Mamluk sultan Baibars codifies military slave system

1268

The Mamluk sultan formalized the system of purchasing young Turkic and Circassian slaves, converting them to Islam, and training them as elite cavalry in Cairo's citadel. The paradox of a state ruled by slaves who were also its best soldiers would sustain Egypt and Syria for three more centuries. Each new generation of mamluks was imported afresh, preventing the formation of hereditary dynasties and keeping the military perpetually renewed.