The Mamluk Sultanate ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from 1250 to 1517, established after the assassination of the Ayyubid ruler al-Muazzam Turanshah on 2 May 1250 ended Ayyubid rule in Egypt. Governed from Cairo by a military caste of mamluks, freed slave soldiers who rose to command the state, the sultanate is divided into a Turkic Bahri period from 1250 to 1382 and a Circassian Burji period from 1382 to 1517, and under its rule Cairo grew into one of the largest cities in the world. Its forces famously halted the Mongol advance by defeating them at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, and the sultanate reached its greatest territorial extent under Sultan Barsbay in the fifteenth century. It was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517, after the Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri was killed in battle against Ottoman Sultan Selim I at Marj Dabiq in 1516.
Facts
Government TypeSemi-feudal stratocratic elective monarchy 1 Start YearThe source frames the founding as "mid-13th century" (established 1250 with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty); 1250 is recorded as the specific founding year that century phrase names. End YearThe source frames the end as "early 16th century" (conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517); 1517 is recorded as the specific end year. Cross-Tradition Connections
Preceded By
The Mamluk Sultanate was established in 1250 with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty.
Succeeded By
Sources
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