It was from the ranks of these Mamluks that the 13th century dynasties of India and Egypt emerged. Islam took them away from the slave ships of the Vikings, towards the luxurious thrones of Asia and Africa. Through their exploits, they rose through the court ranks, married the daughters of the sultans and themselves became the kings and sultans. In an age when the path to kingship led through the army, the Mamluks were not only great soldiers but were in close proximity to the center of power. Therefore, as the Mamluks became Muslim, they became the free men and women, with full privileges accorded to all believers. Some of the slaves were from Turkish tribes (Prior to Their Conversion to Islam) in which case there were both affinities of blood with their Turkish owners as well as an affinity of profession.Īccording to the Shariah, a Muslim may not hold another Muslim as a slave. As the Mamluks were inducted into the armies and the Turks dominated the armed forces, the slaves came to be referred to as Mamluk Turks. The Turks displaced the Arabs and the Persians from the centers of power in Asia during the 9th and 10th centuries and became the kingmakers. However, it was with the rise of the Turks that the Mamluks came into their own. The Spanish court of Cordoba as well as the Fatimid court in Cairo employed Mamluk bodyguards. Young Mamluk men were trained in special camps as bodyguards, taught the precepts of Islam and inducted into the army. The European slaves were in great demand in Muslim courts because the men made excellent soldiers and the women were sought for their fair skin.
The root word in Arabic for ‘Mamluk’ is m-l-k (Malaka, To Own).
0 kommentar(er)
