Mamluk Sultanate

State of the Turks دولة الأتراك‎ (Arabic) Dawlat al-Atrāk State of the Circassians دولة الجراكسة (Arabic) Dawlat al-Jarākisa
1250–1517
Extent of the Mamluk Sultanate under Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad
Status	Sultanate nominally under the Abbasid Caliphate
Capital	Cairo
Common languages	Arabic Mamluk-Kipchak[1] Circassian[2] Oghuz Turkic[3]
Religion	Sunni Islam (state) Shia Islam (minority) Alawite (minority) Christianity (minority) Judaism (minority)
Demonym(s)	Mamluk
Government	Semi-feudal[4][5] stratocratic elective monarchy
Caliph
• 1261	Al-Mustansir (first)
• 1262–1302	Al-Hakim I
• 1406–1414	Abū al-Faḍl Al-Musta'in
• 1508–1516	Al-Mutawakkil III (last)
Sultan
• 1250	Shajar al-Durr (first)
• 1250–1257	Aybak
• 1260–1277	Baybars
• 1516–1517	Tuman Bay II (last)
History
• Murder of Turanshah	2 May 1250
• Barquq overthrows al-Salih Hajji; Burji rule begins	November 1382
• Ottoman conquest of Cairo	22 January 1517
Preceded by Succeeded by Abbasid Caliphate Ayyubid dynasty Kingdom of Jerusalem Principality of Antioch County of Tripoli Makuria Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Tahirid Sultanate Ottoman Empire

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The Mamluk Sultanate (Arabic: سلطنة المماليك, romanized: Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks (freed slave soldiers) headed by a sultan. The sultanate was established with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt in 1250 and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Mamluk history is generally divided into the Turkic or Bahri period (1250–1382) and the Circassian or Burji period (1382–1517), called after the predominant ethnicity or corps of the ruling Mamluks during these respective eras.^[6][7][8][9]

The first rulers of the sultanate hailed from the mamluk regiments of the Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub (r. 1240–1249), usurping power from his successor in 1250. The Mamluks under Sultan Qutuz and Baybars routed the Mongols in 1260, halting their southward expansion. They then conquered or gained suzerainty over the Ayyubids' Syrian principalities. Baybars also installed a surviving branch of the Abbasid dynasty in Cairo, who officially remained as caliphs and granted symbolic prestige to the sultanate. By the end of the 13th century, through the efforts of sultans Baybars, Qalawun (r. 1279–1290) and al-Ashraf Khalil (r. 1290–1293), the Mamluks had conquered the Crusader states, expanded into Makuria (Nubia), Cyrenaica, the Hejaz, and southern Anatolia. The sultanate then experienced a long period of stability and prosperity during the third reign of al-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1293–1294, 1299–1309, 1310–1341), before giving way to the internal strife characterizing the succession of his sons, when real power was held by senior emirs.

One such emir, Barquq, overthrew the sultan in 1382 and again in 1390, inaugurating Burji rule. Mamluk authority across the empire eroded under his successors due to foreign invasions, tribal rebellions, and natural disasters, and the state entered into a long period of financial distress. Under Sultan Barsbay, major efforts were taken to replenish the treasury, particularly monopolization of trade with Europe and tax expeditions into the countryside. He also managed to impose Mamluk authority further abroad, forcing Cyprus to submit in 1426. The sultanate stagnated after this. Sultan Qaitbay's long and competent reign (r. 1468–1496) ensured some stability, though it was marked by conflicts with the Ottomans. The last effective sultan was Qansuh al-Ghuri (r. 1501–1516), whose reign was known for heavy-handed fiscal policies, attempted reforms of the military, and confrontations with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean. In 1516, he was killed in battle against Ottoman sultan Selim I, who subsequently conquered Egypt in 1517 and ended Mamluk rule.

Under Mamluk rule, particularly under al-Nasir Muhammad, Cairo reached the peak of its size and wealth before the modern period,^[10] becoming one of the largest cities in the world at the time.^[11] The sultanate's economy was primarily agrarian, but its geographic position also placed it at the center of trade between Europe and the Indian Ocean. The Mamluks themselves relied on the iqta' system to provide revenues. They were also major patrons of art and architecture: inlaid metalwork, enameled glass, and illuminated Qur'an manuscripts were among the high points of art, while Mamluk architecture still makes up much of the fabric of historic Cairo today and is found throughout their former domains.