Egypt: 4. Late medieval (including Syria: Ayyubid, Mamluk)

For a period of some 350 years, Egypt and Syria were ruled by the Ayyubid and Mamluk states. The Ayyubid state (starting in 1171, and continuing to 1250 in Egypt and 1260 in Syria), ruled by a family of Kurdish origin, was more a federation than a unified polity. The Mamluk Sultanate, whose political–military elite were mostly slave soldiers of Turkish and Caucasian provenance, was a relatively more centralized affair, with Cairo clearly controlling the Syrian provinces. It was a period of wars with external enemies, mainly the Franks (Crusaders) and Mongols, but also one of great cultural vitality, financed by a prosperous agricultural economy and a robust international trade.