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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
Joukowsky_Institute@brown.edu
A mamluk (military slave owned by the Ayyubid sultan) under the last Ayyubid sultan, al-Salih (d. 1249). When the mamluks killed al-Salih's son and heir, they seized control and began the Mamluk sultunate; Baybars eventually became sultan (1260-1277). He fought against the crusaders and the Mongols. Once again, this is a case of military slaves becoming the power behind a ruling group, and eventually taking over. The Mamluks ruled from Egypt, but were ethnically probably Turkish during this time period.