The Mamluk Sultanate was a successor state to the Ayyubids. The Mamluks inherited the territories of Egypt, Syria, and the Hijaz, as well as formal ideologies, fiscal administration, and military institutions from the Ayyubids. The Mamluks, elite soldiers of slave origin, took over the state after assassinating the last Ayyubid ruler of Egypt in 1250. This coup d’état took place in the context of the Seventh Crusade.

During the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan al-Malik al-Salih, Louis IX of France’s forces captured Damietta in 1249 as part of the Seventh Crusade. Al-Salih was furious at the garrison and its leaders for abandoning Damietta and, in response, hanged some officers. Naturally, some in the military were upset and wanted to kill the Sultan. The atabeg al-askar Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Shaykh advised restraint, however, and he proved wise; al-Salih died a few months later. It was agreed by Fakhr al-Din, the Sultan's widow Shajar al-Durr, and the cavalry commander Jamal al-Din Muhassan that al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah should be the next sultan, and he was retrieved from a castle in what is now southeastern Turkey (Hisn Kayfa). All this was done in secret by Fakhr al-Din and the other notables. People were not supposed to know the Sultan had died. Of course, others began suspecting that the Sultan was dead, and believed Fakhr al-Din was conspiring to rule through the young Turan Shah. However, Fakhr al-Din was killed during a surprise attack by the Crusaders on the Muslim camp in Mansura (modern Mansoura, Egypt).

Turan Shah had made his way to Egypt but proved unpopular, especially with the military. There were various hostile accusations leveled against him, including that he slept with his father’s concubines and mamluks. The historicity of these allegations are debatable. One faction of the Bahri Mamluks, led by the future Sultan Baybars, decided they had enough and killed Turan Shah. After some more factional power struggles and drama, including the reign of al-Salih's widow Shajar al-Durr, Baybars gained control of the state. The Mamluk Sultanate lasted until the Ottoman conquest in 1516-17.