Mu'in ad-Din Unur ( Arabic : معين الدين أنر , romanized : Muʿīn ad-Dīn ʿUnur ; died August 28, 1149) was the ruler of Damascus from 1140 to 1149. He was a Turkoman slave of Burid emirs.
109-723: Mu'in ad-Din was originally a Mamluk in the army of Toghtekin , the founder of the Burid Dynasty of Damascus. When Zengi , the atabeg of Aleppo , besieged Damascus in 1135, Mu'in ad-Din was at the head of the army defending the city. That year the Burid Shihab ad-Din Mahmud took control of Damascus after the assassination of his brother; when Zengi gave up the siege and instead besieged Homs , Shihab ad-Din sent Yusuf ibn Firuz and Mu'in ad-Din to govern it, with Yusuf acting as Mu'in ad-Din's lieutenant. In 1137 Mu'in ad-Din
218-671: A martyrium of Thomas the Apostle and the text of the Letter of Jesus inscribed on the city walls, said to protect the city. She saw a longer version of the Letters than she was previously familiar with, and was assured that the holy words had repelled a Persian assault on the city. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , in 394 the relics of Saint Thomas were translated into the great Church of St Thomas and in 442 they were encased in
327-652: A Mamluk army in the Battle of the Pyramids and drove the survivors out to Upper Egypt . The Mamluks relied on massed cavalry charges, changed only by the addition of muskets . The French infantry formed square and held firm. Despite multiple victories and an initially successful expedition into Syria, mounting conflict in Europe and the earlier defeat of the supporting French fleet by the British Royal Navy at
436-402: A Mamluk rose to become Sultan of Egypt . The Mamluks in medieval Egypt were predominantly of White Turkic and Circassian origins, and most of them descended from enslaved Christians. After they were taken from their families, they became renegades. Because Egyptian Mamluks were enslaved Christians, Muslim rulers and clerics did not believe they were true believers of Islam despite
545-570: A church dedicated to Saint Stephen in a building that had been a synagogue . The city was a site of major unrest in 449 due to an attempt to depose its bishop, Ibas . When Nisibis ( Nusaybin ) was ceded to the Sasanian Empire along with Arzanene , Moxoene , Zabdicene , Rehimena and Corduene in 363, Ephrem the Syrian left his native town for Edessa, where he founded the celebrated School of Edessa . This school, largely attended by
654-478: A great army for the conquest of Egypt, but gave out that he intended further attacks on Persia. In 1515, Selim began the war which led to the conquest of Egypt and its dependencies. Mamluk cavalry proved no match for the Ottoman artillery and Janissary infantry . On 24 August 1516, at the Battle of Marj Dabiq , Sultan Al-Ghawri was killed. Syria passed into Turkish possession, an event welcomed in many places as it
763-513: A joint venture toward Palestine , instead of a Jewish-Arab alliance against the Meccan pagans toward the south. The Byzantine Empire often tried to retake Edessa, especially under Romanos I Lekapenos , who obtained from the inhabitants the " Image of Edessa ", an ancient portrait of Christ, and solemnly transferred it to Constantinople , August 16, 944. This was the final great achievement of Romanus's reign. This venerable and famous image, which
872-465: A man of the sons of Ishmael named Mahmet, a merchant, became prominent. A sermon about the Way of Truth, supposedly at God's command, was revealed to them... he ordered them all to assemble together and to unite in faith... He said: "God promised that country to Abraham and to his son after him, for eternity. And what had been promised was fulfilled during that time when [God] loved Israel. Now, however, you are
981-486: A new crusade , called in response to Zengi's capture of Edessa in 1145. Mu'in ad-Din prepared for the inevitable siege , although he had hoped his former alliance with Jerusalem could be restored and that the crusade would attack some other city. When the crusaders arrived in July, according to Ibn al-Qalanisi , Mu'in ad-Din "distinguished himself in combat with them, and displayed a valour, steadfastness and gallantry such as
1090-488: A silver casket. According to the late-6th-century Frankish hagiographer and bishop Gregory of Tours , the relics had themselves been brought from India, while in Edessa an annual fair (and alleviation of customs duties) was held at the church in July in the saint's honour (the feast of St Thomas was observed on 3 July) during which, Gregory alleged, water would appear in shallow wells and flies disappeared. According to Joshua
1199-785: A squadron of 250 Mamluks. On 7 January 1802 the previous order was canceled and the squadron reduced to 150 men. The list of effectives on 21 April 1802 reveals three officers and 155 of other rank. By decree of 25 December 1803 the Mamluks were organized into a company attached to the Chasseurs-à-Cheval of the Imperial Guard (see Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard ). Napoleon left with his personal guard in late 1799. His successor in Egypt, General Jean-Baptiste Kléber ,
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#17327724375441308-527: A token force of about 18,000 men as a garrison. The Mamluk army, led by Qutuz, drew the reduced Ilkhanate army into an ambush near the Orontes River , routed them at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, and captured and executed Kitbuqa. After this great triumph, Qutuz was assassinated by conspiring Mamluks. It was widely said that Baibars, who seized power, had been involved in the assassination plot. In
1417-625: Is also called Thomas" . However, various sources confirm that the Abgar who embraced the Christian faith was Abgar IX . Under him Christianity became the official religion of the kingdom. Addai was succeeded by Aggai , then by Saint Mari , who was ordained about 200 by Serapion of Antioch . Thence came to us in the second century the famous Peshitta , or Syriac translation of the Old Testament ; also Tatian 's Diatessaron , which
1526-402: Is attested in Edessa in the 2nd century; the gnostic Bardaisan was a native of the city and a philosopher at its court. From 212 to 214 the kingdom was a Roman province . The Roman emperor Caracalla was assassinated on the road from Edessa to Carrhae (now Harran ) by one of his guards in 217. Edessa became one of the frontier cities of the province of Osroene and lay close to the border of
1635-408: Is not known. However, there is no doubt that even before AD 190 Christianity had spread vigorously within Edessa and its surroundings and that shortly after the royal house joined the church. According to a legend first reported by Eusebius in the fourth century, King Abgar V was converted by Thaddeus of Edessa ( Addai ), who was one of the seventy-two disciples , sent to him by "Judas, who
1744-500: Is owned", meaning " slave ") were non- Arab , ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic , Caucasian , Eastern and Southeastern European ) enslaved mercenaries , slave-soldiers , and freed slaves who were assigned high-ranking military and administrative duties, serving the ruling Arab and Ottoman dynasties in the Muslim world . The most enduring Mamluk realm was the knightly military class in medieval Egypt , which developed from
1853-698: Is probably related to Orhay. The Roman Republic began exercising political influence over the Kingdom of Osroene and its capital Edessa from 69 BC. It became a Roman colonia in 212 or 213, though there continued to be local kings of Osroene until 243 or 248. In Late Antiquity , Edessa was an important city on the Roman – Persian frontier with the Sasanian Empire . It resisted the attack of Shapur I ( r. 240–270 ) in his third invasion of Roman territory. The 260 Battle of Edessa saw Shapur defeat
1962-421: Is the earliest to allege that a painting (or icon ) of Jesus was enclosed with the reply to Abgar and that the city of Edessa was prophesied never to fall. According to this text, Edessenes were early adopters of Christianity; the inhabitants of the neighbouring city of Carrhae ( Harran ), by contrast, were pagans. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , the early 5th-century theologian and bishop Rabbula built
2071-845: The Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt , mamluks were considered to be "true lords" and "true warriors", with social status above the general population in Egypt and the Levant . In a sense, they were like enslaved mercenaries . Daniel Pipes argued that the first indication of the Mamluk military class was rooted in the practice of early Muslims such as Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Uthman ibn Affan who, before Islam, owned many slaves and practiced Mawla (Islamic manumission of slaves). The Zubayrids army under Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr , son of Zubayr, used these freed slave retainers during
2180-665: The Bahri mamluk dynasty . The first Mamluk dynasty was named Bahri after the name of one of the regiments, the Bahriyyah or River Island regiment. Its name referred to their center on Rhoda Island in the Nile . The regiment consisted mainly of Kipchaks and Cumans . When the Mongol Empire 's troops of Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad in 1258 and advanced towards Syria, the Mamluk emir Baibars left Damascus for Cairo . There he
2289-477: The Battle of the Nile decided the issue. On 14 September 1799, General Jean-Baptiste Kléber established a mounted company of Mamluk auxiliaries and Syrian Janissaries from Turkish troops captured at the siege of Acre . Menou reorganized the company on 7 July 1800, forming three companies of 100 men each and renaming it the "Mamluks de la République". In 1801 General Jean Rapp was sent to Marseille to organize
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#17327724375442398-543: The Burji dynasty took over when Barquq was proclaimed sultan. The name "Burji" referred to their center at the citadel of Cairo . Barquq became an enemy of Timur , who threatened to invade Syria. Timur invaded Syria, defeating the Mamluk army, and he sacked Aleppo and captured Damascus. The Ottoman sultan, Bayezid I , then invaded Syria. After Timur's death in 1405, the Mamluk sultan an-Nasir Faraj regained control of Syria. Frequently facing rebellions by local emirs , he
2507-678: The Buyid dynasty used Turkic slaves throughout their empire. The rebel al-Basasiri was a Mamluk who eventually ushered in Seljuq dynastic rule in Baghdad after attempting a failed rebellion. When the later Abbasids regained military control over Iraq, they also relied on the Ghilman as their warriors. Under Saladin and the Ayyubids of Egypt, the power of the Mamluks increased and they claimed
2616-772: The Church of the East . Miaphysitism prospered at Edessa after the Arab conquest. Under the Sassanian emperor Kavad I ( r. 488–531 ), the Sasanids attacked Edessa. According to Joshua the Stylite the shrine outside the walls set up in the 340s was burnt by his troops. Edessa was rebuilt by Justin I ( r. 518–527 ), and renamed Justinopolis after him. The Greek historian Procopius , in his Persian Wars , describes
2725-734: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre as envoys, he threatened Pope Julius II that if he did not check Manuel I of Portugal in his depredations on the Indian Sea, he would destroy all Christian holy places. The rulers of Gujarat in India and Yemen also turned for help to the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. They wanted a fleet to be armed in the Red Sea that could protect their important trading sea routes from Portuguese attacks. Jeddah
2834-517: The Egyptians . The "Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class, was of great political importance; for one thing, it endured for nearly 1,000 years, from the 9th century to the early 19th century. Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly class in various Muslim societies that were controlled by dynastic Arab rulers. Particularly in Egypt and Syria , but also in
2943-725: The Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut . They had earlier fought the western European Christian Crusaders in 1154–1169 and 1213–1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. In 1302 the Mamluk Sultanate formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades. While Mamluks were purchased as property, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In places such as Egypt, from
3052-761: The Ilkhanate sent troops to Edessa in 1260 at which point the town voluntarily submitted to them. The populace of Edessa were thus saved from being massacred by the Mongols. Edessa was also held by the Mamluk Sultanate , and the Aq Qoyunlu . Edessa was subsequently controlled by the Safavid dynasty , and from 1517 to 1918 the Ottoman Empire . Under the Ottomans in 1518, the population of Edessa
3161-897: The Muslims in Spain , who were suffering after the Catholic Reconquista , by threatening the Christians in Syria, but he had little effect in Spain. He died in 1496, several hundred thousand ducats in debt to the great trading families of the Republic of Venice . Vasco da Gama in 1497 sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and pushed his way east across the Indian Ocean to the shores of Malabar and Kozhikode . There he attacked
3270-542: The Ottoman Empire in 1517 after the 1514 Battle of Chaldiran . The earliest name of the city was Admaʾ (red)(also written Adme , Admi , Admum ; Imperial Aramaic : אדמא ), recorded in Assyrian cuneiform in the second millennium BC. It is recorded in Syriac as ܐܕܡܐ Adme. The ancient town was refounded as a Hellenistic military settlement by Seleucus I Nicator in c. 303 BC, and named Edessa after
3379-401: The Ottoman Empire , Levant , Mesopotamia , and India, mamluks held political and military power. In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan , while in others they held regional power as emirs or beys . Most notably, Mamluk factions seized the sultanate centered on Egypt and Syria , and controlled it as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated
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3488-547: The Principality of Antioch . Mu'in ad-Din patrolled the Hauran with his army while Nur ad-Din defeated Antioch at the Battle of Inab that year, in which Prince Raymond was killed. After returning to Damascus in July 1149, Mu'in ad-Din "ate a hearty meal, as was his usual custom, and was seized thereafter by a loosening of the bowels...From this resulted in the disease known as dysentery ..." The emir died on August 28 and
3597-516: The Sasanian Empire . The Battle of Edessa took place between the Roman armies under the command of the emperor Valerian and the Sasanian forces under emperor Shapur I in 260. The Roman army was defeated and captured in its entirety by the Persian forces, including Valerian himself, an event which had never previously happened. The literary language of the tribes that had founded this kingdom
3706-534: The Seleucid Empire disintegrated during wars with Parthia (145–129 BC), Edessa became the capital of the Abgarid dynasty , who founded the kingdom of Osroene (also known as Edessa). This kingdom was established by Arabs from the northern Arabian Peninsula and lasted nearly four centuries (c. 132 BC to A.D. 214), under twenty-eight rulers, who sometimes called themselves "king" on their coinage. Edessa
3815-581: The Seleucid Empire . He named it after an ancient Macedonian capital . The Greek name Ἔδεσσα ( Édessa ) means "tower in the water". It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene , and continued as capital of the Roman province of Osroene . In Late Antiquity , it became a prominent center of Christian learning and seat of the Catechetical School of Edessa . During the Crusades , it
3924-643: The Sennar as a base for their slave trading. In 1820, the sultan of Sennar informed Muhammad Ali that he was unable to comply with a demand to expel the Mamluks. In response, the Pasha sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan, clear it of Mamluks, and reclaim it for Egypt. The Pasha's forces received the submission of the Kashif, dispersed the Dunqulah Mamluks, conquered Kordofan , and accepted Sennar's surrender from
4033-463: The ancient capital of Macedonia , perhaps due to its abundant water, just like its Macedonian namesake. It was later renamed Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe ( Ancient Greek : Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Καλλιρρόης ; Latin : Antiochia ad Callirhoem ) in the 2nd century BC (found on Edessan coins struck by Antiochus IV Epiphanes , r. 175–164 BC). After Antiochus IV's reign, the name of
4142-519: The 11th century. Of its Jacobite bishops, twenty-nine are mentioned by Le Quien (II, 1429 sqq.), many others in the Revue de l'Orient chrétien (VI, 195), some in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft (1899), 261 sqq. Moreover, Nestorian bishops are said to have resided at Edessa as early as the 6th century. The Armenian chronicler Sebeos , bishop of Bagratid Armenia writing in
4251-620: The 660s, gives the earliest narrative accounts of Islam in any language today. Sebeos writes of a Jewish delegation going to an Arab city (possibly Medina ) after the Byzantines conquered Edessa: Twelve peoples [representing] all the tribes of the Jews assembled at the city of Edessa. When they saw that the Iranian troops had departed ... Thus Heraclius, emperor of the Byzantines, gave the order to besiege it. (625) ... So they departed, taking
4360-499: The 870s. It included the systematic training of young slaves in military and martial skills. The Mamluk system is considered to have been a small-scale experiment of al-Muwaffaq , to combine the slaves' efficiency as warriors with improved reliability. This recent interpretation seems to have been accepted. After the fragmentation of the Abbasid Empire, military slaves, known as either Mamluks or Ghilman, were used throughout
4469-514: The Abbasid caliphs, especially al-Muʿtaṣim (833–842). By the end of the 9th century, such slave warriors had become the dominant element in the military. Conflict between the Ghilman and the population of Baghdad prompted the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim to move his capital to the city of Samarra , but this did not succeed in calming tensions. The caliph al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by some of these slave soldiers in 861 (see Anarchy at Samarra ). Since
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4578-505: The Armenian historian Matthew , who had been born at Edessa. In 1144 the city had an Armenian population of 47,000. In 1146, the city was briefly recaptured by the crusaders and lost after a few days. In the words of Steven Runciman , "the whole Christian population was driven into exile [and t]he great city, which claimed to be the oldest Christian commonwealth in the world, was left empty and desolate, and has never recovered to this day." The Ayyubid Sultanate 's leader Saladin acquired
4687-523: The Christian chronicler William of Tyre also speaks very highly of Mu'in ad-Din: he showed "sincere fidelity" in his negotiations with the Kingdom of Jerusalem , and was "a man of much wisdom and a lover of our people." William of Tyre rendered his names in Latin as Meheneddin for Mu'in ad-Din and Anardus for Unur. Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk ( / ˈ m æ m l uː k / ; Arabic : مملوك , romanized : mamlūk (singular), مماليك , mamālīk (plural); translated as "one who
4796-446: The Christian youth of Persia, and closely watched by Rabbula , the friend of Cyril of Alexandria , on account of its Nestorian tendencies, reached its highest development under bishop Ibas , famous through the Three-Chapter Controversy , was temporarily closed in 457, and finally in 489, by command of Emperor Zeno and Bishop Cyrus, when the teachers and students of the School of Edessa repaired to Nisibis and became chief writers of
4905-420: The Egyptian sultan as-Salih Ayyub died, the power passed briefly to his son al-Muazzam Turanshah and then his favorite wife Shajar al-Durr , a Turk according to most historians, while others say she was an Armenian . She took control with Mamluk support and launched a counterattack against the French. Troops of the Bahri commander Baibars defeated Louis's troops. The king delayed his retreat too long and
5014-439: The Ilkhanids and their Christian allies at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299. Soon after that the Mamluks defeated the Ilkhanate again in 1303/1304 and 1312. Finally, the Ilkhanids and the Mamluks signed a treaty of peace in 1323. By the late fourteenth century, the majority of the Mamluk ranks were made up of Circassians from the North Caucasus region, whose young males had been frequently captured for slavery. In 1382
5123-434: The Islamic world as the basis of military power. The Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171) of Egypt had forcibly taken adolescent male Armenians, Turks , Sudanese, and Copts from their families to be trained as slave soldiers. They formed the bulk of their military, and the rulers selected prized slaves to serve in their administration. The powerful vizier Badr al-Jamali , for example, was a Mamluk from Armenia . In Iran and Iraq,
5232-430: The Mamluks defeated the Turkish forces in several clashes. in June the rival parties concluded an agreement by which Muhammad Ali , (appointed as governor of Egypt on 26 March 1806), was to be removed and authority returned to the Mamluks. However, they were again unable to capitalize on this opportunity due to discord between factions. Muhammad Ali retained his authority. Muhammad Ali knew that he would have to deal with
5341-427: The Mamluks if he wanted to control Egypt. They were still the feudal owners of Egypt and their land was still the source of wealth and power. However, the economic strain of sustaining the military manpower necessary to defend the Mamluks's system from the Europeans and Turks would eventually weaken them to the point of collapse. On 1 March 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all of the leading Mamluks to his palace to celebrate
5450-420: The Mamluks, who acted semi-autonomously as regional atabegs . The Mamluks increasingly became involved in the internal court politics of the kingdom itself as various factions used them as allies. In June 1249, the Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France landed in Egypt and took Damietta . After the Egyptian troops retreated at first, the sultan had more than 50 commanders hanged as deserters . When
5559-435: The Ottoman Empire, which captured Constantinople later that year, causing great rejoicings in Muslim Egypt. However, under the reign of Khushqadam , Egypt began a struggle with the Ottoman sultanate. In 1467, sultan Qaitbay offended the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II , whose brother was poisoned. Bayezid II seized Adana , Tarsus and other places within Egyptian territory, but was eventually defeated. Qaitbay also tried to help
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#17327724375445668-499: The Ottomans. Mameluk Egyptian sultan Al-Ghawri was charged by Selim I with giving the Persian envoys passage through Syria on their way to Venice and harboring refugees. To appease him, Al-Ghawri placed in confinement the Venetian merchants then in Syria and Egypt, but after a year released them. After the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, Selim attacked the bey of Dulkadirids , as Egypt's vassal had stood aloof, and sent his head to Al-Ghawri. Now secure against Persia, in 1516 he formed
5777-445: The Ottomans. However, the Ottomans crushed the movement and retained their position after his defeat. By this time new slave recruits were introduced from Georgia in the Caucasus. In 1798, the ruling Directory of the Republic of France authorised a campaign in "The Orient" to protect French trade interests and undermine Britain's access to India. To this end, Napoleon Bonaparte led an Armée d'Orient to Egypt. The French defeated
5886-500: The Portuguese viceroy's son Lourenço de Almeida . But, in the following year, the Portuguese won the Battle of Diu and wrested the port city of Diu from the Gujarat Sultanate . Some years after, Afonso de Albuquerque attacked Aden , and Egyptian troops suffered disaster from the Portuguese in Yemen. Al-Ghawri fitted out a new fleet to punish the enemy and protect the Indian trade. Before it could exert much power, Egypt had lost its sovereignty. The Ottoman Empire took over Egypt and
5995-407: The Red Sea, together with Mecca and all its Arabian interests. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II was engaged in warfare in southern Europe when a new era of hostility with Egypt began in 1501. It arose out of the relations with the Safavid dynasty in Persia . Shah Ismail I sent an embassy to the Republic of Venice via Syria, inviting Venice to ally with Persia and recover its territory taken by
6104-442: The Roman emperor Valerian ( r. 253–260 ) and capture him alive, an unprecedented disaster for the Roman state. The Late Antique Laterculus Veronensis names Edessa as the capital of the Roman province of Osroene . The Roman soldier and Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus described the city's formidable fortifications and how in 359 it successfully resisted the attack of Shapur II ( r. 309–379 ). The city
6213-422: The Romans, the Armenians, the Seljuq dynasty (1087), an Armenian named Thoros who gained independence from the Turks (1094), and the Crusaders (1098), who established there the County of Edessa and kept the city until 1144, when it was again captured by Imad ad-Din Zengi , and most of its inhabitants were allegedly slaughtered together with the Latin archbishop. These events are known to us chiefly through
6322-400: The Stylite , a shrine to some martyred saints was built outside the city walls in 346 or 347. A more elaborate version of the Abgar Legend is recorded in the early 5th-century Syriac Doctrine of Addai , purportedly based on the state archives of Edessa, and including both a pseudepigraphal letter from Abgar V to Tiberius ( r. 14–37 ) and the emperor's supposed reply. This text
6431-442: The Sultan to allow them to negotiate for a cease-fire, and a return to their homeland Georgia. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople refused however to intervene, because of nationalist unrest in Georgia that might have been encouraged by a Mamluk return. In 1805, the population of Cairo rebelled. This provided a chance for the Mamluks to seize power, but internal friction prevented them from exploiting this opportunity. In 1806,
6540-399: The army of Aleppo, and the crusaders were forced to withdraw ; both Bosra and Sarkhad then surrendered to Mu'in ad-Din. In August 1147 Mu'in ad-Din was formally recognized as governor of Damascus by the Caliph of Baghdad Al-Muqtafi and the Seljuk Sultan Mas'ud , and he was also recognized formally by the Fatimid Caliph in Egypt , al-Hafiz . In 1148, news reached Damascus of
6649-404: The barracks of the Citadel of Cairo . Because of their isolated social status (no social ties or political affiliations) and their austere military training, they were trusted to be loyal to their rulers. When their training was completed, they were discharged, but remained attached to the patron who had purchased them. Mamluks relied on the help of their patron for career advancement, and likewise
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#17327724375446758-421: The city are likely derived from Urhay or Orhay ( Classical Syriac : ܐܘܪܗܝ , romanized: ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy ), the site's Syriac name before the re-foundation of the settlement by Seleucus I Nicator . After the defeat of the Seleucids in the Seleucid–Parthian Wars , Edessa became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene, with a mixed Syriac and Hellenistic culture. The origin of the name of Osroene itself
6867-449: The city may have been derived from the Persian name Khosrow . It was re-named Justinopolis during the Byzantine period in the early 6th century. According to some Jewish and Muslim traditions, it is the location of Ur of the Chaldees , the birthplace of Abraham . Edessa was situated on a ridge in the middle of a ring of hills surrounded by a fertile plain, and was therefore considered to be favourably situated. The ridge in turn
6976-510: The city reverted to Edessa, in Greek, and also appears in Armenian as Urha or Ourha ( Ուռհա ), in Aramaic ( Syriac ) as Urhay or Orhay ( Classical Syriac : ܐܘܪܗܝ , romanized: ʾŪrhāy / ʾŌrhāy ), in local Neo-Aramaic ( Turoyo ) as Urhoy , in Arabic as ar-Ruhā ( الرُّهَا ), in the Kurdish languages as Riha , Latinized as Rohais , and finally adopted into Turkish as Urfa or Şanlıurfa ("Glorious Urfa"), its present name. This originally Aramaic and Syriac name for
7085-478: The city was devastated by a great flood, and the Christian church was destroyed. In 232 the relics of the apostle Thomas were brought from Mylapore , India , on which occasion his Syriac Acts were written. Under Roman domination many martyrs suffered at Edessa: Sharbel and Barsamya , under Decius ; Sts. Gûrja, Shâmôna, Habib, and others under Diocletian . In the meanwhile Christian priests from Edessa had evangelized Eastern Mesopotamia and Persia, and established
7194-415: The city was lost by the Romans again in 638, to the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant . It did not return to the Romans' control until the Byzantine Empire temporarily recovered the city in the mid-10th century after a number of failed attempts. The Byzantine Empire regained control in 1031, though it did not remain under their rule long and changed hands several times before
7303-474: The declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamluks paraded for this purpose in Cairo . Muhammad Ali's forces killed almost all of these near the Al-Azab gates in a narrow road down from Mukatam Hill. This ambush came to be known as the Massacre of the Citadel . According to contemporary reports, only one Mamluk, whose name is given variously as Amim (also Amyn), or Heshjukur (a Besleney ), survived when he forced his horse to leap from
7412-404: The early 21st century, historians have suggested that there was a distinction between the Mamluk system and the (earlier) Ghilman system, in Samarra , which did not have specialized training and was based on pre-existing Central Asian hierarchies. Adult slaves and freemen both served as warriors in the Ghilman system. The Mamluk system developed later, after the return of the caliphate to Baghdad in
7521-451: The end of the Diocletianic Persecution and the 313 Letter of Licinius , which ended the general persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. The cathedral church was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom . Around 23 different monasteries and churches are known to have existed in the city, with at least as many again just outside town; these attracted many pilgrims. Eusebius of Caesarea even claimed in his Church History that "the whole city"
7630-473: The end of the century. The County of Edessa, one of the Crusader states set up after the success of the First Crusade , was centred on the city, the crusaders having seized the city from the Seljuks . The county survived until the 1144 Siege of Edessa , in which Imad al-Din Zengi , founder of the Zengid dynasty , captured the city and, according to Matthew of Edessa , killed many of the Edessenes. The Turkic Zengid dynasty 's lands were eventually absorbed by
7739-507: The fact that they were deployed for fighting in wars on behalf of several Islamic kingdoms as slave-soldiers. By 1200, Saladin 's brother al-ʿĀdil succeeded in securing control over the whole empire by defeating and killing or imprisoning his brothers and nephews in turn. With each victory, al-ʿĀdil incorporated the defeated Mamluk retinue into his own. This process was repeated at al-ʿĀdil's death in 1218, and at his son al-Kāmil 's death in 1238. The Ayyubids became increasingly surrounded by
7848-506: The first Churches in the Sasanian Empire. Atillâtiâ, Bishop of Edessa, assisted at the First Council of Nicaea (325). The Peregrinatio Silviae (or Etheriae) gives an account of the many sanctuaries at Edessa about 388. As metropolis of Osroene, Edessa had eleven suffragan sees . Michel Le Quien mentions thirty-five bishops of Edessa, but his list is incomplete. The Eastern Orthodox episcopate seems to have disappeared after
7957-512: The fleets that carried freight and Muslim pilgrims from India to the Red Sea , and struck terror into the potentates all around. Various engagements took place. Cairo's Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri was affronted at the attacks around the Red Sea, the loss of tolls and traffic, the indignities to which Mecca and its port were subjected, and above all for losing one of his ships. He vowed vengeance upon Portugal, first sending monks from
8066-766: The following centuries, the Mamluks ruled discontinuously, with an average span of seven years. The Mamluks defeated the Ilkhanids a second time in the First Battle of Homs and began to drive them back east. In the process they consolidated their power over Syria, fortified the area, and formed mail routes and diplomatic connections among the local princes. Baibars' troops attacked Acre in 1263, captured Caesarea in 1265, and took Antioch in 1268. Mamluks also defeated new Ilkhanate attacks in Syria in 1271 and 1281 (the Second Battle of Homs ). They were defeated by
8175-554: The inscription of the Letter of Jesus 's text on the city gates of Edessa, which he stated made the defences impregnable. An unsuccessful Sasanian siege occurred in 544. The city was taken in 609 by the Sasanian Empire, and retaken by Heraclius , but lost to the Muslim army under the Rashidun Caliphate during the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 638. The precise date of the introduction of Christianity into Edessa
8284-578: The largest number of mamluks, but lesser amirs also owned their own troops. Many Mamluks were appointed or promoted to high positions throughout the empire, including army command. At first their status was non-hereditary. Sons of Mamluks were prevented from following their father's role in life. However, over time, in places such as Egypt, the Mamluk forces became linked to existing power structures and gained significant amounts of influence on those powers. In Egypt, studies have shown that mamluks from Georgia retained their native language , were aware of
8393-401: The last Funj sultan, Badi VII . According to Eric Chaney and Lisa Blades, the reliance on mamluks by Muslim rulers had a profound impact on the Arab world's political development. They argue that, because European rulers had to rely on local elites for military forces, lords and bourgeois acquired the necessary bargaining power to push for representative government. Muslim rulers did not face
8502-1054: The opportunity to besiege Baalbek; the governor, Najm ad-Din Ayyub , father of Saladin , quickly surrendered to him. Mu'in ad-Din also asserted control over Homs and Hama , and sent Yarankash , the assassin of Zengi, to Nur ad-Din, after Yarankash sought refuge in Damascus. Mu'in ad-Din was always suspicious of Nur ad-Din's power, but it was his policy to remain on friendly terms with his neighbours wherever possible, whether they were Christian or Muslim. In 1147 Nur ad-Din and Mu'in ad-Din negotiated an alliance, in which Nur ad-Din married Mu'in ad-Din's daughter Ismat ad-Din Khatun . Having established peace with Aleppo, Mu'in ad-Din set out to besiege Salkhad and Bosra , after their governor, Altuntash, allied with Jerusalem against him. This broke Jerusalem's treaty with Damascus, forcing Mu'in ad-Din to turn to Nur ad-Din for assistance. Nur ad-Din arrived with
8611-492: The patron's reputation and power depended on his recruits. A Mamluk was "bound by a strong esprit de corps to his peers in the same household". Mamluks lived within their garrisons and mainly spent their time with each other. Their entertainments included sporting events such as archery competitions and presentations of mounted combat skills at least once a week. The intensive and rigorous training of each new recruit helped ensure continuity of Mamluk practices. Sultans owned
8720-519: The politics of the Caucasus region , and received frequent visits from their parents or other relatives. In addition, they sent gifts to family members or gave money to build useful structures (a defensive tower, or even a church) in their native villages. The practice of recruiting slaves as soldiers in the Muslim world and turning them into Mamluks began in Baghdad during the 9th century CE, and
8829-522: The ranks of slave-soldiers . Originally the Mamluks were slaves of Turkic origins from the Eurasian Steppe , but the institution of military slavery spread to include Circassians , Abkhazians , Georgians , Armenians , Russians , and Hungarians , as well as peoples from the Balkans such as Albanians , Greeks , and South Slavs ( see Saqaliba ). They also recruited from
8938-469: The road through the desert to Tachkastan to the sons of Ishmael. [The Jews] called [the Arabs] to their aid and familiarized them with the relationship they had through the books of the [Old] Testament. Although [the Arabs] were convinced of their close relationship, they were unable to get a consensus from their multitude, for they were divided from each other by religion. In that period a certain one of them,
9047-665: The same pressures partly because the Mamluks allowed the Sultans to bypass local elites. Edessa, Mesopotamia Edessa ( / ə ˈ d ɛ s ə / ; Ancient Greek : Ἔδεσσα , romanized : Édessa ) was an ancient city ( polis ) in Upper Mesopotamia , in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey . It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator ( r. 305–281 BC ), founder of
9156-515: The second civil war. Meanwhile, historians agree that the massive implementation of a slave military class such as the Mamluks appears to have developed in Islamic societies beginning with the 9th-century Abbasid Caliphate based in Baghdad , under the Abbasid caliph al-Muʿtaṣim . Until the 1990s, it was widely believed that the earliest Mamluks were known as Ghilman or Ghulam (another broadly synonymous term for slaves) and were bought by
9265-454: The sons of Abraham, and God shall fulfill the promise made to Abraham and his son on you. Only love the God of Abraham, and go and take the country which God gave to your father, Abraham. No one can successfully resist you in war, since God is with you. Muslim tradition tells of a similar account, known as the second pledge at al-Aqabah . Sebeos' account suggests that Muhammad was actually leading
9374-606: The sultanate in 1250, ruling as the Mamluk Sultanate . Throughout the Islamic world, rulers continued to use enslaved warriors until the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire 's devşirme , or "gathering" of young slaves for the Janissaries , lasted until the 17th century. Regimes based on Mamluk power thrived in such Ottoman provinces as the Levant and Egypt until the 19th century. Under the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, Mamluks were purchased while still young males. They were raised in
9483-526: The three emirs besieged the castle of Araima in the County of Tripoli , but Mu'in ad-Din was forced to acknowledge Nur ad-Din as his overlord . In 1149, Mu'in ad-Din led raids against crusader territory, in response to their raids against the territory of Damascus which they continued to make after the failure of their siege. He agreed to a two-year truce with King Baldwin III , and then joined Nur ad-Din against
9592-621: The town from the Zengids in 1182. During Ayyubid rule, Edessa had a population of approximately 24,000. The Sultanate of Rûm took Edessa in June 1234, but sometime in late 1234 or 1235, the Ayyubid sultan Al-Kamil re-acquired it. After Edessa had been recaptured, Al-Kamil ordered the destruction of its Citadel. Not long after, the Mongols had made their presence known in Edessa in 1244. Later,
9701-408: The walls of the citadel. During the following week an estimated 3,000 Mamluks and their relatives were killed throughout Egypt, by Muhammad's regular troops. In the citadel of Cairo alone more than 1,000 Mamluks died. Despite Muhammad Ali's destruction of the Mamluks in Egypt, a party of them escaped and fled south into what is now Sudan . In 1811, these Mamluks established a state at Dunqulah in
9810-476: Was Aramaic , from which Syriac developed. Traces of Hellenistic culture were soon overwhelmed in Edessa, which employed Syriac legends on coinage, with the exception of the client king Abgar IX (179–214), and there is a corresponding lack of Greek public inscriptions. According to the Chronicle of Edessa , a Syriac chronicle written after 540, the cathedral church of Edessa was founded immediately after
9919-703: Was assassinated in Damascus; Jamal ad-Din , emir of Baalbek , was chosen as his successor, and Mu'in ad-Din was chosen to govern Baalbek in his absence. He was in charge of the defenses of Baalbek when Zengi arrived to avenge the murder of his stepson. Zengi besieged it with 14 catapults and the city surrendered to him. In 1140, Jamal ad-Din died, and Mu'in ad-Din continued to rule as regent for Jamal ad-Din's son Mujir ad-Din Abaq . That year, Mu'in ad-Din besieged Banias with help from King Fulk of Jerusalem and Prince Raymond of Antioch ; Mu'in ad-Din offered 20,000 pieces of gold per month to pay for their expenses. When it
10028-509: Was "devoted to the name of Christ" in the early 4th century; in fact the city had at least some pagan inhabitants into the early 5th century, as well as Jewish ones. Eusebius also claimed to quote the Letter of Abgar to Jesus and the Letter of Jesus to Abgar in the state archives of Edessa, foundational texts of the Abgar Legend . Egeria , a high-status Roman lady and author, visited Edessa in 384 on her way to Jerusalem ; she saw
10137-689: Was a centre of Greek and Syriac theological and philosophical thought, hosting the famed School of Edessa . Edessa remained in Roman hands until its capture by the Persians during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , an event recorded by the Greek Chronicon Paschale as occurring in 609. Roman control was restored by the 627 and 628 victories of Heraclius ( r. 610–641 ) in the Byzantine–Sasanian War, but
10246-641: Was an extension of Mount Masius , part of the Taurus Mountains of southern Asia Minor . The city was located at a crossroads; the east–west highway from Zeugma on the Euphrates to the Tigris , and the north–south route from Samosata (modern-day Samsat ) to the Euphrates via Carrhae (modern-day Harran) met at the ridge where Edessa was located. In the second half of the second century BC, as
10355-663: Was assassinated on 14 June 1800. Command of the Army in Egypt fell to Jacques-François Menou . Isolated and out of supplies, Menou surrendered to the British in 1801. After the departure of French troops in 1801 the Mamluks continued their struggle for independence; this time against the Ottoman Empire. In 1803, Mamluk leaders Ibrahim Bey and Osman Bey al-Bardisi wrote to the Russian consul-general, asking him to mediate with
10464-655: Was at first more or less under the protectorate of the Parthians , then of Tigranes of Armenia , Edessa was Armenian Mesopotamia 's capital city, then from the time of Pompey under the Roman Empire . Following its capture and sack by Trajan , the Romans even occupied Edessa from 116 to 118, although its sympathies towards the Parthians led to Lucius Verus pillaging the city later in the 2nd century. Christianity
10573-476: Was buried in the university he had established in the city. As he had been acting as regent for Mujir ad-Din Abaq , the latter took his place as the rightful heir of Damascus. Mujir ad-Din was a weak ruler, however, and by 1154 Nur ad-Din was fully in control of the city and all of Syria . Mu'in ad-Din had three daughters, who married Nur ad-Din, Mujir ad-Din, and a soldier named Margar respectively. In addition to Ibn al-Qalanisi's favourable depiction of him,
10682-526: Was captured by the Mamluks in March 1250. He agreed to pay a ransom of 400,000 livres tournois to gain release (150,000 livres were never paid). Because of political pressure for a male leader, Shajar married the Mamluk commander, Aybak . He was assassinated in his bath. In the ensuing power struggle, viceregent Qutuz , also a Mamluk, took over. He formally founded the Mamluke Sultanate and
10791-590: Was captured, Mu'in ad-Din handed it over to Fulk and returned to Damascus. A more thorough alliance, to protect Damascus against Zengi, was negotiated during a visit by Mu'in ad-Din to Jerusalem , accompanied by the future chronicler Usamah ibn Munqidh . King Fulk died in 1143, and Zengi was assassinated in 1146. Zengi was succeeded by his sons Saif ad-Din Ghazi I in Mosul and Nur ad-Din in Aleppo, and Mu'in ad-Din took
10900-634: Was certainly at Edessa in 544, and of which there is an ancient copy in the Vatican Library , was looted and brought to the West by the Republic of Venice in 1207 following the Fourth Crusade . The city was ruled shortly thereafter by Marwanids . In 1031 Edessa was given up to the Byzantines under George Maniakes by its Arab governor. It was retaken by the Arabs, and then successively held by
11009-482: Was compiled about 172 and in common use until Rabbula , Bishop of Edessa (412–435), forbade its use. Among the illustrious disciples of the School of Edessa, Bardaisan (154–222), a schoolfellow of Abgar IX, deserves special mention for his role in creating Christian religious poetry, and whose teaching was continued by his son Harmonius and his disciples. A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197. In 201
11118-578: Was forced to abdicate in 1412. In 1421, Egypt was attacked by the Kingdom of Cyprus , but the Egyptians forced the Cypriotes to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Egyptian sultan Barsbay . During Barsbay's reign, Egypt's population became greatly reduced from what it had been a few centuries before; it had one-fifth the number of towns. Al-Ashraf came to power in 1453. He had friendly relations with
11227-449: Was never seen in any other, never wearying in repelling them nor taking respite from the struggle against them." Mu'in ad-Din reluctantly sent for help from Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din Ghazi, whose power he did not wish to see extend as far south as Damascus, and the crusaders besieged the city for only four days before withdrawing. It is possible that Mu'in ad-Din had bribed the crusaders to leave before Nur ad-Din arrived. After this success,
11336-600: Was seen as deliverance from the Mameluks. The Mamluk Sultanate survived in Egypt until 1517, when Selim captured Cairo on 20 January. Although not in the same form as under the Sultanate, the Ottoman Empire retained the Mamluks as an Egyptian ruling class and the Mamluks and the Burji family succeeded in regaining much of their influence, but as vassals of the Ottomans. In 1768, Ali Bey Al-Kabir declared independence from
11445-406: Was soon fortified as a harbor of refuge so Arabia and the Red Sea were protected. But the fleets in the Indian Ocean were still at the mercy of the enemy. The last Mamluk sultan, Al-Ghawri, fitted out a fleet of 50 vessels. As Mamluks had little expertise in naval warfare, he sought help from the Ottomans to develop this naval enterprise. In 1508 at the Battle of Chaul , the Mamluk fleet defeated
11554-596: Was started by the Abbasid caliph al-Muʿtaṣim . From the 900s through the 1200s, medieval Egypt was controlled by dynastic foreign rulers, notably the Ikhshidids , Fatimids , and Ayyubids . Throughout these dynasties, thousands of Mamluk slave-soldiers and guards continued to be used and even took high offices. This increasing level of influence among the Mamluks worried the Ayyubids in particular. Eventually,
11663-436: Was still governor of Homs when the city was briefly besieged again by Zengi. In 1138, Shihab ad-Din appointed Mu'in ad-Din atabeg of Damascus and gave him the title Isfahsalar . Later in 1138, Zengi negotiated a marriage between himself and Shihab ad-Din's mother Khatun Safwat al-Mulk, and as part of the settlement Zengi received Homs. Mu'in ad-Din was given the castle of Barin in place of Homs. On June 22, 1139, Shihab ad-Din
11772-652: Was the capital of the County of Edessa . The city was situated on the banks of the Daysan River ( Ancient Greek : Σκίρτος ; Latin : Scirtus ; Turkish : Kara Koyun ), a tributary of the Khabur , and was defended by Şanlıurfa Castle , the high central citadel. Ancient Edessa is the predecessor of modern Urfa ( Turkish : Şanlıurfa ; Kurdish : Riha ; Arabic : الرُّهَا , romanized : ar-Ruhā ; Armenian : Ուռհա , romanized : Urha ), in Şanlıurfa Province , Turkey . Modern names of
11881-537: Was welcomed by Sultan Qutuz . After taking Damascus, Hulagu demanded that Qutuz surrender Egypt. Qutuz had Hulagu's envoys killed and, with Baibars' help, mobilized his troops. When Möngke Khan died in action against the Southern Song , Hulagu pulled the majority of his forces out of Syria to attend the kurultai (funeral ceremony). He left his lieutenant, the Christian Kitbuqa , in charge with
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