| Ottoman-Mamluk War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theOttoman wars in the Near East | |||||||||
 News pamphlet relating the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517), including an account ofSultanSelim's visit toJerusalem. Printed inBasel, dated 1518 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Ottoman Empire | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Selim I Commanders
|  Qansuh II al-Ghuri †Tuman Bay II  Commanders
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 26,000–29,000[4][5][6] | 88,000–160,000 (including civilians)[7][8][9][6] | ||||||||
TheOttoman–Mamluk War of 1516–1517 was the second major conflict between theEgypt-basedMamluk Sultanate and theOttoman Empire, which led to the Fall of theMamluk Sultanate and the incorporation of theLevant, Egypt, and theHejaz as provinces of the Ottoman Empire.[10] The war transformed the Ottoman Empire from a realm at the margins of the Islamic world, mainly located inAnatolia and theBalkans, to a huge empire encompassing much of thetraditional lands of Islam, including the cities ofMecca,Cairo,Damascus, andAleppo. Despite this expansion, the seat of the empire's political power remained inConstantinople.[11]
The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks had been adversarial since theFall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453; both states vied for control of thespice trade, and the Ottomans aspired to eventually take control of theHoly Cities ofIslam.[12] An earlier conflict,which lasted from 1485 to 1491, had led to a stalemate. Having vanquished theSafavid Persians at theBattle of Chaldiran in 1514, sultanSelim I was eager to conquer theMamluk Sultanate, which ruled inSyria andEgypt.[11] Thus freed of other concerns, by 1516, the Ottoman Empire turned its full might against theMamluks to complete the Ottoman conquest of theMiddle East.[11]
Sultan Selim alleged that the Mamluks were Muslim oppressors and that they were allied with theShia Safavids. Based on these accusations, a fatwa appeared, stating: “Whoever helps people who are misled, he is also a heretic."[13]
The Mamluks drafted farmers and peasants from rural areas as soldiers for their upcoming war with the Ottomans. In response, these men fled to avoid being drafted. This led to shortages in rural workers required for food production and a shortage of bread, resulting in a near famine that devastated towns from Cairo to Anatolia.[14]
Both theOttomans andMamluks assembled 60,000 soldiers.[clarification needed] However, only 15,000 Mamluk soldiers were trained warriors: the rest were mere conscripts who did not even know how to fire a musket. As a result, most of theMamluks fled, avoided the front lines, and even committed suicide. In addition, as had happened with theSafavids in theBattle of Chaldiran, the blasts of the Ottoman cannons and guns scared the Mamluk horses, which raced uncontrollably in every direction.[clarification needed][14]
The war consisted of several battles. The Mamluk army was rather traditional, mainly consisting of cavalry using bows and arrows, whereas the Ottoman army, and especially theJanissaries, was quite modern, usingarquebuses.[15] The Mamluks remained proud in their tradition and tended to disdain the usage of firearms.[16][17]
The Ottomans first captured the city ofDiyarbekir in southeasternAnatolia.[11] TheBattle of Marj Dabiq (24 August) was decisive, and the Mamluk rulerKansuh al-Ghuri was killed.[11] The Ottomans apparently outnumbered the Mamluks by a factor of 3 to 1.[17] Syria fell under the rule of the Ottomans with this single battle.[17]
TheBattle of Yaunis Khan occurred nearGaza (28 October) and was again a defeat for the Mamluks.
Al-Ghuri's successor as Mamluk sultan,Tuman Bay, frantically recruited troops from various classes of society andBedouins, and attempted to equip his armies with some quantity ofcannons and firearms, but all at the last minute and on a limited scale.[16][17] Finally, at the doorstep of Cairo, theBattle of Ridaniya (24 January) took place, in which the Ottoman commanderHadım Sinan Pasha lost his life.[18] In this battle, Selim I and Tuman Bay faced each other. The firearms and guns deployed by Tuman Bay turned out to be almost useless, as the Ottomans managed an attack from the rear.[17]
The campaign had been supported by a fleet of about 100 ships that supplied the troops during their campaign to the south.[19]
A few days later, the Ottomans captured and sacked Cairo,[17] capturing CaliphAl-Mutawakkil III.[20] Tuman Bay regrouped his troops inGiza, where he was finally captured and hanged at the gate of Cairo.[11][21]
The Ottoman fleet ofSelman Reis was already stationed in the Red Sea by 1517. FearingPortuguese fleets the blockade onBab Al Mandab to continue.[clarification needed] Selman's fleets aimed to clash with the Portuguese to free the trade route with India and to protect the holy land ofHejaz. Despite the ongoing war with the Mamluks, the Ottomans defendedJeddah in December 1517, the last garrison of the Mamluk regime.
WhileJeddah became a directBeylerbeylik to theOttoman Empire, eight years later, the Sharif ofMecca, Barakat ibn Muhammad, also submitted to the Ottomans, placing the holy cities ofMecca andMedina under Ottoman rule as avassal state.[11][22]
Consequently, Ottoman power was extended as far as the southern reaches of theRed Sea, although control ofYemen remained partial and sporadic.[11]
Mamluk culture and social organization persisted at a regional level, and the hiring and education of Mamluk "slave" soldiers continued, but the ruler of Egypt was an Ottoman governor protected by an Ottomanmilitia.[11][23] The fall of the Mamluk Sultanate effectively put an end to thePortuguese–Mamluk naval war, but the Ottomans then took over the attempts to stop Portuguese expansion in theIndian Ocean.
The conquest of the Mamluk Empire also opened up the territories ofAfrica to the Ottomans. During the 16th century, Ottoman power expanded further west of Cairo, along the coasts of northern Africa. The corsairHayreddin Barbarossa established a base inAlgeria, and later accomplished theConquest of Tunis in 1534.[11]
Following his capture in Cairo, Caliph Al-Mutawakkil III was brought to Constantinople, where later tradition claims he ceded his office ascaliph to the Ottomans.[21] This established theOttoman Caliphate, with the sultan as its head, thus transferring religious authority from Cairo to the Ottoman throne.[20]
Cairo remained in Ottoman hands until the 1798French conquest of Egypt, whenNapoleon I claimed to eliminate the Mamluks.[24]
The conquest of the Mamluks was the largest military venture any Ottoman Sultan had ever attempted. In addition, the conquest put the Ottomans in control of two of the largest cities in the world at the time- Constantinople and Cairo. Not since the height of the Roman Empire had theBlack,Red,Caspian, andMediterranean seas been governed by a single empire.[14]
The conquest of Egypt proved extremely profitable for the empire as it produced more tax revenue than any other Ottoman territory and supplied about 100% of all food consumed. However,Mecca andMedina were the most important of all the cities conquered since it officially made Selim and his descendants the Caliphs of the entire Muslim world until the early 20th century.[14]
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