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The Knights of Islam: The Wars of the Mamluks
The Mamluks were, at one distinct point in history, the greatest body of fighting men in the world and the quintessence of the mounted warrior. They were slave soldiers, imported as boys into the Islamic Empire from the pagan Steppes, but they became its savior, bringing defeat to the Mongols and forming the machine of jihad that ultimately destroyed the Crusader Kingdoms of Palestine and Syria. They entered the Islamic world as unlettered automatons and through a total application to the craft of the warrior they became more than soldiers. After a bloody seizure of power from their masters, the descendants of Saladin, they developed a martial code and an honor system based on barracks brotherhood, a sophisticated military society that harnessed the state's energies for total war and produced a series of treatises on warfare that more than compare to SunZi's Art of War in their complexity, beauty of language and comprehensive coverage of the bloody business of war. Their story embraces many of the great themes of medieval military endeavor. The Crusaders and the deadly contest between Islam and Christendom, the Mongols and their vision of World Dominion, Tamerlane the Scourge of God and the rise of the Ottoman Empire whose new slave soldiers, the Janissaries, would be the Mamluks' final nemesis.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 6, 2019
As the author points out in the preface the Mamluks - despite being some of the most accomplished soldiers in history - haven't been popularized like the knights and the samurai, and there aren't a lot of books on the subject. This book is intended to fill the gap and at the time of writing it is probably the best introduction to the topic out there.
The book itself is an engagingly written popular history with an emphasis on the military aspect. It's particularly worth mentioning how Waterson really manages to convey just how exceptionally professional this army was by the standards of its time. It was one of the few armies able to consistently defeat the Mongols and even in its decline it was still able to defeat the Ottoman army while heavily outnumbered. Their level of training, discipline and the ability to pull off complex battlefield manouvers even under pressure will make contemporary European armies look like an unruly mob in comparison.
An extra chapter or two would have been nice though. It's a relatively short book at less than 300 pages and a large chunk of it is dedicated to the Mamluk golden age of the 13th century and the regin of Baybars in particular. Arguably this is also the most fascinating period, but it leaves very little space for dealing with the subsequent two centuries of Mamluk rule. This means that while the writing in the chapters covering the 13th century are quite detailed the final chapters read more like a summary of events.
The book itself is an engagingly written popular history with an emphasis on the military aspect. It's particularly worth mentioning how Waterson really manages to convey just how exceptionally professional this army was by the standards of its time. It was one of the few armies able to consistently defeat the Mongols and even in its decline it was still able to defeat the Ottoman army while heavily outnumbered. Their level of training, discipline and the ability to pull off complex battlefield manouvers even under pressure will make contemporary European armies look like an unruly mob in comparison.
An extra chapter or two would have been nice though. It's a relatively short book at less than 300 pages and a large chunk of it is dedicated to the Mamluk golden age of the 13th century and the regin of Baybars in particular. Arguably this is also the most fascinating period, but it leaves very little space for dealing with the subsequent two centuries of Mamluk rule. This means that while the writing in the chapters covering the 13th century are quite detailed the final chapters read more like a summary of events.
September 30, 2022
يقول مولانا نظام المُلك الوزير المخضرم و السياسي المحنك :" العبد خيراً من الواد قيل له و لما ذاك
فقال : لأن الأول قد يرچوا موتي لينتفع بذلك من بعدي و أم الثاني فلا هدف له في الحياة إلا بقائي و هو يري أن هلاكه من هلاكي "
هذه العبارة يمكننا أنصف به كيف كنت المسألة تسير في دولة المماليك مُنذ أيام مولانا السُلطان الصالح نجم الدين أيوب و حتي أخر يوماً لهم و هذا ما ركز عليه كتاب و هي عقيدة المماليك القتالية الكتاب هو سرد ملحمي لدولة المماليك من القيام للسقوط يبدوا أن من بعد الإجتياح المغولي للشرق و الغرب معاً و التغير الديموغرافي الذي حدث و جدنا أن أسلوب الإدارة و الحكم و حتي التعذيب أصبح في شئ من الوحشية المفرطة نجد أن الكاتب يفتتح بعقد مقارنة هامه بين الصارع على سلطة بين الماضي والحاضر ثم يستعرض مهارة المماليك القتالية و صلابتهم التي كانت مضرب المثل حتي بعد دخولهم ضمن نطق حكم الدولة العلية ثم يأخذ بسرد التاريخ و تطور الأحداث في العالم الإسلامي بنظرة مملوكية و كيف أن العباسيون استعانوا بالمولي على بني أمية ثم استعانوا بالمماليك في الحرب بين الأمين و المأمون ثم زاد نفوذهم جداً فعهد المعتصم الذي قام هو بدوره بتهميش دور العرب و الاعلاء من دور المماليك التركمان و هذا كان ظاهراً في الإستعانة بحاچي إيتاخ التركي رجل الظل للمعتصم و الواثق و الرجل الذي بلغ من القوة حداً كد أن يفتك بالخليفة المتوكل على الله العباسي و يأمر بقتله لولا أن الأخير أتعذر له ! ثم ينتقل لذكر الصراع العثماني المملوكي هذا الصراع الذي مايزل حياً حتي الأن و طبعا ً هذا رجع لخلط بين التاريخ الاسلامي و النظرة القومية و إلا فأن الكاتب لا يكاد يخفي سخطه و انزعاجه من سوء تعامل القومية العربية مع تاريخ المملوكي يشير الكتاب أن المجتمعات نفسه حصل تغييرات كثيرة بعد إجتياح المغول و عم الفرق و تفكتت الروابط الإسرية مما دفع الأباء بيع أبناءهم في سوق النخاسة حتي ينقذوهم و ينقذوا أنفسهم من الفقر و التشرد ! الكتاب يستمر في السرد الجيد لدرجة تكاد فيه تسمع صليل السيوفِ و صهيل الخيولِ يجعلك هذا كله تستمع بما تقرأ بل تعيش مع كل صفحة و تتخيل نفسك في ميدان المعركة يذكر الكتاب أهم اعداء المماليك و كيفا تغلبوا عليهم مثل الصليبيين و المغول ويذكر متي بدأت دولة المماليك بتراجع و المرجح أنه من بعد أيام مولانا محمد الناصر بن قلاوون و يذكر المؤلف بزوغ نجم العثمانيون هذا العدو الدود الذي يستمكن بالأطاحه بهذه الدولة العافية .
فقال : لأن الأول قد يرچوا موتي لينتفع بذلك من بعدي و أم الثاني فلا هدف له في الحياة إلا بقائي و هو يري أن هلاكه من هلاكي "
هذه العبارة يمكننا أنصف به كيف كنت المسألة تسير في دولة المماليك مُنذ أيام مولانا السُلطان الصالح نجم الدين أيوب و حتي أخر يوماً لهم و هذا ما ركز عليه كتاب و هي عقيدة المماليك القتالية الكتاب هو سرد ملحمي لدولة المماليك من القيام للسقوط يبدوا أن من بعد الإجتياح المغولي للشرق و الغرب معاً و التغير الديموغرافي الذي حدث و جدنا أن أسلوب الإدارة و الحكم و حتي التعذيب أصبح في شئ من الوحشية المفرطة نجد أن الكاتب يفتتح بعقد مقارنة هامه بين الصارع على سلطة بين الماضي والحاضر ثم يستعرض مهارة المماليك القتالية و صلابتهم التي كانت مضرب المثل حتي بعد دخولهم ضمن نطق حكم الدولة العلية ثم يأخذ بسرد التاريخ و تطور الأحداث في العالم الإسلامي بنظرة مملوكية و كيف أن العباسيون استعانوا بالمولي على بني أمية ثم استعانوا بالمماليك في الحرب بين الأمين و المأمون ثم زاد نفوذهم جداً فعهد المعتصم الذي قام هو بدوره بتهميش دور العرب و الاعلاء من دور المماليك التركمان و هذا كان ظاهراً في الإستعانة بحاچي إيتاخ التركي رجل الظل للمعتصم و الواثق و الرجل الذي بلغ من القوة حداً كد أن يفتك بالخليفة المتوكل على الله العباسي و يأمر بقتله لولا أن الأخير أتعذر له ! ثم ينتقل لذكر الصراع العثماني المملوكي هذا الصراع الذي مايزل حياً حتي الأن و طبعا ً هذا رجع لخلط بين التاريخ الاسلامي و النظرة القومية و إلا فأن الكاتب لا يكاد يخفي سخطه و انزعاجه من سوء تعامل القومية العربية مع تاريخ المملوكي يشير الكتاب أن المجتمعات نفسه حصل تغييرات كثيرة بعد إجتياح المغول و عم الفرق و تفكتت الروابط الإسرية مما دفع الأباء بيع أبناءهم في سوق النخاسة حتي ينقذوهم و ينقذوا أنفسهم من الفقر و التشرد ! الكتاب يستمر في السرد الجيد لدرجة تكاد فيه تسمع صليل السيوفِ و صهيل الخيولِ يجعلك هذا كله تستمع بما تقرأ بل تعيش مع كل صفحة و تتخيل نفسك في ميدان المعركة يذكر الكتاب أهم اعداء المماليك و كيفا تغلبوا عليهم مثل الصليبيين و المغول ويذكر متي بدأت دولة المماليك بتراجع و المرجح أنه من بعد أيام مولانا محمد الناصر بن قلاوون و يذكر المؤلف بزوغ نجم العثمانيون هذا العدو الدود الذي يستمكن بالأطاحه بهذه الدولة العافية .
October 4, 2021
Formidable soldiers with no fear factor
October 4, 2023
If you're a fan of the Unsullied from Game of Thrones, then this has everything you need to know about the real life warriors who inspired them.
October 17, 2022
This book has received a whole slew of “it’s wonderful” type reviews but I must admit that I was massively disappointed. Given the paucity of other books on the subject, this is a worthwhile book not least because the subject is important, but I wanted more not less. My problem with the book is that it is so very superficial at times and also so heavily padded with irrelevancies. My disappointment comes mainly though from the fact that it could have been so much better if the irrelevancies had been replaced with more details about the subject!
The lack of footnotes makes it impossible to see what is the author’s guesswork (a lot I would suggest), what is from an academic source, and what is from a reliable contemporary source.
In a book that is, by its title, about war the accounts of the battles are confused and almost impossible to follow. In fact throughout the author seems to demonstrate a lack of understanding of both armies and war. Thus we are told that the fighting devolved to hand to hand using bows and lances – not swords? And bows are not melee weapons. Elsewhere the Mamluks are using “clubs” in melee, not maces but “clubs”. We are told that armour was “chain mail” – “CHAIN mail”!
An example of the ‘padding’ that I referred to above is well exemplified by the photographs/plates. Along with some nice reproductions of contemporary manuscripts are reproductions of Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign (remember the close date for the book is 1517), a photograph of the modern-day Circassian Guard of Jordan, a photograph of a Damascene sword maker (c1920?), as well as a number of others. All totally pointless and add nothing to the text or the subject under consideration, which is surely the point of illustrations?
The Bibliography, if you exclude the section headed “Further Reading - which is not a suggestion that these titles have been used, is small, VERY small for a book of this type.
Stylistically the book reads like one of the passionate Victorian history books so it is a good read and given the paucity of general readership books on the subject it is worth having. Just don’t expect too much and you will be left feeling that you now need to go to find a real book on the Mamluks.
The lack of footnotes makes it impossible to see what is the author’s guesswork (a lot I would suggest), what is from an academic source, and what is from a reliable contemporary source.
In a book that is, by its title, about war the accounts of the battles are confused and almost impossible to follow. In fact throughout the author seems to demonstrate a lack of understanding of both armies and war. Thus we are told that the fighting devolved to hand to hand using bows and lances – not swords? And bows are not melee weapons. Elsewhere the Mamluks are using “clubs” in melee, not maces but “clubs”. We are told that armour was “chain mail” – “CHAIN mail”!
An example of the ‘padding’ that I referred to above is well exemplified by the photographs/plates. Along with some nice reproductions of contemporary manuscripts are reproductions of Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign (remember the close date for the book is 1517), a photograph of the modern-day Circassian Guard of Jordan, a photograph of a Damascene sword maker (c1920?), as well as a number of others. All totally pointless and add nothing to the text or the subject under consideration, which is surely the point of illustrations?
The Bibliography, if you exclude the section headed “Further Reading - which is not a suggestion that these titles have been used, is small, VERY small for a book of this type.
Stylistically the book reads like one of the passionate Victorian history books so it is a good read and given the paucity of general readership books on the subject it is worth having. Just don’t expect too much and you will be left feeling that you now need to go to find a real book on the Mamluks.
December 2, 2024
I thought that this was a well-done overview of the history of the Mamluk Sultanate, with particular emphasis on the training and tactics of the Mamluks. Most of the book's content covers the Bahri Dynasty and their ongoing struggle with Ilkhanate and the Crusader States through the end of the 13th century. It's interesting to see how without a strong external conflict to motivate them, the Mamluks seemed to lose some of their raison d'etre and turn to internal politicking, rather than upkeep of martial prowess.
The Near East during the late medieval through the early renaissance period is one of my favorite historical areas and this was a good addition to my literature on the subject. Interesting to see the bibliography in the back with suggested reading, though the actual body of the book is somewhat sparse in footnotes in references.
The Near East during the late medieval through the early renaissance period is one of my favorite historical areas and this was a good addition to my literature on the subject. Interesting to see the bibliography in the back with suggested reading, though the actual body of the book is somewhat sparse in footnotes in references.
January 10, 2012
I found this unsatisfactory but there are few Mamluk histories out there...?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews