ABSTRACT
CONTEMPORARY sources furnish fairly ample information on the structure of the Mamluk army and the units from which. it was composed; but, though some of their definitions and descriptions come near to the truth, the present writer has found none of them. to be completely accurate.2 He is of the opinion that the treatment of this question by modern Orientalists is also in need of
some emendation,1 and he here submits the composition of the Mamluk army which, in his opinion, is the correct one, and the grounds for his suggestion will be presented in the course of the discussion. The Mamluk forces stationed in Egypt were divided into three main parts: I. The Royal Mamluks (al-mamālīk very rarely: mamālīk
). These were of two categories: (a) The mamluks of the ruling sultan (mushtarawāt, ajlāb, or julbān). (b) Mamluks who passed into the service of the ruling sultan from the
service of other masters (mustakhdamūn). These were divided into two parts:
1. Mamluks who passed into the service of the reigning sultan from that of former sultans (mamālīk al-mutaqaddima,
); 2. Mamluks who passed into the service of the reigning sultan from
that of the amirs, because of the death or dismissal of their masters (sayfīya).
