The Mamluks

The Mamluks
In 1250 C.E., the short-lived Ayyubid dynasty (established by Saladin) was overthrown by slave regiments, and a new dynasty—the Mamluks—was born. The Mamluks, who were Turkic, soon expanded into Palestine, expelled the remaining Crusader states and repelled the Mongol attempt to invade Syria (see Battle of Ain Jalut). Thus they united Syria and Egypt for the longest period of time between the Abbasid and Ottoman empires (1250-1517).[20]