by admin » Thu Feb 04, 2021 1:14 am
CHAPTER VI. Constitution of the Militia of the Mamlouks.
IN seizing the government of Egypt, the Mamlouks have taken steps which appear to secure their possession. The most effective, no doubt, is the precaution they took to debase the military corps of the Azābs and Janissaries. These two bodies, which once were the terror of the Pasha, are now nothing but simulacra as vain as himself. The Porte still has this fault to reproach itself with: because, even before Ybrahim Kiâya's instruction, the number of Turkish troops, which was to be 40,000 men, part cavalry, had been reduced to more than half by the avarice of the commanders, who diverted pay for their own benefit; after Ybrahim, Ali-bek completed this mess. First of all, he got rid of all the chiefs who could give him offense; he let the places go without filling them; he removed all influence from the commanders, and he debased all the Turkish troops, to the point that today the janissaries, the azābs and the 5 other corps are only a bunch of craftsmen, goujats and vagabonds who guard the gates of which pays them, and which tremble before the Mamlouks like the populace of Kaire. It is really in the body of these Mamlouks that all the military force of Egypt consists: among them, a few hundred are spread in the country and the villages to maintain the authority there, to collect the tributes there, and to watch the exactions. ; but the masses are gathered at Kaire. According to the calculations of educated people, their number should not exceed 8,500 men, both beks, kasks, and simple freedmen and Mamlouks still slaves; in this number there is a crowd of young people who have not yet reached 20 and 22 years of age. The strongest house is that of Ybrahim-bek, which has about 600 Mamlouks: after him comes Mourâd, who has no more than 400, but who, by his daring and lavishness, counterbalances the the miserly opulence of his rival; the rest of the beks, numbering 18 to 20, have from 50 to 200. There are also a large number of Mamlouks that we could call waves, in that being from extinct houses, they attach themselves to one or the other, according to their interest, ready to change for those who give them more. We must also count a few Serrâdjes, a sort of servants on horseback, who carry the orders of the beks, and fulfill the functions of ushers: the whole set does not amount to 10,000 riders. Infantry should not be counted: they are not esteemed in Turkia, and especially in the provinces of Asia. The prejudices of the ancient Persians and the Tartars still reign in these regions: war being there only the art of fleeing or pursuing, the man on horseback who best fulfills this double goal is deemed to be the only man of war; and as among the barbarians, the man of war is the only distinguished man, something demeaning has resulted in walking which has made it reserved for the people. It is for this reason that the Mamlouks allow the inhabitants of Egypt only mules and donkeys, and that they alone have the privilege of going on horseback; they use it in all its extent: in the city, in the country, on visits, even from door to door, we never see them except on horseback. Their clothing came to join prejudices to impose on them the obligation. This clothing, which in form does not differ from that of all the well-to-do people in Turkey, deserves to be described.
§ I. Clothing of the Mamlouks.
In the first place, it is an ample shirt of light and yellowish cotton linen, over which one puts on a sort of dressing gown in linen from India, or in light fabrics from Damascus and Aleppo. This dress called antari , falls from the neck to the ankles, and crosses on the front of the body to the hips, where it is fixed with 2 cords. On this first envelope comes a second, of the same shape, of the same width, and whose wide sleeves also fall to the tips of the fingers. This is called coftân ; it is usually made of richer silk fabrics than the first. A long belt tightens these two clothes at the waist, and divides the body in two packages. Above these two parts comes into a 3 e , called djoubé ; it is of unlined cloth, it has the same general shape, except that its sleeves are cut at the elbow. In winter, and often even in summer, this djoubé is trimmed with a fur, and becomes a pelisse . Finally we put on top of these 3 envelopes a last one, which we call beniche . It is the cloak or the formal dress. Its use is to cover the whole body exactly, even the tips of the fingers, which it would be very improper to let appear in front of adults. Under this beniche, the body looks like a long bag from which emerge a naked neck and a head without hair, covered with a turban. That of the Mamlouks,, is a yellow cylinder, trimmed outside with an artistically stiff muslin roll. Their feet are covered with a yellow leather slipper that goes up to the heels, and a quarterless slipper, always ready to stay on the way. But the most singular piece of this clothing is a kind of pants, the size of which is such that in its height, it reaches the chin, and that each of its legs could accommodate the whole body: add that the Mamlouks do it by that Venetian cloth called saille , which, although as soft as Elbeuf, is thicker than the cloth; and that, to walk more at ease, they enclose, under a drawstring belt, all the hanging part of the clothes we talked about. Swaddled in this way, we can see that the Mamlouks are not agile pedestrians; but what one does not conceive until after having seen the men of various countries, is that they regard their clothing as very convenient. It is in vain to object to them that on foot he prevents them from walking, that on horseback he charges uselessly, and that every dismounted rider is a lost man; they answer: It is the custom , and this word answers everything.
§ II. Crew of the Mamlouks.
Let's see if the crew of their horse is better reasoned. Since we took in Europe the good spirit to realize the motives of everything, we felt that the horse, to perform its movements under the rider, needed to be as light as possible. , and one has lightened his harness as much as the strength allowed. This revolution, the 18 th century witnessed the rise among us, is still far from the Mamluks, whose mind is stayed on 12 th century. Always guided by use, they give the horse a saddle with a rough frame loaded with iron, wood and leather. On this saddle rises an 8 inch high cantle, which covers the rider up to the loins, while, in the front, a pommel, projecting from 4 to 5 inches, threatens his chest when he bends. Under the saddle, instead of cushions, they extend 3 thick woolen blankets: the whole is fixed by a strap which passes over the saddle, and is attached, not by pin buckles, but by knots of weak straps and very complicated. Moreover, these saddles have a large chest and lack croupier, which throws them too much on the shoulders of the horse. The stirrups are a copper plate longer and wider than the foot, and the sides of which, raised by an inch, come to die at the handle from which they hang. The angles of this plate are sharp, and serve, instead of a spur, to open the sides with long wounds. The ordinary weight of a pair of these stirrups is 9-10 pounds, and often they go 12 and 13. The saddle and blankets weigh no less than 25; thus the horse initially carries a weight of 36 pounds, which is all the more ridiculous, as the horses of Egypt are very small. The bridle is also poorly designed in its kind; she is of the species we callat the genet , without articulation. The curb chain, which is only an iron ring, tightens the chin, to the point of cutting its skin; also all these horses have the bars broken, and absolutely lack of mouth : it is a necessary effect of the practices of the Mamlouks, who, instead of treating it like us, destroy it by violent jerks; they use them above all for a maneuver which is peculiar to them: it consists in throwing the horse with a loose bridle, then stopping it suddenly at the height of the race; seized by the bites, the horse stiffens its legs, bends the hocks, and ends its career by sliding in a single piece, like a wooden horse: one can imagine how much this repeated maneuver loses its legs and its mouth; but the Mamlouks find favor in it, and it suits their way of fighting. Moreover, in spite of their legs in hooks, and the perpetual movements of their bodies, one cannot deny that they are not firm and vigorous horsemen, and that they do not have something of warrior which flatters the eye even of them. 'a stranger;
§ III. Weapons of the Mamlouks.
The first is an English rifle about 30 inches in length, and of such caliber, that it can throw 10 to 12 bullets at a time, the effect of which, even without skill, is always lethal. In the second place, they wear on the belt 2 large pistols which are attached to the garment by a silk cord. From the pommel sometimes hangs a mace of weapons which they use to knock out; finally, on the left thigh hangs from a shoulder strap a curved saber, of a species little known in Europe; its blade, taken in a straight line, is not more than 24 inches, but, measured in its curvature, it has 30. This form, which seems strange to us, was not adopted without reasons; experience teaches that the effect of a straight blade is limited to the place and the moment of its fall, because it cuts only by pressing: a curved blade, on the contrary, presenting the cutting edge in retreat, slides by the effort of the arm, and continues its action in a long space. The barbarians, whose spirit is exercised preferably on the murderous arts, did not miss this observation, and hence the use of scimitars, so general and so ancient in the East. The common Mamlouks draw theirs from Constantinople and Europe; but the beks fight over the blades of Persia and the ancient factories of Damascus[93] , which they pay up to 40 and 50 louis. The qualities that they estimate are the lightness, the even and very striking temper, the undulations of the iron, and especially the delicacy of the cutting edge: it must be admitted that it is exquisite; but these blades have the drawback of being fragile like glass.
§ IV. Education and exercises of the Mamlouks.
The art of using these weapons is the subject of the education of the Mamlouks, and the occupation of their entire lives. Every day, early in the morning, most of them go to a plain outside Kaire; and there, running at full speed, they practice taking the rifle out of the shoulder strap quickly, pulling it right, throwing it under the thigh, to grab a pistol which they shoot and throw over the shoulder: then a second, with which they do the same, relying on the cord which attaches them, without wasting time in replacing them. The beks present encourage them; and whoever breaks the earthen vessel which serves as a goal receives praise and money. They also practice handling the saber well, and especially giving the backhand blow, which takes from the bottom up, and which is the most difficult to parry. Their edges are so good, and their hands so skilful that many cut off a head of wet cotton, like a loaf of butter. They also shoot the bow, although they have banished it from combat; but their favorite exercise is that ofDjerid : this name, which properly means reed , is generally given to any stick that is thrown by hand according to principles which have had to be those of the Romans for the pilum; instead of stick, the Mamlouks use fresh branches of the leafless palm. These branches, which are shaped like an artichoke stem, are 4 feet in length, and weigh 5 to 6 pounds. Armed with this draft, the horsemen enter the fight, and running at full speed, they launch it from quite a distance. As soon as he is launched, the aggressor turns bridle, and the one who flees pursues and throws in turn. The horses, trained by habit, assist their masters so well that it seems they take so much pleasure in it; but this pleasure is dangerous, for there are arms which throw so stiffly that the blow often injures and even becomes fatal. Woe to those who did not dodge Ali-bek's djerid! These games, which seem barbaric to us, are closely related to the political state of nations. It has not been 3 centuries since they existed among us, and their extinction is much less due to the accident of Henry II, or to a philosophical spirit, than to a state of inner peace which made them useless. Among the Turks, on the contrary, and among the Mamlouks, they have been preserved, because the anarchy of their society continued to make a need for everything relating to war. Let's see if their progress in this part is commensurate with their practice.
§ V. Military Art of the Mamlouks.
In our Europe, when we speak of troops and war, we immediately imagine a distribution of men by companies, by battalions, by squadrons; uniforms of sizes and colors, formations by ranks and lines, combinations of particular maneuvers or general evolutions; in short, a whole system of operations based on sound principles. These ideas are right for us; but when we transport them to the countries we are dealing with, they become so many errors. The Mamlouks know nothing of our military art; they have no uniforms, no ordinance, no training, no discipline, or even subordination. Their reunion is a crowd, their march is a mob, their combat is a duel, their war is a robbery; usually it is done in the town of Kaire itself: when you least think about it, a cabal breaks out, beks mount horses, the alarm spreads, their adversaries appear: you load up in the street with your saber the hand; a few murders decide the quarrel, and the weakest or the most timid is exiled. The people have nothing to do with these battles; what does it matter to him that tyrants kill each other? But one should not believe him a quiet spectator, in the midst of bullets and scimitar blows; this role is always dangerous: everyone flees from the battlefield, until calm is restored. Sometimes the populace plundered the homes of the exiles, and the conquerors put up no obstacle. On this subject, it is good to observe that these phrases used in the news of Europe: the beks made recruits, the beks roused the people, the people favored a party , are hardly able to give exact ideas . In the disputes between the Mamlouks, the people are never more than a passive actor.
Sometimes the war is transported to the country, and the combatants do not display more art there. The stronger or more daring party pursues the other; if they are equal in courage, they expect or arrange to meet; and there, without regard for the advantages of position, the two troops approach in platoon, the boldest marching in front; we approach each other, we challenge each other, we attack each other; each one chooses his man: one shoots, if one can, and one passes quickly to the saber; this is where the art of the rider and the flexibility of the horse unfold. If one falls, the other is lost. In routs, the servants, always present, relieve their master; and, if there are no witnesses, they knock him out to take the belt of sequins which he is careful to wear. Often the battle is decides by the death of 2 or 3 people. Especially for some time now, the Mamlouks have understood that their bosses, being the main stakeholders, must run the greatest risks, and they are leaving them the honor of doing so. If they have the advantage, so much the better for everyone; if they are conquered, we capitulate with the conqueror, who has often made his conditions in advance. There is only profit in remaining quiet; one is sure of finding a master who pays, and one returns to Kaire to live at his expense until new fortune.
§ VI. Discipline of the Mamlouks.
This character, which causes the mobility of this militia, is a necessary consequence of its constitution. The young peasant sold in Mingrelie or Georgia did not set foot in Egypt sooner than his ideas underwent a revolution. A huge career opens up to his eyes. Everything comes together to awaken his daring and ambition; still a slave, he feels destined to become master, and already he takes the spirit of his future condition. He calculates the need that his boss has of him, and he makes him buy his services and his zeal: he measures them on the salary he receives from them, or on the one he expects from them. However, as this company does not know of any other motive than money, it follows that the main care of masters is to satisfy the greed of their servants to maintain their attachment. Hence this lavishness of the beks, ruinous to Egypt which they plunder; hence the insubordination of the Mamlouks, fatal to their chiefs whom they despoil; hence those intrigues which never cease to agitate adults and children. Scarcely is a slave freed than he already looks at the first jobs. Who could stop his pretensions? Nothing in those in charge offers him that superiority of talent which imparts respect. He sees only soldiers like himself, who have come to power by the decrees of fate; and if fate pleases him to favor him, he will succeed in the same way, and he will not be less skilful in the art of governing, since this art consists only in taking money and giving saber blows. . Out of this order of things was born an unbridled luxury which, lifting the barriers to all needs, gave the rapacity of the great a boundless extent. This luxury is such that there is no Mamlouk whose maintenance does not cost 2,500 pounds per year, and there are many which cost twice as much. For each ramadan, you need new clothing, you need sheets from France, sailles from Venice, fabrics from Damascus and India. It is often necessary to renew the horses, the harnesses. We want damascened pistols and sabers, stirrups gilded with ground gold, silver-plated saddles and bridles. To distinguish them from the vulgar, the chiefs need jewelry, precious stones, Arabian horses of 2 and 300 louis, Kashmir shawls[94] of 25 and 50 louis, and a host of pelisses, the least of which cost 500 pounds[95] . Women have rejected, as too simple, the ancient use of sequins on the head and on the chest; they have substituted diamonds, emeralds, rubies and fine pearls; and, to the passion for shawls and furs, they joined that of the fabrics and braid of Lyon. When such needs are found in a class which has in hand all the authority, and which knows no rights neither of property, nor of life, one judges the consequences which they must have, and for the classes obliged to 'provide them, and for the very morals of those who have them.
§ VII. Mores of the Mamlouks.
The mores of the Mamlouks are such that it is to be feared, while retaining the simple features of the truth, to incur the suspicion of a passionate exaggeration. Most born in the Greek ritual, and circumcised at the time of purchase, they are in the eyes of the Turks themselves only renegades, without faith or religion. Strangers to each other, they are not bound by those natural feelings which unite other men. Without parents, without children, the past has done nothing for them; they do nothing for the future. Ignorant and superstitious by education, they become savage by murder, seditious by tumults, perfidious by cabals, cowardly by dissimulation, and corrupted by all kinds of debauchery. They are especially addicted to this shameful genre which has always been the vice of the Greeks and the Tartars; this is the first lesson they receive from their fencing master. We do not know how to explain this taste, when we consider that they all have women, unless we suppose that in one sex they seek the spice of the refusals of which they have deprived the other; but he doesn't it is no less true that there is not a single Mamlouk without spot; and their contagion has depraved the inhabitants of Kaire, even the Christians of Syria who dwell there.
§ VIII. Government of the Mamlouks.
Such is the species of men who are at this moment making the fate of Egypt; they are spirits, of this temper who are at the head of the government: a few happy saber-strikes, more cunning or daring lead to this preeminence; but it is understood that by changing their fortunes, the upstarts do not change their character, and that they carry the souls of slaves in the condition of kings. Sovereignty is not for them the difficult art of directing the diverse passions of a large society towards a common goal, but only a means of having more women, jewelry, horses, slaves, and more. satisfy their fancies. Administration, internally and externally, is conducted with this in mind. On the one hand, it is reduced to maneuvering vis-à-vis the court of Constantinople, to elude the tribute or threats from the sultan; on the other, to buy a lot of slaves, to multiply friends, to prevent plots, to destroy secret enemies with iron or poison; always in alarm, the chiefs live like the old tyrants of Syracuse. Mourâd and Ybrahim sleep only in the midst of rifles and sabers. Besides, no idea of police or public order[96] . The only business is to get money; and the means employed as the simplest is to seize it wherever it appears, to snatch it by violence from whoever possesses it, to impose at every moment arbitrary contributions on the villages and on the customs, which pays them back to trade.