The Mamluk dynasty, the Ekta feudal state in Egypt's history, dominated Eurasia for hundreds of years with its powerful military strength! But the Mamluk Sultanate in the 15th century gradually declined, and finally ended in the early 16th century by the Ottoman Empire, another islamic empire that rose strongly, and the landmark event that proclaimed the collapse of the Mamluk dynasty was the Battle of Ridalia in 1517!
The Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk dynasty was actually the last of three crusades during the reign of Sultan Selim I, who had weakened the Safavid Empire in eastern Persia through two crusades, and the third had directly destroyed the Mamluk dynasty in the south
Selim I
The Third Crusade of the Ottomans was roughly divided into two phases: the first phase defeated the main Mamluk army through the Battle of the Dabik Steppe and occupied all the Mamluk territories in Asia; The second stage was to attack the Egyptian mainland, and finally to completely destroy the Mamluk dynasty with the Battle of Ridariya!
Ottoman and Mamluk
We just finished the battle of the Ottoman Empire vs. the Mamluk Dynasty in the last issue - that is, the Battle of the Dabik Steppe in 1516! After this battle, Mamluk completely lost the possibility of overturning, its demise is only a matter of time, but Tumanbey II, who has just succeeded to the throne in Egypt, is still stubbornly resisting, so there is the final Battle of Ridalia...
Battle of the Steppes of Dabik
And how did the battle between the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Dynasty, the Battle of the Cold-Hearted Selim I vs. Tumanbeyi II, happen, proceed and end? In this issue, let's find out...
Troops in Egypt
The Battle of the Dabik Steppe of 1516 ended with a narrow victory for the Ottoman Empire, the main mammary force of the Mamluk dynasty was completely crippled, the remnants were returned to Egypt, and because of the death of the old Mamluk sultan Gori (i.e., Sultan Adil Tumanbei i), the surviving Mamluk generals gathered in Cairo and elected a new ruler, Tumanbeyi II (also translated as "Turman Bey")
Mamluk Sultan Adil Tumanbeyi I
This Ashrayph Tumanbey II was the son of the old Sultan Adil Tumanbey I, the legal heir of the old Sultan, and of course he was the last caliph left by the Abbasid dynasty, although his reign lasted only three and a half months...
The newly succeeded Tumanbey II was worried, after all, the Mamluk dynasty left to him by his predecessor was only a corner of Egypt, the Ottomans across the Red Sea were aggressive and ready to attack, and the entire Egyptian Cairo court was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere
However, the Ottoman sultan Selim I was not in a hurry to attack The Egyptian mainland, but first wrote to Tumanbey, telling him that the Mamluk judges and lords in Asia had sworn allegiance to him, and that he was now the legitimate sultan of the Mamluk dynasty
Subsequently, the "ruthless" Selim I gave Tumanbeyi I two options: to surrender and continue to rule Egypt as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire; Or will it be stubborn and stubborn, and let the whole of Egypt face the disaster?
"Cold-hearted" Selim I
It is said that when reading this letter, Tumanbey wept with fear, because he knew that he could not choose to surrender, so his only choice was to die, or at least to lose the last "decency" of the Mamluk sultan.
In response to Selim I's propaganda offensive, Manbey I openly proclaimed himself the new Mamluk Sultan, tried his best to gather the remnants, and organized an army of tens of thousands of people to try to resist the Ottoman iron horse in the Sinai Peninsula
But the fear of the Ottomans still enveloped the Mamluk soldiers and subjects, and in order to maintain discipline and order, Tumanbey issued a proclamation: "The sale of wine, beer and marijuana is prohibited, and violators are punished by death!" "But anxious Cairo residents turned a deaf ear to the new sultan's orders, for at this moment they could only find some solace in drugs and alcohol...
In January 1517, Selim I mobilized 60,000 troops into Egypt and marched to Cairo, the capital of the Mamluk dynasty, where the two sides fought first on the Sinai Peninsula, but in just one day the Ottomans defeated The Tumanbey's army
Although some Mamluk generals still kept Tumanbeyi II to continue to resist, more Egyptian Mamluk lords, in order to save their own interests, turned to the Ottomans and became "glorious" leading party, so at this time Tumanbeyi II almost became the commander of the light pole
But the brave Tumanbey II still did not give up resistance, and continued to piece together a small number of troops, and also laid out defensive positions in Ridalia near the pyramids, ready to make a final attempt to resist the Ottomans to the death! Thus began the reedarilia, which proclaimed the fall of the Mamluk dynasty...
War readiness
On January 22, 1517, the Ottoman "ruthless" Selim I arrived on the northern outskirts of Cairo, and more than 60,000 Ottoman troops were highly motivated, and the troops were directed at the Mamluk capital - Cairo!
Selim led the army
On the other side was the 47th Sultan of Mamluk, Tumanbeyi II, who had been preparing for the battle, and although he was brave and unyielding, in fact he was not only short of soldiers, but also the few soldiers who were left without fighting spirit, and many troops did not even report to their duties
To this end, Tumenberg II sent the heralds throughout the streets of Cairo, threatening to hang each deserter in front of his own door, and in this way he reluctantly gathered 20,000 soldiers (30,000-50,000), and there were still some irregular troops, so the battle was doomed to a tragic end before it started...
Mamluk troops
But Tumanbey II was calmer than his predecessors, he had learned the lessons of the Battle of the Steppe of Dabik, and he knew the horrors of gunpowder weapons in the 16th century, so he also had to equip his army with firearms like the Ottomans!
To this end, Tumanbey lifted the ban on firearms in the chivalric system and assembled a large army of firearms from the fortifications throughout Egypt, but due to the Mamluks' perennial contempt for firearms and weapons, Tumanbeyi II assembled only a very small musket force
Fortunately, he managed to get 100 light artillery fighting vehicles, which were actually ox carts equipped with light muskets, and also arranged traditional stone cannons and other equipment, these long-range cold and hot weapons were arranged behind trenches and fences, becoming "fixed batteries" on the Egyptian side, because Tumanbei wanted to turn the field battle into a defensive battle and maximize his chances of victory
To this end, he also decided to rely on a strong defensive system in Ruidalia outside Cairo to build a defensive line and exhaust the Ottoman forces as much as possible. In order to compensate for the lack of mechanical power and firepower of the Mamluk army, Tumanbey equipped his camel cavalry with a small number of muskets, forming the so-called camel musketeers
But no matter how painstakingly Tumanbey II laid out the battlefield, the ottoman superiority was overwhelming, and the Ottomans were superior in terms of the number, quality, and quality of artillery, not to mention the ottoman army's rich experience in firearms combat, so in this shooting duel between firearms, the Ottoman heavy artillery won a complete victory
Ottoman artillery
Outside the positions, there was no shortage of spontaneous Cairo people who came to the battlefield to shout for the army and pray for victory, because they knew that the Mamluk army in front of them, which had no pay, lack of self-confidence, and even basically unreliable, was their last hope, and they were fighting for the survival of the Egyptians! This also sets the sad tone of this battle...
Guild wars
On January 23, 1517, the Battle of Ridariya was officially fought, which was first attacked by the Ottomans, who did not charge blindly as before, but first suppressed the Mamluk army with heavy artillery. These Egyptians were not Ottoman opponents at all in the artillery battle, so the battle was heavyly wounded at the beginning
Ibn Iyas, an Arab historian who wrote about the fall of the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt, later wrote of the battle: "It was a fierce battle, and the mere mention of it was enough to frighten and lose one's mind..."
Manuscript by historian Ibn Ias
With the cessation of the cannons, the Drums of Mamluk began to beat, and the remaining Mamluk cavalry stepped onto their horses and galloped toward the battlefield without hesitation, but encountered the Ottoman army several times larger than himself, and Ibn Iyes commented that the Ottomans "came like locusts"
In fact, there was a more important factor in the defeat of this war horse Mulyuk: traitor! It turned out that long before the war, a Mamluk emir had already defected to the enemy and defected to the Ottomans, and incidentally brought the strategic deployment of Tumanbey II to this battle
Therefore, when the Ottoman Sultan Selim I received the news brought by the rebellious Emir, he quickly ordered the army to detour around the Red Mountain behind Ridalia and launch an attack here, in fact, from the flank, he encircled the Mamluk fort, cutting and encircling the entire Mamluk army
Sultan Selim
So when the shelling stopped, Mamluk found himself on his stomach and back! Helplessly, Tumenberg II had no choice but to break through and give it a go, leading the remaining Mamluk Guards to launch a suicidal charge against the Ottoman army, several times larger than himself
Mamluk cavalry
Ibn Iyes records: "The Ottomans came from all directions like dark clouds... Their gunshots were deafening, their advances were cracking..." Mamluk suffered heavy losses
But these brave Egyptian Mamluk warriors also relied on their excellent military combat ability to break through the defenses of the Ottoman army, and even killed near the tent of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, and this group of desperate warriors who were anxious and unrepentant even beheaded the Ottoman Prime Minister - Shinan Pasha!
Shinan Pasha
This Shanan Pasha (also translated as "Sinan Pasha") has always been valued and trusted by Sultan Selim, and has distinguished himself in the previous Battles of Chaldilan and the Battle of the Dabik Steppe, so his death also highlights the heroism of the Mamluk warriors in despair
Mamluk warriors
For such a heroic Mamluk, even the Ottoman Sultan Selim gave full recognition, and after the war he said: "Although we won, we lost Shinan Pasha." "But it's almost the limit of what the Mamluks can do."
After all, "two fists are difficult to defeat four hands, and the evil tiger is still afraid of wolves." "In the face of the Ottoman army surrounded on all sides, the Mamluk army suffered heavy casualties, and after less than an hour of resistance, the Mamluk army finally collapsed, and the Battle of Ruidalia outside Cairo was a decisive defeat, and the whole battle was irreparable...
Tumanbey II led the remaining generals in a full retreat, vowing to fight again on a later date, but in fact he was already the commander of the light pole, so he had to flee and hide in the surrounding area to fight guerrillas. The Ottomans, on the other hand, won a total victory, which heralded the fall of the Mamluk dynasty...
Annihilation or new life?
With the collapse of the main Egyptian force, the Ottoman Sultan Selim attacked the city of Cairo without resistance, and then the army prepared to attack Cairo, but the Cairo people quickly surrendered Kaesong, and Egypt was once again destroyed. The next day, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I led a group into cairo
Sultan Selim
According to sources, the Ottomans then ransacked Cairo for 3 days, and the inhabitants of Cairo were looted and ravaged, and in desperation, the people of Cairo began to do their best to please their new master, Selim I
So in the traditional Friday ceremony of mosques in the name of The Mamluk Sultan after the Ottomans entered the city, the Cairo people began to pay homage, pray and praise to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I
The preachers read, "Allah bless the Sultan, the son of the King of the Two Lands and the Two Seas, the conqueror who commanded the two armies, the Sultan of the two Iraqs, the servant of the Two Holy Cities, and the victorious King Selim." O Lord of the two worlds, grant him eternal victory..."
The image of Selim in the game
The move worked, and Selim happily accepted the surrender of the Cairo people, immediately announced amnesty and restored discipline and order, and the whole of Cairo was restored to stability and security
At this time, Tumanbey II, who was still on the run, still did not give up the struggle, and continued to lead the remnants of the forces to resist in the surrounding area for 8 weeks, and as long as this Tumanbeyi II did not get rid of it, Selim would sit in Cairo for a day
Because Selim knew very well that as long as Tumanbey lived for one day, his supporters would continue to plot the restoration, and the Mamluk dynasty he had worked so hard to conquer would have the possibility of "resurrection" at any time, just like the ghost of the anti-Qing and restoration, Prince Zhusan. When and only by making public evidence of Tumanbey's death can the locals completely cut off hope...
Ottomans
It was not until April 1517 that the Bedouin tribes of Egypt betrayed the fleeing Tumanbey and handed him over to the Ottomans, and the poor last Mamluk sultan was captured by the Ottomans and eventually hanged in cairo's central square
It is said that Selim first took Tumanbey through the streets of Cairo to show the public that he was Tumanbeyi II. Tumanbey was then taken to the Zuvera Gate in Cairo and, according to local custom, the sultan was hanged above the Gate of Cairo
It is said that during the execution, the rope used to hang the sultan was broken twice in a row, and the surrounding residents of Cairo were very frightened, believing that it was a sign that the gods would not allow the king to be killed, and there was a burst of uneasiness and agitation among the crowd, which seemed to herald the intermittent rebellion and uprising in the area for the next hundred years
Eventually the third rope was not broken, and Tumanbey was hanged in Cairo Square, and then his head was hung at the Cairo City Gate for public display, which announced the end of the Mamluk dynasty that had once dominated for a time
Mamluk
Such a powerful Mamluk dynasty that had driven away the Crusaders, defeated the Mongol army, and was the leading military power in the Islamic world! It was annexed by the Ottomans, and for a time the whole eurasian continent was shaken! This also marked that the Ottoman Empire had finally become a world empire!
Ottoman Empire
For Selim, once Tumanbey died, he could return to Istanbul with complete peace of mind, and before he left Cairo, he also watched an Egyptian shadow puppet show, and the performer recreated the scene where Tumanbeyi was hanged
When the shadow puppet show broke the rope twice, the Ottoman "cold man" laughed, rewarded the performer with 200 dinars and a velvet cloak, and brought him back to Istanbul to show the plot to his son, and the son of the Sultan was suleiman the Great, the legendary "legislator" of the Ottoman Empire...
"Legislator" Suleiman the Great
Three years later, the "ruthless" Selim I died, and his son Suleiman inherited the Sultan's throne and a powerful empire spanning three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, including Syria, Egypt and other places conquered during Selim's reign...
However, although the Ottomans conquered Egypt, Syria and other places by force, the local Mamluk forces are still very powerful, just as the so-called "strong dragon does not suppress the head snake", these forces that survived from the Mamluk dynasty by defection, in the following decades and even hundreds of years, still firmly controlled the local government and held local real power
Fortunately, Selim I was not interested in ruling Egypt substantively, and did not make substantial changes to the administrative system of Egypt, but only sent a governor, and the Mamluk land snake here often overstepped the Ottoman governor and rose again to become the de facto ruler of Egypt
So in theory, Egypt and other places were part of the Ottoman Empire's territory, but in fact Egypt was really in charge of these Mamluks, so Egypt at that time was not so much Ottoman territory as it was more like a "Mamluk vassal"
So it is not surprising that uprisings, rebellions and upheavals continue to erupt in Egypt, Syria and other places. And this situation in Egypt was not completely eliminated until the beginning of the 19th century, until the reforms of Muhammad Ali, after which Egypt embarked on the road to modernization, of course, that is another story...
All in all, the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk dynasty was a major turning point in Arab history! Marks the end of the century and the beginning of modernity in the Arab world! This Battle of Ruidalia can be said to have influenced the course of Islamic civilization and even world history...
At the same time, the Ottoman Empire will also usher in its heyday emperor, Suleiman, a new era of the Ottoman Empire, which is about to strike...
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