mamluks
mamluks
mamluks are fearless light horsemen, deadly when deployed against a broken or unsupported enemy. mounted on tireless light horses and armed with scimitars, they are commonly employed to harass an enemy force, restricting its space to manoeuvre easily. once battle is fully joined, they will often time their charges to coincide with those of a supporting infanry unit, seeking to break the enemy quickly then wreaking haoc amongst them as they flee. mamluks were traditionally slve soldiers of the various caliphs and sultans of the middle ages, captured as children and raised in the islamic faith to provide their master with a force of men unconnected to any other part of the hierarchy. over time, the mamluks accrued power of their own and even went as far as seizing conrol of egypt; they founded a mamluk sultanate in 1250. though the mamluks’ strength enabled the sultanate to repel several invasions by christian crusaders and mongols, it was eventually overpowered by the ottoman empire in 1517. the mamluks so came into the service of the sublime porte.
在中世纪时期，许多突厥少年被贩子抓到并贩卖到中东地区的苏丹和哈里发手中，改宗为伊斯兰教。在十几年艰苦的训练之后，他们被编入军队。这时他们已经不再是，而是苏丹或哈里发手下的亲兵马木鲁克。马木鲁克因为没有任何政治背景而受到哈里发们的青睐。由于身份低微，马木鲁克对哈里发/苏丹个人高度忠诚，但忠诚终究会随着时间的流逝而变质。埃及阿尤布苏丹对马木鲁克过于依赖终于导致马木鲁克于1250年推翻阿尤布王朝。尽管在其极盛时期，马木鲁克王朝抵挡了十字军和蒙古的多次进攻，但1517年奥斯曼帝国最终吞并了马木鲁克埃及。之后，马木鲁克转而效忠于奥斯曼土耳其。
