| The Mamlukes |
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The Mamlukes were Turkish prisoners of Genghis Khan, who
sold them as slaves to the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt. The Sultan
trained them as soldiers, and eventually they became his
Palace guard.
In 1250, the Mamlukes seized control of Egypt, and ten years later they inflicted the first great defeat on the Mongol armies trying to seize Palestine. The Mamlukes overran Asia Minor, and they ruled Egypt for more than 250 years. Selim I of Turkey finally defeated them in 1517 and conquered Egypt. Under Turkish rule the Mamlukes were kept on as soldiers. They attacked Napoleon when he invaded Egypt in 1798. In 1811, Egypt's Viceroy Mehemt Ali orderd the massacre of all Mamluks, and they disappeared from history. |