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

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.