What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore how family connections influenced the Mamluk system amidst political pressures.

June 3, 2026Open Access

The Dynastic Impulse: Mamluk Husbands, Nomadic Wives, and Family Ambitions in the Early Sultanate

Key Points

The aim is to explore how family connections influenced the Mamluk system amidst political pressures.
Analyzes the concept of 'Dynastic Impulse' from 648–89/1250–90
Investigates connections between Mamluks and established dynastic families
Examines the role of Bahris in forming new familial structures
Mamluks’ desires for familial connections often conflicted with system norms of non-genetic bonds.
Efforts to establish dynastic ties reflected political pressures and ambitions.
The initial generation of Bahris sought both to connect with and create new dynastic families.

Abstract

This article is an investigation of the importance of family to the early mamluks. I contend that mamluk desires to connect with their natal families at times countered the mamluk system itself with its creation of bonds between men who were not genetically related to one another. In the present article I begin to address the idea of a "Dynastic Impulse" in the period 648–89/1250–90. By "Dynastic Impulse," I mean the attempts by the first mamluk rulers and their rivals, especially the initial generation of "Bahris," to attach themselves to existing dynastic families, to create new families, or to do both, in response to political pressures in the early sultanate.

اسأل الذكاء الاصطناعي

Bookmark

View Full Paper