Subotai continued to serve the khan and, following the campaign against the Chinese Song dynasty, he eventually returned to Mongolia in 1248. He subsequently spent the rest of his life at his home in the vicinity of the Tuul River, dying there at the age of seventy-two.
From a boy raised in the forests, he had risen from total obscurity to play a key role in establishing and maintaining the early Mongol Empire. As a member of the Kheshig, he had also passed on much of what he knew so that the empire could continue to conquer ever more enemies and lands, including that of the Ismaili Assassins.
In 1256, following an assassination attempt on Mongke Khan, the Mongols bombarded the Ismaili stronghold of Alamut. With Mongol warriors scaling the steepest escarpments, others positioned themselves on mountain peaks and used large Chinese-style siege crossbows to destroy the walls. This combination of force, firepower, and the eventual offer of mercy, worked. On 19 November 1256, the Ismaili imam surrendered to the Mongols, after which he was paraded from Ismaili castle to Ismaili castle, where he was made to order his followers to surrender.
However, after the death of Kublai Khan in 1294, the Mongols eventually disintegrated into competing entities and lost influence. This was in part due to the outbreak of the Black Death, but a group of slaves, who had become one of the most elite forces in the world, would also come into play . . .
10
THE MAMLUKS
AD 1242
With the Mongol hordes rampaging their way across Europe, a tribe of Kipchak Turks tried to flee to safety. Crossing the Black Sea, they eventually made their way to Bulgaria, settling in a small village, praying they had finally found peace.
Yet life was still hard for the Kipchaks. Many were impoverished farmers and they found it almost impossible to grow crops in the cold Bulgarian winter. Some starved to death. But together they somehow found the will to go on, hoping to move on soon and reach warmer climes, where their crops could grow more freely.
However, on another bitterly cold night, as families retired to their makeshift homes, their peace was shattered by a bloodcurdling cry. From the darkness, the Mongols suddenly charged through the village, dragging screaming families out of their homes and seizing anything of value. As one family after another was slaughtered, the Mongols hauled another Kipchak towards the executioner. But this Kipchak was different from the rest. Known as Baibars, this 19-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed young man, with a cataract in one eye, towered over the rest of his tribe. It was impossible to miss him.
Approaching Baibars with his blood-stained sword, the commander looked him over. In this moment, Baibars’ life rested in his hands. Seconds later the commander turned and nodded to his inferiors; this man would be spared, he might be of value. However, everyone else in the village could die. Roughly placing Baibars in chains, he was taken away, but as he turned he saw a Mongol soldier stab his mother and father to death. It was a sight he would never forget, and an action the Mongols would live to regret. For this peasant slave would one day have his vengeance.
Taken to the slave market at Sivas, where only the very best men captured from across Europe were available for purchase, Baibars and other prisoners were put on display. Even in this company, Baibars stood out. It was clear to any buyer that, with his huge size, aggressive demeanour and ability to wield heavy weaponry, he would be an asset to any army, and at this time there was one army that specialised in turning slaves into fearsome warriors – the Mamluks.
The Mamluks came into existence in the ninth century as the Muslim caliphs sought to form a military force using enslaved men. As these slave soldiers were without regional, tribal or other personal ties, they believed they would be loyal only to the caliph. Like Baibars, they were mostly of Turkic origin, as from an early age such men possessed riding and archery skills and could be transformed into exceptional soldiers.
After a steady bidding war, Baibars was purchased by an Egyptian of high rank. However, having taken Baibars to Cairo, the Egyptian was arrested and his slaves confiscated by the sultan of Egypt, as-Salih Ayyub. With this, Baibars was not only to serve a new master, but was also to be trained in the ways of the Mamluks.
Taken to their barracks in the Citadel of Cairo, his every hour was soon devoted to military training, which included archery and mounted combat drills. Great emphasis was also placed upon the Furūsiyya, which was not dissimilar to the chivalric code of the Christian knight, insofar as it included a moral code embracing virtues such as courage, valour, magnanimity and generosity. It also addressed the management, training and care of the horses that carried the warrior into battle and included cavalry tactics, riding techniques, armour and mounted archery. Military tactics were also studied, including the formation of armies, and how to utilise fire and smokescreens. Such was the desire to create a fearsome fighting machine that even the treatment of wounds was addressed. In such company, Baibars was a star pupil, excelling in combat and military tactics.
While the Mamluks trained relentlessly, and lived almost entirely within their garrisons, some leisure activities were encouraged. Polo was particularly popular, as the need for control of the horse, tight turns and bursts of speed perfectly mimicked the skills required on the battlefield. Mounted archery competitions, horseback acrobatics and mounted combat shows, similar to European jousting, also took place up to twice a week, while a hippodrome in Cairo would eventually be built where Mamluk games took place.
It was just as well that Baibars and his fellow Mamluks were trained to such a high standard. At this time, the Christian Crusaders were looking to take Egypt and soon the sultan hurled his legions into combat. Here, Baibars made a name for himself. One Crusader described him as ‘brilliant as Caesar, and as harsh as Nero’. Quickly rising through the ranks, he was soon transferred to the Bahriyya Regiment, a unit of 1,000 Mamluk shock troopers, who served as the elite bodyguard to the sultan.
Some believe that Baibars truly made his mark in the 1244 Battle of La Forbie. Earlier in the year Egypt’s allies, the Khwarazmians had captured Jerusalem. Determined to reclaim it, Crusader forces marched towards La Forbie, a small village northeast of Gaza, where Ayyub’s Mamluks were waiting. Despite the Christian knights’ superior numbers, the Mamluks were able to destroy them, killing 5,000 Crusaders and taking 800 prisoners, many of whom were famous warriors and nobles.
Some have speculated that Baibars was in command of the Mamluk forces in this battle, but the historian Stephen Humphreys, in his book From Saladin to the Mongols, disagrees. He claims that there was a warrior with a similar name, which has led to this confusion. In any event, the Crusaders’ humiliating defeat at the Battle of La Forbie saw Pope Innocent IV call for a Seventh Crusade. King Louis IX of France was one of the few to answer this call. By 1248, he had assembled a 15,000-strong army, which included 3,000 knights and 5,000 crossbowmen. After months of travel, thirty-six of Louis’ ships landed at Damietta on the Nile. Meeting little resistance from the Egyptians and swiftly taking the port, Louis hoped to build a base from which he could attack Jerusalem. The fifteenth-century Muslim historian al-Maqrizi has recorded Louis IX subsequently sending a letter to as-Salih Ayyub that read:
As you know that I am the ruler of the Christian nation, I do know you are the ruler of the Muhammadan nation. The people of Al-Andalus give me money and gifts while we drive them like cattle. We kill their men and we make their women widows. We take the boys and the girls as prisoners and we make houses empty. I have told you enough and I have advised you to the end, so now, if you make the strongest oath to me and if you go to Christian priests and monks and if you carry kindles before my eyes as a sign of obeying the cross, all these will not persuade me from reaching you and killing you at your dearest spot on earth. If the land will be mine, then it is a gift to me. If the land will be yours and you defeat me, then you will have the upper hand. I have told you and I have warned you about my soldiers who obey me. They can fill open fields and mountains, their number like pebbles. They will be sen
t to you with swords of destruction.
Unsurprisingly, Ayyub refused to surrender, especially as his forces had been so successful against the last Crusaders at the Battle of La Forbie. However, as Louis marched towards Cairo, Ayyub suddenly died, leaving a huge power void. Victory for the Crusaders now seemed inevitable, especially when they quickly overwhelmed the Egyptian camp at Gideila, and then turned their attentions to the nearby walled city of Al-Mansurah.
As Egyptian forces fled from the city, Baibars and his Mamluks stood firm, despite facing impending defeat. Unless they devised a plan quickly, they would all be slaughtered and Egypt, as well as Jerusalem, would be lost.
Watching the Crusaders as they approached the city in hordes, Baibars suddenly took control and issued an order that surprised his fellow Mamluks. ‘Open the gates,’ he cried, knowing that they were in no shape to sustain any siege and this might be their only chance.
Moments later, the Crusaders rushed into the walled city, thinking that the Egyptians had abandoned it. As they rode on horseback through the empty streets, Baibars now ordered his men, who had been hiding in the shadows, to strike. With the gates slamming behind them, the Crusaders suddenly realised they had fallen into a trap. Unable to escape, and with their cavalry useless in the narrow streets, they were ambushed by the Mamluks, as well as by thousands of people from the town. Dragged from their horses, the Crusaders were overwhelmed and murdered where they fell. Such was the outpouring of unrestrained violence that only five Templar knights escaped alive, one of whom later lamented:
Rage and sorrow are seated in my heart . . . so firmly that I scarce dare to stay alive. It seems that God wishes to support the Turks to our loss . . . ah, lord God . . . alas, the realm of the east has lost so much that it will never be able to rise up again. They will make a Mosque of Holy Mary’s convent, and since the theft pleases her Son, who should weep at this, we are forced to comply as well . . . Anyone who wishes to fight the Turks is mad, for Jesus Christ does not fight them anymore. They have conquered, they will conquer. For every day they drive us down, knowing that God, who was awake, sleeps now, and Muhammad waxes powerful.
From what had looked to be impending disaster, Egypt now stood victorious, and it was all thanks to a Mamluk slave. But any thanks were in short supply.
Following the sultan’s death, a series of power struggles saw the throne eventually go to his widow, Shajar al-Durr, who subsequently married a Mamluk called Izz al-Din Aybak. However, al-Durr abdicated the throne shortly afterwards, leading to Aybak becoming the first Mamluk sultan in history. But this was not good news for Baibars, far from it. Aybak and Baibars were enemies, and should he stay in Egypt then his life would be in danger. With no other option, Baibars, together with Mamluks loyal to him, fled to Syria. In the meantime, the power struggles in Egypt continued, with Aybak being murdered by his wife in 1257 and al-Muẓaffar Sayf al-Dīn Quṭuz becoming the new sultan.
While Baibars and his Mamluks made a living in Syria as mercenaries, the new sultan urgently reached out to him in 1260. Not only did he invite Baibars to return to Egypt, but he also offered a chance to settle old scores: the Mongols were coming.
In February 1258, the Mongol armies of Hulegu, grandson of Genghis Khan, had taken Baghdad, where 250,000 were said to have been killed. Mongol troopers even rolled al-Musta’sim, the last Abbasid caliph and spiritual leader of Islam, into a carpet before kicking him to death. Damascus and Aleppo fell soon after, the Mongols completing their conquest of Syria with the near-annihilation of the Assassins. The only thing that now stood between the Mongol Empire and Jerusalem, Mecca and Cairo were the armies of the Egyptian sultan, and Baibars.
Returning to Cairo, Baibars immediately took command of the Egyptian army, planning not only to defend his adopted country but also to have his vengeance against the enemy who had murdered his family before his very eyes. On 3 September 1260, he would have his chance to avenge them. Marching to Ain Jalut, just north of Jerusalem, he found 30,000 Mongols waiting for him. The Egyptian forces were more than double that of the Mongols but, as we have seen previously, this was no guarantee of a Mamluk victory.
Firing their deadly composite bows into the Egyptians, the Mongols followed up with a charge of heavy cavalry that smashed the Egyptian lines and sent the entire army into a full retreat. As the Mongols cut the fleeing Mamluk warriors down, Baibars led them towards the surrounding forests, apparently in retreat. Yet, just as they approached the woodland, he let out a cry. Suddenly, another 60,000 Egyptian horsemen thundered out of the trees and slammed into the Mongol flanks, cutting off their only escape route. Remembering what they had once done to his village, Baibars ordered no survivors. The Mongols were butchered to the last man. It was the first defeat the horde had suffered, and Ain Jalut marked the furthest their empire would ever stretch in the Middle East.
Having achieved a feat most felt impossible, Baibars understandably believed that his deeds deserved reward. While he eyed the governorship of Aleppo, he was dismayed to find that no such gift would be forthcoming. Sultan Qutuz now feared Baibars’ popularity, as well as his ambition, and wanted to see him banished once again. But, this time, Baibars was unwilling to go quietly. Assassinating Qutuz, Baibars became the sultan of Egypt and Syria, marking an astonishing rise from the young peasant who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery by the Mongols just sixteen years before.
Ruling an empire that stretched from Cairo to Baghdad for over seventeen years, the ex-slave was so beloved that he became known as the ‘Lion of Egypt’, particularly for his battles against the Crusaders. Attacking the last Crusader towns and villages in Syria and Palestine, he soon retook the likes of Arsuf and Jaffa, while he also devastated the Templars at their last stronghold of Antioch, as well as the Hospitallers at their Krak des Chevaliers castle.
He was, however, to die in mysterious circumstances in 1277. Some sources claim he died as a result of drinking poisoned kumis, which was intended for someone else, while others suggest that he may have succumbed to a wound sustained while campaigning. But, while the Crusaders believed him to be the personification of evil, to Muslims, he died a great hero, with his Mamluk descendants remaining in power until 1517, when their dynasty was eventually extinguished by the Ottomans, and their own elite force of slaves . . .
11
THE OTTOMAN JANISSARIES
AD 1453
Since AD 324, Constantinople had acted as the capital of the Byzantine Empire, becoming the jewel of Christendom. From the Arabs to the Vikings, many had tried to take it, but all had failed. Defended from the sea by its large navy, its legendary Theodosian Walls, surrounded it on land, making it all but impregnable.
Extending across the peninsula for some 6.5 kilometres, the walls were 20 metres wide, and boasted a 7-metre-deep ditch, which could be flooded with water fed from pipes. Behind that was an outer wall, which had a patrol track to oversee the moat. Then came a second wall, which had towers, and an interior terrace, so as to provide a firing platform to shoot down on any enemy forces who were attacking the moat and first wall. Beyond that wall was a third inner wall, which was almost 5 metres thick, 12 metres high, and presented to the enemy ninety-six projecting towers. Each tower was placed around 70 metres distance from another, reaching a height of 20 metres, and could hold up to three artillery machines.
Unsurprisingly, Constantinople, was considered virtually unassailable. But, in 1453, it faced its greatest challenge yet, as a new empire conquered all before it, and looked to make Constantinople its own capital.
The Ottoman Empire had begun as a small Turkish emirate in the late thirteenth century. Within 100 years, it had expanded into Thrace, Thessaloniki and Serbia, and, after its army had defeated the Crusaders, it looked to storm Constantinople. Yet its initial attempts, in 1394 and 1422, were both unsuccessful. Determined to claim it, the rise of Sultan Mehmed II in 1444 saw the Ottomans look to finally sweep away the Byzantines with two secret weapons; gunpowder, and an elite military unit k
nown as the Janissaries.
Much like the Mamluks the Janissaries were also slave warriors. Every five years Turkish administrators would scour their regions for the strongest boys aged between eight and twenty, who would then be taken from their parents to become Janissaries. Rather than be distressed, many Christian families were actually happy with this because it offered their sons the possibility of social advancement. Many Janissaries progressed to become colonels or even statesmen, opportunities that would not otherwise have been available. There were families who were of course upset to see their sons snatched away, and as it was forbidden for married men to become Janissaries, this saw many young boys married off at a young age.
Taken to Istanbul (as the Ottomans were to rename Constantinople), the boys were inspected before two lists were made. The most intelligent were sent as ‘inner (service) boys’ to the Sultan’s Palace Schools, destined, with luck, for high office. There, they studied religion, as well as Turkish, Persian and Arabic literature. Physical activities were also encouraged, with the boys engaging in horse-riding, javelin throwing, archery, wrestling, weightlifting and even music. Great emphasis was also put on honesty, loyalty and good manners, traits that were seen as necessary for any budding statesman.
Those boys who didn’t make the first list were known as the ‘foreign boys’. These were sent to the households of senior or respected men for the first phase of their education, learning Turkish, and Islam, as well as the customs and cultures of Ottoman society. After five to seven years of this, the boys were then gathered for training at the Enderun acemi oğlan – ‘cadet’ – school in the capital city, where they spent the next six years training in different areas as engineers, artisans, riflemen, clerics, archers, artillery and so forth.
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