Mameluke Period
When Shaggar ruled alone, the Mamelukes essentially ruled the city anyway.
The white slaves imported by the Egyptian governors now ruled Egypt.
As children, they were converted to Islam, educated and given military
training. Many worked their way up through the army ranks, and when
they reached a high enough rank, were freed by their masters, to whom
they pledged their loyalty.
- Many were appointed to high governmental
posts. Advancement was by individual ability and open only to those
who had been indentured. To supply their private armies, the Mamelukes
continued to import slaves, creating multiple power groups that dragged
the native Egyptians into their fierce and frequent power struggles.
- In general, since Mameluke culture was
based on slavery, neither wives nor sons had any claim on a Mameluke's
political or military power. Mameluke sons, denied both hereditary claims
and the slavery that would grant them entry into politics, filtered
into the Egyptian population. Although Mamelukes controlled the court
and the army, Egyptians continued to staff civil offices, financial
agencies, the judiciary and the professions.
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