MAMLUKS.
SECT. I.
Baharite Mamlûks.
These were so styled, from having been originally employed as mariners on board the ships of the Sultan of Egypt. They were Turks.
A.D. 1254. Ezz-ed-dîn Moaz Ibegh was the first sovereign of this dynasty. He was assassinated.
1255. Nûr-ed-dîn Ali, son of Sultan Ezz-ed-dîn, followed.
It would be uninteresting to mark the names and short reigns of these princes, most of whom fell by assassination. The chief events alone shall be commemorated.
Bibars I. who reigned from A.D. 1260 to 1277, was an active prince, and seized most of the Christian possessions in Syria.
Kalîl Ascraf, who ascended the throne in 1290, took Ptolemais, and terminated the power of the Christians in Palestine.
During successive reigns many contests took place in Syria, the possession of which was disputed by the Mamlûk Sultans and the Moguls.