From Slave to Sultan
From Slave to Sultan

Author: Linda Northrup

Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 9783515068611

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Spanning the greater part of the thirteenth century, the career of the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Mansur Qalawun, is of great interest for the light it sheds on the major themes of early Mamluk history: the emergence of a new political and administrative structure, characterized by increased militarization and mamlukization; the role of the caliphate and the nature of sultani authority; the problem of succession; Mamluk factionalism; Egyptian-Syrian relations; relations with Mongols and Crusaders; and the importance, not to mention the strategic and complex nature, of international trade in the Mamluk realm. Not only does this work fill a gap in knowledge of the early Mamluk period, complementing the studies we have of Baybars's and al-Nasir Muhammad's reigns, but it goes further than most in analyzing the institutions of the period, and uses hitherto neglected materials to illuminate theoretical and practical questions of Mamluk rule. With indices. "From Slave to Sultan is well written. The analysis is dense and packed with scholarship; it is one of those books of which specialists will devour the notes with even greater relish than they do the text... Graduate students in particular will be grateful for her first chapter, in which she introduces, describes, and evaluates the various sources." MESA Bulletin "This book a will unquestionably stand as the authoritative work on Qalawun for some time to come." School of Oriental & African Studies "Northrup is to be commended for undertaking this important, and much needed, project with her persistent efforts, meticulous and critical reading of the sources, sound methodology, and diligent presentation. The result is a definitive work on the political legacy of one of the most eminent early Mamluk sultans." Journal of Near Eastern Studies . (Franz Steiner 1998)

Empress of the East
Empress of the East

Author: Leslie Peirce

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2017-09-19

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0465093094

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The "fascinating . . . lively" story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire (New York Times). In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly held the reins of power. Until now Roxelana has been seen as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, Peirce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

The Slave Who Became Sultan
The Slave Who Became Sultan

Author: Henry Moa

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2018-09-18

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9781723801075

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Roukn al-Din Baybars was born in 1223 in a Turkish tribe Kipchak installed in the Ukrainian Plains. He was captured by Mongolians horsemen and sold to a Russian slave trafficker who takes him to the city of La Tana, Venetian traderpost installed on the edge of the Don River. There, he is bought at the slave market by a Venetian merchant who takes him in Syria, in the town of Sivas, where he is sold to the emir of Aleppo. He is incorporated in a school for young slaves. At the end of his training, he joined the guard of the emir. One day, he is spotted by the Sultan As-Salih Ayyub and buys him to the Emir of Aleppo. He then joined the guard Mamluk of the Sultan and moved to Cairo. In 1242, the Mongolians leave in the countryside for conquest the Middle East. In 1244, the Khwarezmians Turks take Jerusalem. The Pope called for a new crusade. The King of France, Louis IX, landed on the Egyptian coast and took the town of Damietta. On 20 November, the crusaders marched to Cairo. The two armies fight at Fariskour, near Mansoura. The Crusaders were defeated and the King of France is captured. The Egyptian Sultan as-Salih Ayyub was dead 23 November 1249. His wife, Chaddar ad-Dour, ensures the Regency. Once the Christian danger is distant, Turan Shah, son of as-Salih, is murdered. But a woman cannot rule in Muslim countries. To work around this situation, Chaddar ad-Dour married the emir Aybak and named him as Sultan. Aybak, by her depraved and violent conduct, becomes a problem. Chaddar ad-Dour assassinates him before suffering the same fate. The emirs are the most powerful of them, Kutuz, designate as Sultan in November 12, 1259. In autumn 1259, Hulegu, the khan of Central Asia resumed the offensive. In six months, the Syria is conquered. The way Egypt is free. But in the summer 1259 the great khan Mongka died. Hulegu leaves for the Mongolia. He leaves Kitbuga in command of his army. This one continued the offensive. In September 3, 1260, the two armies fight at Ain Jalut. Kitbuga was killed and the Mongolians flee. The Sultan Kutuz promised Aleppo to Baibars, hoping that he would be killed during the confrontation. After the battle, he gave the post to one of his followers. Baybars decided to kill him. In October 22, 1260, during a hunting party, he hands him an ambush and he give hom the first blow. His comrades finishe him. The present emirs proclaim Baybars as Sultan. He went immediately to Cairo, acclaimed by the people. During his years of reign, he leads a merciless combat to his enemies, Christians, Turks, Mongolian. He will make of Egypt and Syria, an Empire. The Empire of the Crowned Slaves which will reign on the Middle East until 1520. Baibars died aged 56 after 17 years of reign.

White Gold
White Gold

Author: Giles Milton

Publisher: John Murray

Published: 2012-04-12

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1444717723

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This is the forgotten story of the million white Europeans, snatched from their homes and taken in chains to the great slave markets of North Africa to be sold to the highest bidder. Ignored by their own governments, and forced to endure the harshest of conditions, very few lived to tell the tale. Using the firsthand testimony of a Cornish cabin boy named Thomas Pellow, Giles Milton vividly reconstructs a disturbing, little known chapter of history. Pellow was bought by the tyrannical sultan of Morocco who was constructing an imperial pleasure palace of enormous scale and grandeur, built entirely by Christian slave labour. As his personal slave, he would witness first-hand the barbaric splendour of the imperial court, as well as experience the daily terror of a cruel regime. Gripping, immaculately researched, and brilliantly realised, WHITE GOLD reveals an explosive chapter of popular history, told with all the pace and verve of one of our finest historians.

The Sultan's Wife
The Sultan's Wife

Author: Jane Johnson

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 0385670001

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Page-turning mystery, grandly seductive romance and full historical immersion into Moroccan court history, this exquisitely depicted and intensely absorbing novel follows in the bestselling tradition of The Tenth Gift and The Salt Road. 1677, Morocco. Behind the magnificent walls and towering arches of the Palace of Meknes, captive chieftain's son and now a lowly scribe, Nus Nus is framed for murder. As he attempts to evade punishment for the bloody crime, Nus Nus finds himself trapped in a vicious plot, caught between the three most powerful figures in the court: the cruel and arbitrary sultan, Moulay Ismail, one of the most tyrannical rulers in history; his monstrous wife Zidana, famed for her use of poison and black magic; and the conniving Grand Vizier. Meanwhile, a young Englishwoman named Alys Swann has been taken prisoner by Barbary corsairs and brought to the court. She faces a simple choice: renounce her faith and join the Sultan's harem; or die. As they battle for survival, Alys and Nus Nus find themselves thrust into an unlikely alliance--an alliance that will become a deep and moving relationship in which these two outsiders will find sustenance and courage in the most perilous of circumstances. From the danger and majesty of Meknes to the stinking streets of London and the decadent court of Charles II, The Sultan's Wife brings to life some of the most remarkable characters of history through a captivating tale of intrigue, loyalty and desire.

Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East
Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East

Author: Ehud R. Toledano

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0295802421

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In the Ottoman Empire, many members of the ruling elite were legally slaves of the sultan and therefore could, technically, be ordered to surrender their labor, their property, or their lives at any moment. Nevertheless, slavery provided a means of social mobility, conferring status and political power within the military, the bureaucracy, or the domestic household and formed an essential part of patronage networks. Ehud R. Toledano’s exploration of slavery from the Ottoman viewpoint is based on extensive research in British, French, and Turkish archives and offers rich, original, and important insights into Ottoman life and thought. In an attempt to humanize the narrative and take it beyond the plane of numbers, tables and charts, Toledano examines the situations of individuals representing the principal realms of Ottoman slavery, female harem slaves, the sultan’s military and civilian kuls, court and elite eunuchs, domestic slaves, Circassian agricaultural slaves, slave dealers, and slave owners. Slavery and Abolition in the Ottoman Middle East makes available new and significantly revised studies on nineteenth-century Middle Eastern slavery and suggests general approaches to the study of slavery in different cultures.

The Sultan's Shadow
The Sultan's Shadow

Author: Christiane Bird

Publisher: Random House Incorporated

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0345469402

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A dramatic account of the slave trade in the early 19th century Indian Ocean is presented through the stories of the Omani Sultan Said and his daughter, Princess Salme, offering insight into the Arabian Peninsula kingdom's lucrative growth and ties to America.

A Slave Between Empires
A Slave Between Empires

Author: M'hamed Oualdi

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2020-02-04

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0231549555

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In June 1887, a man known as General Husayn, a manumitted slave turned dignitary in the Ottoman province of Tunis, passed away in Florence after a life crossing empires. As a youth, Husayn was brought from Circassia to Turkey, where he was sold as a slave. In Tunis, he ascended to the rank of general before French conquest forced his exile to the northern shores of the Mediterranean. His death was followed by wrangling over his estate that spanned a surprising array of actors: Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II and his viziers; the Tunisian, French, and Italian governments; and representatives of Muslim and Jewish diasporic communities. A Slave Between Empires investigates Husayn’s transimperial life and the posthumous battle over his fortune to recover the transnational dimensions of North African history. M’hamed Oualdi places Husayn within the international context of the struggle between Ottoman and French forces for control of the Mediterranean amid social and intellectual ferment that crossed empires. Oualdi considers this part of the world not as a colonial borderland but as a central space where overlapping imperial ambitions transformed dynamic societies. He explores how the transition between Ottoman rule and European colonial domination was felt in the daily lives of North African Muslims, Christians, and Jews and how North Africans conceived of and acted upon this shift. Drawing on a wide range of Arabic, French, Italian, and English sources, A Slave Between Empires is a groundbreaking transimperial microhistory that demands a major analytical shift in the conceptualization of North African history.

The Sultan and the Queen
The Sultan and the Queen

Author: Jerry Brotton

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-09-05

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0143110624

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The fascinating story of Queen Elizabeth’s secret outreach to the Muslim world, which set England on the path to empire, by The New York Times bestselling author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps We think of England as a great power whose empire once stretched from India to the Americas, but when Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen, it was just a tiny and rebellious Protestant island on the fringes of Europe, confronting the combined power of the papacy and of Catholic Spain. Broke and under siege, the young queen sought to build new alliances with the great powers of the Muslim world. She sent an emissary to the Shah of Iran, wooed the king of Morocco, and entered into an unprecedented alliance with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, with whom she shared a lively correspondence. The Sultan and the Queen tells the riveting and largely unknown story of the traders and adventurers who first went East to seek their fortunes—and reveals how Elizabeth’s fruitful alignment with the Islamic world, financed by England’s first joint stock companies, paved the way for its transformation into a global commercial empire.