Mamluk Military Slave System

Type Object Region Egypt Time 901–1517

Mamluk (Mamluk) means 'the owned ones', referring to the system of slave warriors purchased from Turkic and Caucasian regions and trained militarily,…

Timeline

901–1000Baghdad · IraqAbbasid caliphs purchased young slaves from the Turkic steppes and gave them archery and Islamic education, forming a palace guard warrior class that laid the pattern for the later Mamluk system.
1240–1250Egypt and Syria · LevantRulers such as al-Salih Ayyub greatly expanded Mamluk corps to counter Mongol westward advance and Crusader pressure; slave warriors extended from the guard to become the main force of the kingdom, garrisoned in the Cairo Citadel and Syrian cities.
1250–1517Cairo · EgyptAfter Mamluk generals overthrew the Ayyubid dynasty in 1250, the military slave system was elevated to the foundation of sultanate power: new sultans were selected from the Mamluk elite, forming a unique non-hereditary military aristocratic rule.

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition: Mamlūk https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/
The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 — Carl F. Petry (1998)