Mamelukes are Islamic slave soldiers, primarily of Kipchak Turkish, Georgian, and non-Arab ethnicity. They were brought into the army at a young age and they had nothing to lose but their lives.
History[]
Mameluke cavalryman
A rebellion in 1250 brought Ayyubid Egypt under their control, and by 1291, they controlled most of the Middle East. They were crushed in 1519 by the Ottoman Empire but rose up again in the 1700s, and Farrukhsiyar I of Egypt was their first king in 1783, the year of independence worldwide. The Mamelukes resisted the Egyptian Campaign of Napoleon I of France in 1798, and despite many defeats, they eventually defeated their foes. In 1805 Muhammad Ali took power in Egypt and defeated the Ottomans at the Battle of Nezib in 1839 (observed by Prussian Empire general [[Helmuth von Moltke). They were eventually absorbed by the Ottomans once more and remained a khedivate until they gained independence in 1867. From then on, they were a vassal of the Ottomans and in 1922 became the Kingdom of Egypt, which would last until 1953.
The Mamelukes were not only powerful in Egypt, but also in northern India. Their leader Qutub ud-Din, a former general of Mohammed of Ghor, established the Sultanate of Delhi in northern India in 1206. Their rule lasted until the Mughal Empire conquered them in 1526 at the First Battle of Panipat.
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