I'm intrigued and confused by the Mamluks. They were bought as child slaves during the Middle Ages and raised to be warriors. Apparently the institutions of Mamluks often became powerful in many governments and, in the case of Egypt, even ruled.

My question is this: if these people were "slaves," then how could they also be rulers? In what sense are you a slave if you are literally ruling a country? Wouldn't your "owner" be the real person in power? When they took over, were they suddenly "freed"?

When the Mamluks became a self-perpetuating class--slave warriors recruiting more slave warriors--who exactly is enslaved to whom? It seems less like slavery and more like being forced into a very demanding club. Maybe as if the Ancient Roman praetorian guard had just adopted recruits as children?