The Mamluk Sultanate: Kipchak-Turkic Rule over Egypt

The used to be two Turkic dynasties that ruled over Egypt. One of them was the Ottoman Dynasty, which after the conquests of Selim I. conquered Egypt and its surroundings in one swift stroke. But nearly three centuries prior to Ottoman expansion, another Turkic peoples reigned supreme: the Kipchaks. Sold from the steppes of Ukraine and Russia to the Near East, many Kipchak Turks became slaves and were used by local rulers as bodyguards. In time, these so-called "Mamluks" rose to higher ranks. By the time of Sultan Saladin of the Ayyubid Dynasty, many high officers of his empire were already of Turkic Kipchak origin. But long after Saladin's death, his empire crumbled. When the Mamluks took power by military force, they commanded a large army with highly skilled elite horse archers, most of them being also of Kipchak origin. However, the new Mamluk Sultanate was soon confronted by internal strife, Crusades from the West and the Mongol Invasions from the East. 

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