Circassians, Mamlūk - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
General Material Designation
[Article]
First Statement of Responsibility
Petry, Carl Forbes
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
Leiden
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Brill
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
(946 words)
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
The second period of the Mamlūk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria (784-922/1382-1517) was called by contemporary historians the "regime of the Circassians " (Ar. dawlat al-jarākisa) or the "Tower" (burj) , in reference to the Citadel barracks in Cairo, where they were initially stationed. Adolescents brought from the Circassian region (bilād al-jarkas) of the Caucasus for training as cadets for military service appear occasionally in the first, or Turkish Baḥrī, period of the sultanate (648-784/1250-1382). They became a salient component of the military caste