When the Mamluks reached their height of influence and power, they...
Abdullah@AvdullahYousef
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Jul 31, 2024
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When the Mamluks reached their height of influence and power, they used the geopolitical chaos of their time to take power and rule as sovereigns themselves for hundreds of years. When their Ottoman equivalent (the Janissaries) reached that same position, funnily enough, they decided to stay right where they were instead of try anything close, settling instead for revolting within the Ottoman system to replace the Sultan or his officials whenever they didn’t get what they wanted of money or authority.
Here’s another difference: the Mamluks by the point of their coup were a somewhat homogeneous confederation of Turkic tribes, almost all of whom could invoke similar cultural customs and a shared vision of what hierarchy and power meant. The Janissaries, on the other hand, were a hodgepodge of varying Balkan ethnicities who had no shared cultural background, tossed instead into an Ottoman pool made specifically for them.
Here’s another difference: the Mamluks by the point of their coup were a somewhat homogeneous confederation of Turkic tribes, almost all of whom could invoke similar cultural customs and a shared vision of what hierarchy and power meant. The Janissaries, on the other hand, were a hodgepodge of varying Balkan ethnicities who had no shared cultural background, tossed instead into an Ottoman pool made specifically for them.