The Holy Land from the Mamluk Sultanate to the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

Abstract This chapter narrates a history of the Holy Land over a long stretch of time from 1260 to 1799. During this period two main political powers ruled the Holy Land: the Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire. These two very different political entities shared a common heritage and many characteristics as they were both of Asian-Turkic origin and relatively late comers to the world of Islam. The analysis begins with the Battle of Ayn Jalut between the Mamluks and the Mongols, after which the Holy Land became part of the embryonic Mamluk Sultanate. It would be under the rule of the Mamluk Sultanate for c.270 years. In 1517, following the eastern expansion of the Ottoman Empire under Selim I, the Holy Land (as part of Greater Syria) entered a new period. It would remain under the Ottomans’ rule nominally until 1917. However, in the course of these 400 years there were many times when the Holy Land was controlled by local governors who did not pay heed to instructions arriving from the sultan in Istanbul. In 1798–9 the region experienced the Napoleonic invasion which not only exposed the weaknesses of the Ottoman Empire but also marked an historical watershed in the history of the Middle East. This episode, during which the winds of modernization, Westernization, and growing European influence buffet the Holy Land, concludes this chapter.