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Chapter V - I want to become Caliph instead of the Caliph!, or The Last Mamluk

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With the begining of Barsbay II Burji's personnal rule, the Sultanate of Egypt was looking toward a new direction. The long and exhausting campaigns in the desert of Arabia were a thing of the past. The growing merchant classes of Alexandria were now officially sponsored by the Sultan to start new colonial ventures in the Mediterranean and even beyond. While some of those colonies were lost, many of them prospered and were at the center of new sea trade routes between the "old" and the "new" worlds. In the past century, Alexandria established colonies in Sicily, in the souther part of Morea, in what has once been Venice and on the Dalmatian shore; the second wave of colonies would see a greater push westward, with the island of Madeira being discovered and settled: it would probably prove and usefull base for oceanic trade with Africa and Western Europe later on. The western coast of Al-Andalus was also resettled by Egyptians, while the native Sultanate of Grenada was competing with Algiers and Ruma for the eastern seaboard.

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Barsbay II was also a great patron of the arts and comanded the construction of several new mosques trough all his Empire; he also invited several artists at the court and promoted the devloppement of calligraphy and ceramics in special academies.

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The Sultan also encouraged contact with far away lands and gathered several maps in Cairo. In 1501 a rough map of all of Asia was completed.

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While generally considered as a man of peace, the Burji Sultan knew he had to prove himself on the battlefield in order to satisfy the generals. The long-time rival Timurid State had failed its modernisation, and was crumbling under both its own weight and external pressure. A quick campaign in the rebellious region of Persia would allow him to take a share of the collapsing empire, and kept the armies fit.

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While the first decades of Barsbay's reign were lauded as quite peacefull and enlightened delusion of grandeur everntually steped him. Unopposed in the entire islamic world, He was seeing himself as the natural center of it. Barsbay eventually declared himself the new Caliph. This claim was a foolish one, especially since the legitimate Abbasid family was still hanging around. The Abbasids grew in power and influence since the last century, and were a political force to be reckoned with in Cairo, but kept their mouths closed and endured this humiliation; their time would eventually come, and it was common knowledge that the old Burji Sultan was becoming senile anyway. Without the so-called new "Caliph" caring much about military campaigns and politics everyone let the old man have his fantasies.

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A lover of the arts and science, more interested in arts than matters of state, Barsbay was an odd man who failed to produce any male heir despite his long reign and large number of concubines. He was very different from his blood-thirsty ancestors who ruled over Egypt in the past centuries, and allowed the Grand Vizier to oversee much of the day-to-day affairs while the Abbasid Caliph was allowed to attend to important political meetings and to advise him in his decisions. Satisfied to be called "Caliph" by the members of his court, Barsbay II Burji was more and more disconnected from the real world and eventually fell completly in his fantasies and confusion.

Eventually a time came when the power was back in the hands of the Abbasid Caliph. Al-Mutawakkil III al-Abbas was a cunning man who managed, trough decades of intrigues and patience, to restaure at least a part of the power once associated with the prestigious title of Caliph. But he knew this would not remain the case forever, as the senile Sultan would pass out sooner than later. Then a cousin (Barsbay II had no surviving brothers by this time) would step in and restaure the old warlordish ways, and anhilate years of progress and modernisation. Conscious of this danger for the state, and also wanting to live up to the historical legacy of his name, Al-Mutawakkil was ready to act when he saw that the old Sultan was on his deathbed. Having already assured the loyalty of many kew government members, mostly Arabs more sympathetic to the House of Abbas than to the Circassian Mamluk rule, he proclaimed himself Sultan of Egypt before his rivals had any time to claim the throne.

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Acclaimed by the population of Cairo, the new "Sultan" was hailed as a liberator by the Arabs of Syria and Mesopotamia, who were looking forward a full restauration of the Caliphate. A few days after having secured his rule, the son of Abbas announced that he was Caliph above everything else, and that he would not be referred as Sultan of Egypt. This short-lived creation was the last incarnation of Mamluk power, wich was now a part of History. And History was looking toward both the past and the future, with the ancient dynasty of the long-lost Golden Age once again on the throne of a mighty and modern empire. The Abbasid Caliphate was back once more.

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Before anyone ask, this is my own version of Miscmod's "Arabia": I ajusted the graphics and titles, and decisions conditions, to fit the timeline and history.
 
Caliphate all the way!

I'm liking the tons of new Mamluk AARs. I've generally seen them as a weak power, but you're making me want to play a Mamluk game.

Can the Mamluks turn into Arabia in vanilla?
 
Aaaahhhgh, but in MMP2 all of Arabia's provinces are useless
 
Can we get a look at Europe please! The mapophille inside me is wanting to drool over a glourious map of Islamic Europe.
 
All hail the glory of the ruler of the faithful!

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