Reply #71: on the same page of the hymnal, like it was some sort of magic [View All]

[jmcgowanjm]

Anchoring the North Caucasus:
The symbol of Western Ukraine


on the Southern end:
1260-62 Regent Dowager Princess Turhan Hatun of Banu-Salgar (Iran)


Zenith of the Mamelukes
The secret of the Mameluke success was that it was not
a hereditary dynasty. Nor could it be, really. According to
Islamic law, slaves became free men when they converted
to Islam, and the children of slaves could not inherit slave
status. The Mameluke leaders imported and hand-trained
their successors from Russia--usually Kipchaks or
Circassians. Sons of Mamelukes were encouraged to
pursue military careers, and enjoyed a higher social
standing than native Egyptians, but they spoke Arabic rather
than Turkish as a first language and were Moslems from
birth; consequently, they were not expected to be as capable
or zealous as the newly civilized/converted. A few times
a sultan's son managed to succeed his father, but he only
held the throne until another Mameluke built up enough
support to seize it for himself. The real principle of
legitimacy was force, and a sultan could only expect to rule if
he possessed more military force than his rivals. The
average reign lasted only five years, and at one point (1412)
the situation became so chaotic that an Abbasid caliph
was briefly installed as sultan.(I think I like these
guys)

http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/neareast/ne12.html#Mameluke3