alone with all the Mamluks (the Volunteer corps, which was larger than the entire regular army, we would also say that the vast majority were Egyptians)[7] the English traveler Sir John Mandeville mentioned in Mandeville's Travels that the Sultan was able to leave Egypt with 200,000 soldiers,[8] and the Egyptian historian Ibn Iyas mentioned that the number of the Egyptian army in the battle of Marj al-Saffar, known as Shaqhab, was 200,000 soldiers, and the Mamluks at their maximum number did not complete 24,000 people, so the remaining 175,000 soldiers were Egyptians or the vast majority were Egyptians.[9]
A lot of senior Egyptian commanders appeared in the army at that time, the most famous of whom were Prince Saad el-Din bin Ghurab, Prince Ezz el-Din el-Kourani, Prince Alaa el-Din bin el-Emam, Prince Salah el-Din Khalil bin Aram, Prince Alaa el-Din el-Tablawi, Prince Ahmed el-Taylouni bin el-Muhandis, Prince Fakhr al-Din Iyas el-Jarjawi, Ibn Bint el-Aqsarai, Prince Hamo Lajin and others.[10][11][12]
The native Egyptian element was known to be the most faithful and loyal element of the army, and this became clear in many situations, the most important of which was when Sultan El-Ashraf Sha'ban bin Qalawun was putting down a rebellion against him in Cairo and all of his Mamluks deserted him and fled. What remained beside him were the Egyptian soldiers who defended him and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Cairo in late 1367.[13][14] One of the most important policies of Sultan El-Ashraf Sha'ban was to increase the number of indigenous Egyptians in the regular military corps.[15][14]
The army was disbanded by the Ottomans following the Capture of Cairo in 1517.[16][17][18]
Factions
The Mamluk Army can be divided to two factions, which are the Egyptian Army and the Levantine Army.[10][11][12]
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian army which was officially called Al-Asakir al-Masria or Al-Askar al-Masri or Al-Jund al-Masri or Al-Asakir al-Mansoura, was the army of Egypt and was made up mostly of native Egyptians.[8][10][9]
The army was divided throughout the Mamluk era, or with different periods, so there were 9 categories that made up the army, which are:[1][3]
Royal Mamluks
The Royal or Sultanic Mamluks (المماليك السلطانية) were all Mamluks and were similar to the modern-day Republican Guard with extra authority. They were under the direct authority of the Sultan and they were usually about 1,000 Mamluks.[19][20]
Ajnad al-Halqa
The Ajnad al-Halqa (أجناد الحلقة) were made up of both Egyptians and Mamluks and were under the direct command of the sultan, there was a faction within the Halqa called the Arbab al-Heraf (أرباب الحرف) which was made up of Egyptians only and was similar to modern-day engineering corps.[19][21]
Halqa troops were the heart and backbone of the Egyptian army.[19][21]
Summoned forces/Al-Radif
The Summoned forces or Al-Radif (قوات الإستدعاء أو الرديف) were made up of both Egyptians and Mamluks and were Summoned in times of war and some of them are part of the Halqa troops.[7][20][21]
Volunteer
The Volunteer forces (المتطوعة) were made up of Egyptians only, and they were the ones to whom mobilization calls were directed before any war,[22] and their number alone was often greater than the number of the entire army, according to the testimony of the historian Ibn Taghribirdi:[7]
"And the commoners (Volunteer forces) are more than the troops in service."[7]
Emirs and their Mamluks
The Emirs and their Mamluks (الأمراء ومماليكهم) were Mamluk soldiers, Egyptian leaders, and Mamluk leaders.[3][1][7]
The soldiers of the emirs were directly commanded by the emirs, but could be mobilized by the sultan when needed.[6]
Al-Ghozah/Al-Ghaz/Al-Zuer
The Al-Ghozah or Al-Ghaz or Al-Zuer (الغزاة أو الغز أو الزعر) were made up of Egyptians only, who were trained in their own camps. After completing their training, they were distributed among the Al-Ghozah brigades in the Egyptian army, and each of them receives a fixed salary from the army office. The salary of an Egyptian soldier in the Al-Ghozah during the era of Sultan Barsbay of Egypt was 20 dinars. The Al-Ghozah soldiers were the largest faction in the Egyptian army that participated in the conquest of Cyprus in the year 1426. This is in addition to their major achievements in the conquest of Tripoli in the Levant and the first and second Mamluk-Ottoman wars.[7][10]
Al-Ajnad al-Bataalyn
The Al-Ajnad al-Bataalyn (الأجناد البطالين) was made up of Egyptians only, it was the Egyptian technician corps.[23][7]
Al-Harafish
The Al-Harafish (الحرافيش) were made up of Egyptians only and were first mentioned before the Mamluk era in the Ayyubid era, the Al-Harafish were famous for their great courage and their bravery in battles since the Ayyubid era. They were among those who fought in the Battle of Mansoura, and they were the ones who carried out raids on the camps of the Crusaders during the Seventh Crusade. They were the heroes of most of the wars of the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate, and they were famous for their leadership and insistence on the conquest of Acre, their conquest of Antioch, and their pursuit of the Mongol Ilkhanids in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar and other battles.[24][25][26]
Most of the sultans of Egypt relied on the Al-Harafish brigades in Egypt's wars and also to stabilize their rule. The most famous of them were the sultans of the Qalawunid dynasty, to whom the Al-Harafish brigades were completely loyal.[24][25][26]
During the siege of Acre, the Al-Harafish led a major demonstration in front of the tent of the Sultan El-Ashraf Khalil bin Qalawun, demanding the continuation of the siege and the absence of peace with the Crusaders. Sultan Khalil immediately agreed to their demands. Khalil bin Qalawun was famous for his love for the Egyptian soldiers in general and considering himself part of them, so he used to share holidays, food, and training with them.[24][25][26]
The Al-Harafish were known for their support for Sultan An-Nasir Mahammad bin Qalawun in returning to power, and they led a major rebellion against Emir Baybars Al-Jashnkir, who deposed an-Nasir Mahammad. Al-Harafesh stoned him in the streets of Cairo. An-Nasir Mahammad became famous for relying on Al-Harafesh so much that he was nicknamed the Harfush. Al-Haraish also supported Sultan An-Nasir Hasan bin Qalawun to return to power.[24][25][26]
Navy
The naval fleet (الأسطول البحري) was made up of Egyptian leaders and soldiers only, it was originally established in the Fatimid era.[27][28][29]
Every now and then, the entire Egyptian fleet would be filled with men and weapons of all kinds, and the Egyptian fleet, raising the yellow Egyptian flag, would approach the coasts of the European countries on the Mediterranean, to display its strength and spread fear and panic in the hearts of the European population and the military garrisons in the southern European cities.[30][31]
This policy has left coastal countries such as Cyprus, Rhodes, the Crusader state of Acre, and others living in a state of constant fear of any Egyptian attack. Acre was conquered in 1291 after the Crusaders of Acre killed Egyptian merchants there, and Cyprus was conquered in 1426 after the Cypriots stole the goods of the Egyptian merchant Ahmad bin el-Humaim. Rhodes was entered in 1444 after it carried out a raid on the Egyptian coast.[31][30]
Levantine Army
The Levantine Army or officially known as Al-Asakir al-Shamia (العساكر الشامية, lit. Levantine troops) was the army of the Levant and was made up of Mamluks, Levantines, Bedouins, Kurds and Turkomen.[10][11][12]
Not much is known about the Levantine Army but it participated in the conquest of Malatya alongside the Egyptian Army under the Viceroy of Syria, Tankiz and battles of the Mongol invasions of the Levant and battles of the Fall of Outremer.[32][33]
References
- 1 2 3 Ibn Taghribirdi, vol. 8, p. 5.
- 1 2 Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). "The Emergence of the Mamluk Army (Conclusion)". Studia Islamica (46): 147–182. doi:10.2307/1595291. ISSN 0585-5292.
- 1 2 3 Ibn Taghribirdi, vol. 13, p. 219.
- ↑ Gamal el-Din Souror, Mahammad (1938). الظاهر بيبرس وحضارة مصر في عهده [Al-Zahir Baibars and the Egyptian civilization during his reign] (in Arabic). Cairo: دار الكتب المصرية.
- ↑ Lower, Michael (2018-05-24). "Baybars, Louis IX and the Battle for Syria". The Tunis Crusade of 1270: A Mediterranean History. Oxford Academic. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- 1 2 Levanoni 1995, p. 8.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ibn Taghribirdi, vol. 14, p. 112.
- 1 2 Mandeville, John. The Travels of: Sir John Mandeville. p. 72.
- 1 2 Ibn Iyas, vol. 1, p. 423.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ibn Taghribirdi, vol. 2, p. 327.
- 1 2 3 Ibn Iyas, vol. 4, p. 124.
- 1 2 3 Ibn Iyas, vol. 5, pp. 5, 122.
- ↑ Steenbergen 2011, p. 143.
- 1 2 Levanoni 1995, pp. 111–112.
- ↑ Steenbergen 2011, p. 142–143.
- ↑ Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph. Geschichte der Osmanischen Dichtkunst. Vol. 1. Translated by Ata, Mehmet. Milliyet yayınları. pp. 275–276.
- ↑ Naylor, Phillip C. (2009-12-03). North Africa: A History from Antiquity to the Present. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77878-8.
- ↑ Sevim, Ali; Yücel, Yaşar (1991). Türkiye tarihi [History of Türkiye] (in Turkish). Turkish Historical Society. p. 250.
- 1 2 3 Qalqashandi, vol. 14, p. 4–15.
- 1 2 Qalqashandi, vol. 18, p. 4.
- 1 2 3 Qalqashandi, vol. 16, p. 4.
- ↑ المفضلي, عبدالرحمن (2017-05-17). "السلطان برسباي وفتح جزيرة قبرص" [Sultan Barsbay and the conquest of the island of Cyprus]. الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- ↑ "السلوك لمعرفه دول الملوك - المقريزي، تقي الدين - کتابخانه مدرسه فقاهت". lib.eshia.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
- 1 2 3 4 Mahfouz, Nagiub (2006). الحرافيش زمن المماليك [Al-Harafish in the time of the Mamluks] (in Arabic). Egypt: دار الشروق للنشر والتوزيع. pp. 15, 17, 18. ISBN 9789770915226.
- 1 2 3 4 Ibn Aybak Al-Duwidar, vol. 8, from page 126.
- 1 2 3 4 al-Din al-Ayni, Badr. عقد الجمان في تاريخ أهل الزمان – عصر سلاطين المماليك. p. 61.
- ↑ Lev, Yaacov (2009-07-31), "From Revolutionary Violence to State Violence: the Fāṭimids (297–567/909–1171)", Public Violence in Islamic SocietiesPower, Discipline, and the Construction of the Public Sphere, 7th-19th Centuries CE, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 67–83, retrieved 2023-12-26
- ↑ Lev, Yaacov (1990). "The Fatimid Navy and the Crusades, 1099–1171". In H. Tzalas (ed.). Tropis II Proceedings. 2nd International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Delphi 1987. Athens: Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition. pp. 257–258.
- ↑ Lev, Yaacov (1991). State and Society in Fatimid Egypt. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 90-04-09344-3.
- 1 2 Ibn Shaheen al-Zahiri, زبدة كشف الممالك وبيان الطرق والمسالك, pp. 66–67.
- 1 2 Khaled al-Shokhni, Mahmoud (2016). النشاط البحري لدولة المماليك في البحر المتوسط. Damascus, Syria: Faculty of Arts, Damascus University. p. 65.
- ↑ Ibn Iyas, vol. 1, p. 446.
- ↑ Mahammad Dahman, ولاة دمشق في عهد المماليك, p.122