Editing Mamluk (section)

===French attack and Mamluk takeover===
{{Main|Bahri Mamluks}}

In June 1249, the [[Seventh Crusade]] under [[Louis IX of France]] landed in Egypt and took [[Damietta]]. After the Egyptian troops retreated at first, the sultan had more than 50 commanders hanged as [[Desertion|deserters]].

When the Egyptian sultan [[as-Salih Ayyub]] died, the power passed briefly to his son [[al-Muazzam Turanshah]] and then his favorite wife [[Shajar al-Durr]], a [[Turkish people|Turk]] according to most historians, while others say she was an [[Armenians|Armenian]]. She took control with Mamluk support and launched a counterattack against the French. Troops of the [[Bahri Mamluks|Bahri]] commander [[Baibars]] defeated Louis's troops. The king delayed his retreat too long and was captured by the Mamluks in March 1250. He agreed to pay a ransom of 400,000 ''livres tournois'' to gain release (150,000 livres were never paid).<ref>[[Thomas F. Madden|Madden, Thomas F.]] ''Crusades: The Illustrated History''. 1st ed. Ann Arbor: [[University of Michigan Press]], 2005. p. 159</ref>

Because of political pressure for a male leader, [[Shajar al-Durr|Shajar]] married the Mamluk commander, [[Aybak]]. He was assassinated in his bath. In the ensuing power struggle, [[regent|viceregent]] [[Qutuz]], also a Mamluk, took over. He formally founded the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluke Sultanate]] and the [[Bahri Mamluks|Bahri mamluk dynasty]].

The first Mamluk dynasty was named Bahri after the name of one of the regiments, the ''Bahriyyah'' or River Island regiment. Its name referred to their center on [[Rhoda Island]] in the [[Nile]]. The regiment consisted mainly of [[Kipchaks]] and [[Cumans]].{{cn|date=April 2023}}

[[File:Bowl, Syria, 1350s-1400s, glass gilded and enameled - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05255.JPG|thumb|left|Mamluk-Syrian glassware vessel from the 14th century; in the course of trade, the middle vase shown ended up in [[Yemen]] and then China.]]