Los mamelucos fueron esclavos, en su mayoría de origen turco, procedentes de Asia Central, de las zonas del mar Negro y más al norte, islamizados e instruidos militarmente, que en sus inicios sirvieron como soldados a las órdenes de los distintos califas abásidas. Más tarde constituirían en 1250 un sultanato en Oriente Medio, que en el momento de ser conquistado por los otomanos (1517) se extendía por Egipto y Siria. Un precedente de dicho sultanato fue el Sultanato de Delhi, fundado en 1210 en el norte de la India por el general gúrida Qutb al-Din Aybak, un esclavo de origen turco que a la muerte de su señor, Mu`izz ad-Dîn Muhammad Guri, se independizó dando inicio a un régimen de mamelucos, denominados "de los reyes esclavos". Este régimen, a diferencia del mameluco egipcio, disponía de un territorio recientemente conquistado por el Islam, y donde, por consiguiente, la mayoría de la población era de otra religión (la hindú); aparte, era de una cultura y lenguaje predominantemente persa, diametralmente opuesto al egipcio, donde sus súbditos eran, en su mayoría, árabes musulmanes. La palabra procede del árabe مملوك mamlūk, «poseído», participio pasivo del verbo ملك malaka, «poseer, tener algo en propiedad».

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Mamluk (Arabic: مملوك mamlūk (singular), مماليك mamālīk (plural), meaning "property" , also transliterated as mamlouk, mamluq, mamluke, mameluk, mameluke, mamaluke or marmeluke) is an Arabic designation for slaves. More specifically, it refers to: \n* Khwarazmian dynasty in Iran (1077–1231) \n* Mamluk Dynasty (Delhi) (1206–1290) \n* Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) (1250–1517) \n* Mamluk dynasty of Iraq (1704–1831, under Ottoman Iraq) The most enduring Mamluk realm was the knightly military caste in Egypt in the Middle Ages that rose from the ranks of slave soldiers who were mainly Turkic peoples, Circassians, Abkhazians, Georgians, and Copts. Many Mamluks could also be of Balkan origin (Albanians, Greeks, and South Slavs). The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class, was of great political importance and was extraordinarily long-lived, lasting from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries. Over time, mamluks became a powerful military knightly caste in various societies that were controlled by Muslim rulers. Particularly in Egypt, but also in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and India, mamluks held political and military power. In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as emirs or beys. Most notably, mamluk factions seized the sultanate for themselves centered on Egypt and Syria as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously defeated the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ain Jalut; they had earlier fought the Crusaders in 1154-1169 and 1213-1221, effectively driving them out of Egypt and the Levant. In 1302 they formally expelled the last Crusaders from the Levant, ending the era of the Crusades. While mamluks were purchased, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In places such as Egypt from the Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, mamluks were considered to be “true lords" and "true warriors" with social status above the general population in Egypt and the Levant. In the Middle Ages, soon after the Mamlukes took up the practice of furusiyya "chivalry"; the Arabic term for a knight was fāris (plural fursān), although Mamluk knights were slaves until their service ended. The faris and the notion of furusiyya originated in pre-Muslim Persian brotherhoods, but within the Muslim world became prized as ideal warriors and eventually the origin of European knightly ideals. Fursān - whether free like Usama ibn Munqidh or unfree professional warriors like ghilman and mamluks - were trained in the use of various weapons such as the sword, spear, lance, javelin, club, bow and arrow, and tabarzin or "saddle ax" (hence the Mamluk bodyguards known as the tabardariyyah) They were also trained in wrestling and their martial skills were honed first on foot as piéton and then perfected when mounted. They were popularly used as heavy knightly cavalry by a number of different Islamic kingdoms and empires, including the Ayyubid dynasty and the Ottoman Empire.

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