Mamluk Sultanate سلطنة المماليك

1250 CE – 1517 CE · Egypt, Levant, Hejaz

Meritocratic slave-soldier elite; four madhab system; Cairo as world's greatest Islamic city; monopoly of spice trade

Capital

Cairo

Peak Era

1260–1340 CE (Baybars to al-Nasir Muhammad)

Historical Significance

The Mamluks stopped the Mongol advance at Ain Jalut (1260), expelled the Crusaders from the Levant (1291), and made Cairo the cultural center of the Islamic world for three centuries. Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Battuta, and Ibn Khaldun lived under Mamluk rule.