![]() When the time for succession comes it is in practice the will of these powerful men that determines which amir will become the next sultan. ![]() The amirs in turn put their household to use in the service of the sultans. These slaves are then trained as soldiers or stewards, who all swear allegiance to their buyer, or 'foster-father'. The Mamluk amirs reproduce their ranks by purchasing new mamluks, foreign slaves mostly of Circassian origin. ![]() Even the Christian empire of Ethiopia must be attentive to the word of the Mamluk Sultan, as the Coptic pope, the ordainer of all Ethiopian bishops, is under Mamluk care. ![]() In the south they serve as protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hejaz as well as influencing the politics of Yemen. In the north Mamluk influence is felt from the beyliks of Anatolia to the shores of Lake Van. From their capital in Cairo the Mamluk households control Egypt and Syria as well as the Abbasid Caliph himself. Once the elite of the Ayyubid armies, in 1250 the Mamluks went from slave servants to the masters of a realm at the very heart of the Islamic World. ![]()
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