Turks in Egypt
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (100.000-1.500.000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Egyptian Turks also referred to as Turco-Egyptians or Egyptian Turkoman, (Turkish: Mısır Türkleri) are Egyptian citizens of Turkish descent, who have been living in the Egypt since the Turkish Mamluk and Ottoman eras. Today their descendants continue to live there and still identify as Turkish, though they are also fully integrated in Egyptian society.
In the years before the Egyptian revolution, the ruling and upper classes were mainly Turkish, or of Turkish and Albanian descent, which was part of the heritage from the Ottoman rule of Egypt.
Turks had formed a part of the state or military apparatus as "Mamluks" in Syria and Egypt since at least the 9th century, during the Tulunid period. Most of the mamluks in the Ayyubids' service were ethnic Kipchak Turks from Central Asia, who, upon entering service, were converted to Sunni Islam and taught Arabic. In 1263, Turks became a power in Egypt and Baybars, founder of the Turkic Bahri dynasty, rebuilt and stringently trained the Mamluk army, which grew from 10,000 cavalry to 40,000, with a 4,000-strong royal guard at its core. The new force was rigidly disciplined and highly trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship and archery. However, Baybars success in establishing centralized rule resulted in the consolidation of the Mamluk Sultanate. Through opening diplomatic channels with the Mongols, Baybars also sought to stifle a potential alliance between the Mongols and the Christian powers of Europe, while also sowing divisions between the Mongol Ilkhanate and the Mongol Golden Horde. In addition, his diplomacy was also intended to maintain the flow of Turkic mamluks from Mongol-held Central Asia.
In 1382 the last Bahri Sultan Hajji II was dethroned and the Sultanate was taken over by the Circassian Emir Barquq. He was expelled in 1389 but returned to power in 1390, setting up the succeeding Burji dynasty.
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Wikipedia