Page "Mamluk" Paragraph 8

After the fragmentation of the Abbasid Empire, military slaves, known as either mamluks or Ghilman, became the basis of military power throughout the Islamic world.

The Fatimids of Egypt bought Armenian, Turkic and Sudanese slaves, who formed the bulk of their military and often their administration.

The powerful vizier Badr al-Jamali, for example, was a mamluk of Armenian origin.

In Iran and Iraq, the Buyids used Turkic slaves throughout their empire, such as the rebel al-Basasiri who eventually ushered in Saljuq rule in Baghdad after attempting a failed rebellion.

When the later Abbasids regained military control over Iraq, they also relied on the military slaves called Ghilman.