The Mamluk sultanate was established in Cairo in 1250 with the defeat of the Ayyubid dynasty and solidifying control of Egypt and Syria. The Mamluks were Turkic slave soldiers and had existed as regimental groups throughout the Ayyubid dynastic area, and were purchased as servants to the state and the overthrow of the Ayyubids by the Mamluks marks the supremacy of the the military slave state in the Islamic world. Mamluk society and rule was largely non-hereditary and presumably implemented to reduce factionalism but in actuality enhanced it as the death of each sultan brought on questions of succession and legitimacy. Sultans were at the mercy of their Amirs, or commanders, both for legitimacy through loyalty and military allegiance and also for the authority to rule. The Mamluk state was largely decentralized as a result, with the Iqta system the representing the primary means of income along with taxation, and a largely disenfranchised native population who due to their non-slave status were barred from administrative or military participation. Rampant factionalism as a result of a military slave state apparatus defined the Mamluk state, at once creating a highly regimented and yet fragmented society.
In 1250 the Mamluk rebellion overthrew the Ayyubid house for control of Egypt and named Aybeg, one of the Mamluk regimental leaders, as Sultan. The Mamluks, being a military slave society, were able to defend Syria against the Mongols in 1260 and also subsume the remaining Syria principalities and expel the Crusaders by 1291.1 The unity between Egypy and Syria that the Mamluks were able to achieve was reason that the Mamluk state was the largest Islamic states between the time of the Abbasids and the Ottoman empire.2 Moreover, t...
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... by the method with which the military elite class dealt with factionalism as a result of the slave-state system in which they lived. The Sultan was more of a factional leader defined by how much popular support he carried and was in constant danger of being overthrown. As a result, the economic system that was implemented which intaled a hybridization of the Egyptian bureaucratic system and the Syrian Iqta system was founded on appeasement of the ruling elite class. Tax distribution and land grants were given to amir to both ensure loyalty and codify the legitimacy of the sultanate. While local participation was limited, the Mamluk state was based on a religious Sunni conceptualization of legitimacy and therefore the Ulama offered the local Arab Muslim populations opportunity to carry a measure of power through religious education and spiritual community leadership.
From the three documents provided, Documents A: Battle of the Yarmuk (Modified), document B: Treaty of Tudmir (Modified) and document C: Fred Donner, I think that the Early Islamic Empire expanded with war, truce, and rare peace. The Empire changed dramatically through the years.
Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Usama. Book of Contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii.
The men at the forefront of the Young Turk’s rebellion were Mehmed Talaat, Ismail Enver and Ahmed Djemal. Eventually, they came to have more of a dictatorial sort of rule on their people, with their own visions of what they wanted for the Turkic people. They all wanted to unite their people and expand ...
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any nation in the world. Written history of Egypt dates back to about 5,000 years, the commencement of civilization. While there is divergence in relation to Early Egyptian times, it is said that Egypt came to be around 3200 B.C., during the reign of a king by the name of Menes and unified the northern and southern cities of Egypt into one government. In 1675 B.C., Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, people from the east, bringing along the very first of chariots and horses ever to come across Egyptian soil. Approximately 175 years later in 1500 B.C., the Egyptians had gotten rid of the Hyksos and driven them out. In 1375 B.C., Amenhotep IV had become the king of Egypt. During his reign he eliminated the worship of Egyptian gods and initiated the idea of only worshipping one god. But after his death, his ideas were retired and old ways were reestablished. Egyptian supremacy then started to decline around 1000 B.C. Between 1000 B.C. and 332 B.C., Egypt was ruled by many such as the Libyans, Assyrians, Ethiopians, and Persians. In 640, Muslims conquered Egypt and founded the city of Cairo in 969 and deemed it as the capital of Egypt. For many centuries Egypt was ruled by Muslim caliphs. A prominent ruler of this period was Saladin, who battled the Christian Crusaders at the conclusion of the twelfth century. In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt but was then forced to withdraw in 1801 Turkish and British armed forces. In 1805 Mohamed Ali began ruling Egypt till 1848 and great changed the country in terms of modernization and its military. During Mohamed’s conquest, he borrowed a lot of money from the French and British, which later resulted in Egypt’s coloniza...
Maalouf’s main thesis in The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is that the crusades are a major part of history and have truly influenced every one of our lives. The second pa...
society called "The Free Officers." At this point in time Egypt was ruled by a small
Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 1991. Print.
Lewis, Bernard. The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years. New York: Scribner,
Furthermore, this background gave Marwan a front-row seat as he watched the quasi-religious office of caliph evolve. Contemporary Umayyad caliphs were inaugurated with special oaths that carried religious as well as politico-legal considerations: caliphs were bound to uphold not only "the sunna of God and his Prophet, but also of his predecessors as caliph" (Blankenship 1994, pp. 76-78). In any event, after ascending to the role of caliph himself, Marwan proved to be an imposing military commander and adept political leader, and he oversaw significant consolidation of the authority of the Umayyads as he ruled from the multi-ethnic and multi-religious
‘The Hyksos forced Egyptian Pharaohs to look beyond their own borders, and involve themselves in the affairs and lives of their neighbor’s’ Through the notion of looking beyond their own borders, the necessity of constant battles was not only to expand but also protect Egypt’s borders, this eventually led to the image of the ‘Warrior Pharaoh’. Egypt became the pre-eminent power in the east due to talented civil, military and religious bureaucracies. The Hyksos ‘encouraged new nationalism and patriotism’ this could be seen through formation of administration, stable rule, gods and building externally while taking on board the establishment of the extensive diplomatic and trading contacts with the eastern Mediterranean region and Nubia. The economic influences created by the Hyksos include various influences that furthermore excelled New Kingdom Egypt to be a greater society. The ‘foreign rulers’ introduced olive and pomegranate trees as well as domesticated cattle to the agricultural practices to Egyptian society.
The decline of the Abbasids was not a steady of rapid series of events. There were numerous revivals of the Caliphate in which certain strong Caliphs gained more control and influence over the Islamic world than their predecessors had had. However at no point after the death of Harun al-Rahid (reigned 786-809) was the Caliphate ever as powerful. This period is regarded as the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate and was followed immediately by civil war between his sons. Harun’s two sons were called Al-Amin and Al-Mamun. Al-Amin was the elder and was nominated as the heir to the Caliphate. However Al-Mamun, who was the effective governor of the eastern provinces was ambitious. He was spurred towards seizing the Caliphate for himself by his prominent advisor Al-Fadl. In 810 he declared himself an Iman causing his brother to disinherit and dispatch a great army to snuff out his ever increasing dominance of the Caliphate east of Baghdad. It seemed likely that Al-Mamun would be defeated, his army numbered around 4,000 men but faced 40,000. However he was fortunate in his commander, called Tahir bin Husain, who won him a spectacular victory at Rayy in 811. Tahir proceeded to siege Baghdad in 812. In that year Al-Amin was captured and forced to hand over the office of Caliph to al-Mamun. Al-Amin was executed after trying to escape Baghdad after it had been captured.
The unification of Ancient Egypt became the major foundation for which the way Egyptian and African history is taught in this day and time. The combination of the two dynamic kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt played a significant role in shaping Egypt’s impact on the early civilization of mankind. Before the unification can be explored, we must further understand the differences of the two kingdoms. This will allow us to better grasp the concept of how the two advanced kingdoms complemented one another during their unification. The geographical qualities/relationship with the Nile River, trade routes, symbols, and religious beliefs will be fully analyzed in order to compare and contrast the two kingdoms. King Narmer’s (Menes) role in the unification
The early Dynastic Period was Egypt?s era of initial unification and state building under the guidelines of its first three royal dynasties. In the years between 2660 and 2180 B. C. the basic marks of the cultures of Egypt arose. Egypt was one kingdom and it was divided into provinces, or the names of provinces. Ruling over the kingdom was a pharaoh, who was not only a king but was also seen as a god. Provinces were ruled by nomarchs better known as provincial governors. The Egyptians devised themselves into classes, upper class, middle class, and a lower class. The pharaoh and his family were at the top of the Egyptian class system. People could move from one class to another depending on their situations.
Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations in the world that appeared before writing and chronicling history. It was settled by primitive peoples from ancient times back to the Late Stone Age (110 thousand years BC). Egypt is also famous for archeology and art, most notably the pyramids.
The Ottoman Empire put into place the millet system to allow Jews and Christians to establish their own system of order that these religious minorities would have to abide by and be accountable for. The millets had considerable power with minimal interference from the Ottoman government. They elected their millets, upheld their own laws, appropriated their own taxes, used their own language, and set up school and churches. The Ottomans showed great respect and acceptance of these non-Muslim communities and all they asked for in return was their allegiance to the Ottoman rulers and willingness to defend the empire in the event of an attack. The millet system worked well both socially and economically and is still used to some extent in various post-Ottoman countries (region now known as the Middle East). However, nationalism (pride in one’s homeland) began to separate people more rather than religious affiliation.