From Slave To Sultan

Spanning the greater part of the thirteenth century, the career of the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Mansur Qalawun, is of great interest for the light it sheds on the major themes of early Mamluk history: the emergence of a new political and administrative structure, characterized by increased militarization and mamlukization; the role of the caliphate and the nature of sultani authority; the problem of succession; Mamluk factionalism; Egyptian-Syrian relations; relations with Mongols and Crusaders; and the importance, not to mention the strategic and complex nature, of international trade in the Mamluk realm. Not only does this work fill a gap in knowledge of the early Mamluk period, complementing the studies we have of Baybars's and al-Nasir Muhammad's reigns, but it goes further than most in analyzing the institutions of the period, and uses hitherto neglected materials to illuminate theoretical and practical questions of Mamluk rule. With indices. "From Slave to Sultan is well written. The analysis is dense and packed with scholarship; it is one of those books of which specialists will devour the notes with even greater relish than they do the text... Graduate students in particular will be grateful for her first chapter, in which she introduces, describes, and evaluates the various sources." MESA Bulletin "This book a will unquestionably stand as the authoritative work on Qalawun for some time to come." School of Oriental & African Studies "Northrup is to be commended for undertaking this important, and much needed, project with her persistent efforts, meticulous and critical reading of the sources, sound methodology, and diligent presentation. The result is a definitive work on the political legacy of one of the most eminent early Mamluk sultans." Journal of Near Eastern Studies . (Franz Steiner 1998)

Roukn al-Din Baybars was born in 1223 in a Turkish tribe Kipchak installed in the Ukrainian Plains. He was captured by Mongolians horsemen and sold to a Russian slave trafficker who takes him to the city of La Tana, Venetian traderpost installed on the edge of the Don River. There, he is bought at the slave market by a Venetian merchant who takes him in Syria, in the town of Sivas, where he is sold to the emir of Aleppo. He is incorporated in a school for young slaves. At the end of his training, he joined the guard of the emir. One day, he is spotted by the Sultan As-Salih Ayyub and buys him to the Emir of Aleppo. He then joined the guard Mamluk of the Sultan and moved to Cairo. In 1242, the Mongolians leave in the countryside for conquest the Middle East. In 1244, the Khwarezmians Turks take Jerusalem. The Pope called for a new crusade. The King of France, Louis IX, landed on the Egyptian coast and took the town of Damietta. On 20 November, the crusaders marched to Cairo. The two armies fight at Fariskour, near Mansoura. The Crusaders were defeated and the King of France is captured. The Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub was dead 23 November 1249. His wife, Chaddar ad-Dour, ensures the Regency. Once the Christian danger is distant, Turan Shah, son of as-Salih, is murdered. But a woman cannot rule in Muslim countries. To work around this situation, Chaddar ad-Dour married the emir Aybak and named him as Sultan. Aybak, by her depraved and violent conduct, becomes a problem. Chaddar ad-Dour assassinates him before suffering the same fate. The emirs are the most powerful of them, Kutuz, designate as Sultan in November 12, 1259. In autumn 1259, Hulegu, the khan of Central Asia resumed the offensive. In six months, the Syria is conquered. The way Egypt is free. But in the summer 1259 the great khan Mongka died. Hulegu leaves for the Mongolia. He leaves Kitbuga in command of his army. This one continued the offensive. In September 3, 1260, the two armies fight at Ain Jalut. Kitbuga was killed and the Mongolians flee. The Sultan Kutuz promised Aleppo to Baibars, hoping that he would be killed during the confrontation. After the battle, he gave the post to one of his followers. Baybars decided to kill him. In October 22, 1260, during a hunting party, he hands him an ambush and he give hom the first blow. His comrades finishe him. The present emirs proclaim Baybars as Sultan. He went immediately to Cairo, acclaimed by the people. During his years of reign, he leads a merciless combat to his enemies, Christians, Turks, Mongolian. He will make of Egypt and Syria, an Empire. The Empire of the Crowned Slaves which will reign on the Middle East until 1520. Baibars died aged 56 after 17 years of reign.

The Misses Jane Carmichael and Helen Hamilton are secretly confined in the Imperial Harem of the cruel Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the tyrannical and brutally cruel Sultan of Turkey, known in Europe as Abdul the Damned but in the Moslem world as the Caliph, the Padishah and the Shadow of Allah on Earth.

The "fascinating . . . lively" story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire (New York Times). In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly held the reins of power. Until now Roxelana has been seen as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, Peirce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

In the Ottoman Empire, many members of the ruling elite were legally slaves of the sultan and therefore could, technically, be ordered to surrender their labor, their property, or their lives at any moment. Nevertheless, slavery provided a means of social mobility, conferring status and political power within the military, the bureaucracy, or the domestic household and formed an essential part of patronage networks. Ehud R. Toledano’s exploration of slavery from the Ottoman viewpoint is based on extensive research in British, French, and Turkish archives and offers rich, original, and important insights into Ottoman life and thought. In an attempt to humanize the narrative and take it beyond the plane of numbers, tables and charts, Toledano examines the situations of individuals representing the principal realms of Ottoman slavery, female harem slaves, the sultan’s military and civilian kuls, court and elite eunuchs, domestic slaves, Circassian agricaultural slaves, slave dealers, and slave owners. Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East makes available new and significantly revised studies on nineteenth-century Middle Eastern slavery and suggests general approaches to the study of slavery in different cultures.

Reproduction of the original: The Circassian Slave by Lieutenant Maturiene Murray

A dramatic account of the slave trade in the early 19th century Indian Ocean is presented through the stories of the Omani Sultan Said and his daughter, Princess Salme, offering insight into the Arabian Peninsula kingdom's lucrative growth and ties to America.