In the 12-13th century, the Slave Dynasty existed in two parts of the world: Egypt and Indian Subcontinent. Egyptian Slave Dynasty got famously known as the 'Mamluks'. Historical records denote that around 13th century, Qutbuddin Aybak ruled over the Delhi Sultanate in India and Egypt was under rule of Izz-al-Din Aybak. They were the 'representatives' of Slave dynasties that existed in respective countries. The Aybak surname being same which depicted their link to Turkish/Central Asian lineage. The reign of Mamluks stretched from 13th to 14th century in both areas.
Around 1220-21, the Shah of Khwarezm was fighting against Mongols in Central Asia but was beaten back to Ghazna while the city of Lahore provided help as secondary refuge on basis of same faith. Few decades later in the year 1260, the Mongols had invaded Muslim world up till Borders of Egypt, a country which was ruled by Mamluks. The City of Bayt Al Muqaddas (Jerusalem) had fallen back into hands of Christian Crusaders from Europe as a result of Mamluk-Ayyubid rivalry regarding deference to the Abbasid Caliphate. Mongol 'Golden hordes' under Berke Khan (who later embraced Islam and allied with Egyptian Muslim Mamluks against iIlkhanate's Hulagu Khan) had also captured half of Europe by defeating armies of Germany, France and Hungary in Battle of Mohi and Legnica during second quarter of 13th century. These events occurred after the periodical reign of Kurdish Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi spanning in between years 1173-93. The Mamluks in Egypt were the 'Slave warriors' who were high notables and worked under Syrian Ayyubids, who had consolidated the Muslim Kingdoms into an Islamic Republic as the potency of the Islamic Caliphate centered in Baghdad faded.
As the Syrian Ayyubids grew weak due to internal strife and rivalry with Mamluks, it was a time when Islamic Caliphate was facing two strong enemy forces i.e. the Mongol invasion and Crusader Onslaught. Baghdad and Damascus were destroyed and entirely razed to the ground with the whole population killed. Mamluk dominion of Damietta fell to Crusaders but Qutuz managed to repel their forces back to Holy Land. After the fall of Khwarezm in 1220-21 and Baghdad and Syria in 1260, the land of Egypt was the last citadel of Islam in the Middle East, and the existence of crusaders along the coast of the Levant was also forming a serious menace to the Islamic World.
However, there is more to it than what meets the eye than mere Crusader onslaught or Mongol invasion or Muslim resurgence after survival of Islamic presence in the Middle East. The level of devastation and destruction was of cataclysmic proportion but nature had a higher role to play.
Jalaluddin Mingburnu was the Shah of Khwarezm who struggled against Mongols from 1220-1231. The Central Asian Muslim empire of Khwarezm stretched from entire Central Asia to the whole of Persia. Ghazna and Kabul were in it, too. After fall of Central Asia to the Mongols in 1220-21, Jalaluddin Mingburnu made Ghazna his capital. There, the Muslims re-amassed and drove away Mongols at Battle of Parwan but were once beaten back into Indian subcontinent up till Lahore - from where they got military re-enforcements.
Jalauddin Mingburnu and his wife along with some members of the family perished in the sacrifice to save their country in the Battle of Indus where they faced the wrath of Mongol Army under command of Genghis Khan. Nature had other plans. It is said that the child of Jalauddin Mingburnu i.e. Mahmud Bin Mamdud was bought as Slave when their caravan was attacked after Jalaluddin had them escape from Ghazna to Lahore. The people who dealt with Mingburnu's son didn't know the truth about the identity of Mingburnu's children.
Luckily, their master treated him and his cousin as his own children. They were educated and sported in many activities. Time passes and the very child of Jalaluddin Mingburnu is in Egypt as a high notable, answerable to Sultan Izz-Al-Din Aybak and renamed as 'Saif-ud-Din Qutuz' by his master. In old times, traveling was common in Muslim lands as seen from Sufistic presence and exchange of 'slave warriors' along with gifts as a gesture of goodwill in Indian subcontinent and other parts of Muslim world existing at that time. The Abbasid Islamic Caliphate had been destroyed and was no more in existence by 1258. The only city that remained as Middle Eastern Muslim stronghold was Cairo, Egypt where the Mamluks (Slave dynasty) were in Power in year 1260, when Mongols had reached the borders of the Holy Land. It was at this time that the Christian Pope in Vatican sent a message to Jerusalem's Christian King to withhold their rivalry with Muslims and allow Mamluks the safe passage to Holy Land in order to face the Mongols.
Now, there is so much to know about Mamluks. The Mamluk group was created under Kurdish Ayyubids rule over Egypt. Salahuddin Ayyubi had not only united Muslims lands but he gave them a direction. The Ayyubid rule over Syria and Egypt was strengthened through consolidating the Muslim Kingdoms, Turkish polity and Persian Seljuks into Kurdish dominion. Previously, there had been rivalry between these factions. The brilliant administrative reforms, great organisational skills and good governance under Salahudddin and his brother's (TuranShah) reign led to establishment of first Islamic Republic as focus shifted from 'territorial expansionism' or 'ignorant materialism' to making Islam a 'race or nation-making force.' In time, the Syrian Ayyubids grew weak and their control waned over Muslim lands but their secondary state, Egyptian Mamluks, grew strong enough to replace as rulers over the 'Islamic Republic'. At time of destruction of Islamic Caliphate in Baghdad, the next city that was at aim of Mongols was Damascus.
Before Mongol reached Damascus, the Crusaders saw this as an opportunity in order to capture the Holy Land i.e. (Present day Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel) with help of Mongols. The Egyptian Mamluks (secondary state created by Ayyubids) had come in power in Egypt for the Syrian Ayyubids had become weak due to the threatening presence of Crusades, rapid advance of Mongols and incessant internal strife. Damascus was 'over-run' and captured by Mongols. Saifuddin Qutuz, the son of Khwarezm's Sultan Jalaluddin Mingburnu, was the new Sultan of Egypt at that time. This was the very son of Sultan Jalauddin Mingburnu who had escaped to AfPak region (North Western part of Indian subcontinent) during Mongol invasion of Central Asia and Persia. Mingburnu's new capital was Ghazna but he stayed in Lahore (India) for refuge and help.
Qutuz was Turkic origin. He was captured by highway robbers when he was young and sold as a slave. Later, he traveled to Syria where he was sold to an Egyptian slave merchant who then sold him to Izza-Al-dIn Aybak, the Mamluk sultan in Cairo. According to some sources, Qutuz claimed that his original name was Mahmud ibn Mamdud and he descended from Ala-ud-Din Muhammad II, a ruler of the Khwarezm. He became the most prominent Mu'izi Mamluk of Sultan Izza-Al-Din Aybak and he became his vice-Sultan in 1253. Aybak was assassinated in 1257 and Qutuz remained vice-Sultan for Aybak's son, Al-Mansur Ali.
Jalaluddin Mingburnu was martyred while fighting Mongols in Af-Pak region. Years later, his son became the only hope of the Muslim world. Saifuddin Qutuz became the Sultan of Egypt. His army defeated the Mongols at Battle of Ayn Jalut (The spring of Goliath), the same place where Khalid Bin Waleed defeated Byzantines and Salahuddin defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Hitteen. The Mongols had been unstoppable and undefeated but the Mamluk victory proved to be a decisive standstill for further Mongol advance. The period between 1200-1700 A.D. proved to be a period of massive changes in Islamic world as moral struggle of Muslims took a nosedive decline and Militarism replaced the concept of Ijtihaad.
All these Mamluk successes against Mongol and Crusaders came through long term planning and strategy of Kurdish Sultan Salahuddin Ayyubi. He had united the divided Muslim kingdoms and polity under Ayyubid rule. This included area of some parts of Persia with whole of Iraq, Hijaz, Yemen, Egypt and Levant and Syria. This was first concept of establishing an Islamic Republic Order. It created the Mamluk establishment in Egypt that came under rule of Jalaluddin Mingburnu's son, Saifuddin Qutuz, at time of Mongol invasion and Crusader onslaught. There was a concept of Slave warriors who were educated and sported and were treated as High notables. Kurds used this (availability of slave warriors) as their power and strength, while this payed off for the Muslim Ummah in the most dire need of time. An Islamic Republic arose for the first time in the Islamic history, which restored the lost Muslim identity after the Islamic Caliphate had fallen.
The 'supranational' identity is unique to Islamic lands as Kurds forged the Islamic Republic order by uniting the distant, dispersed and dislocated 'Islamic lands'. Ayyubids waged moral struggle but weakened when gave in to armed struggles in time of internal strife. The Muslim resurgence was 'captured' by Ottomans who fought endless and useless wars against Eastern Europe while Western Europe sought the opportunity to manipulate the elements of 'territorial expansionism' and 'atheistic materialism' within ranks of Muslim incompetence, who ceased to wage moral struggle and glorified armed struggle as the only priority. Today, the descendants of Kurdish nation who had formed the first Islamic Republic order do not have a country of their own but Israel, a Euro-Jewish state located in sea of Islam has proved to be a secular, democratic and prosperous nation for the past decades. The reality of the creation of Israel and Pakistan is coming forth in the struggle between the opposing forces, i.e. spiritual democracy and militaristic dictatorships. Both countries are now moving in the opposite directions.
Raheel Sharif should be well aware of the importance of democracy and the centrality of secularism if he is instated as Commander in Chief of the Islamic force comprised of 40 Muslim countries. The reality of Israel has to be understood. The challenge does not lie in Armed struggle but the means of moral struggle. Pakistan was obtained through a Constitutional and Democratic struggle whose principles were based on Moral grounds. Despite this, some Pakistanis tend to regard Democracy as 'kaafiro ka nizaam'; citing its wrongs. Relating to Imam Hosein's Moral struggle against Yazeed's Military dictatorship, it was democracy in shape of 'popular sovereignty' which was captured by militarism. If Khilafat was perfect, how come a tyrant like Yazeed could arise? As Muslims, we respect the Sahabas and the Ahlul Bayt. The four Righteous Caliphs were elected through four different ways. If Muslims had followed moral struggle instead of falsely glorifying armed struggle based upon militarism, then, Ijtihaad would've led to creation of Muslim social democracies. Benazir and Nawaz struggled against the military-industrial complex. They were humans; made mistakes. The real problem lies in Muslims setting their priorities wrong. Imran Khan is a popular figure but his lack of political understanding undermines his democratic credentials. Abandoning strategic depth and accepting secular democracy is a service to Islam and Pakistan. It will lead to a re-orientation that shifts the 'default Muslim situation' to a 'consolidated Muslim/Human effort.'
Arabs and Israelis have the same level of ignorance in dealing with each other. This, potentially, can increase further in scale from Arab-Israeli ignorance to Muslim-Jewish arrogance. Pakistan and Israel are two modern Nation-states created on basis of Religion. In the past seven decades, Israel has emerged as a secular, democratic and progressive Jewish State. Pakistan has faced Military dictatorships along with incompetent leadership and dealt with its consequences. In my opinion and observation, both countries are now moving towards the opposite camps.
Israel will become a 'Global' Military Dictatorship whilst Pakistan adopts 'Spiritual' Democracy with an element of secularism. Crusades were not Christians wars; they were European wars as witnessed in terms of WW1 and WW2. The liberation of Jerusalem as capital of the Euro-Jewish state took a millenium since Crusades. Iqbal stated that Zionism, Hindutva or any other radicalism is NOT the root of the problem rather the elements of 'territorial expansionism' and 'atheistic materialism,' which use religion and politics.
The Godless forces exploit the situation by utilising the elements of 'territorial expansionism' and 'atheistic materialism' for their ulterior motives. Capitalism and Communism. Godless Soviet Union has returned as the Christian Russia. The 'un-Islamic' Ottoman empire that waged useless and endless wars against East European Christians has been replaced by a Democratic, Secular and progressively Islamic Turkey.
The Muslims had abandoned Moral struggle. Even Pakistani Optimism has translated into Pakistani bigotry. Armed struggle is never the answer. Arabs have next to almost 'No' role in geo-political or other global affairs. Diminishing on regional level, too. To rule the world, either Godless state of Israel has to extend her borders or the world has to shrink. To make it possible, Israel will have to pave way to become a Global Military dictatorship.
The moral struggle is based upon the slogan which is attached to Imam Hosein: 'Moral Law is the Highest Law.' When it comes to Moral Law, the moral struggle and the encompassing human element transcends race, religion, creed and gender etc. The Muslim-Jewish arrogance can be cured through propagating the Moral element in terms of Moral struggle that supports Spiritual Democracy against Oppressive Militarism. We are stronger, better and more pure in terms of 'truth' if we stand together as One.
Salahuddin Ayyubi, the founder and creator of first Islamic Republic was a Kurd. It was an Islamic Republic that shelved the bogus 'Abbasid-ruled' Islamic Caliphate. It was only 200 years later when Ottoman Turks arose and captured Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) in 1453.
What is the role of Kurds, today? I wrote an article Vantage Point of Kurdish 'Millenium Quest, which relates to how the secular and democratic Kurds will rise against Israeli Global Military dictatorship and why they are linked to entire historical process of Islamic eschatology. Before waging an armed struggle, Salahuddin Ayyubi waged moral struggle against the 'Militaristic' status quo prevailing within Muslim societies of that time. This is how consolidation of the ground for establishment and creation of First Islamic Republic was ever witnessed.