Mamluk Sultanate

The Mamluk Sultanate was ruled by military commanders of slave origin who had served as the elite cavalry of the Ayyubid sultans. They seized power in Egypt in 1250 and proved formidable warriors, halting the Mongol advance at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, the first major Mongol defeat in open battle, and eliminating the last crusader strongholds in the Levant by 1291. The Mamluks presided over a prosperous state centred on Cairo, which became a great centre of Islamic culture after the Mongol destruction of Baghdad. Sultans were chosen by military hierarchy rather than heredity, leading to frequent palace coups. The sultanate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1517 when Sultan Selim I defeated the Mamluks at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.

• Existed: 1250 CE – 1517 CE
• Type: Country
• Government: sultanate
• Capital: Cairo