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Note that unlike the usual unit roster development in MK1212, where the developer creates and requests a large number of new assets specifically for its development; The unit roster as shown mainly uses already-existing assets. This is done with the consideration that it is better to whip up a competitive and functional roster for factions quickly with what we have in hand. This is a much better option rather than leaving factions not having units or their own, missing entire tiers of units, or having their unit rosters barebones across tiers.
Therefore, we choose to create a unit roster framework that can be easily updated over time. After all, it is easier to update the visuals of the unit than updating the database and startpos dependencies of the mod. I understand that the models used in the current Ayyubid and Mamluk roster are not necessarily the most accurate nor suitable. Or, there are specific equipment and attire which the units should have, but don't. When time allows, we shall update the variantmeshdefinitions of the units with new models whenever possible.
Halqa means Ring or Circle, and Al-Halqa al-Khassah were the Ayyubid Sultan's elite inner circle guard. They were composed of knights with small fiefs and free small landholders serving the central administration, although sometimes a Mamluk can be a member of the Halqa. The Halqa al-Khassah holds a prestigious position, especially in Salahuddin's reign, and even in the early Mamluk era, where they occupied the same place side-by-side with the Bahriyya Mamluks. This was not to last, however, as the Mamluks in their land redistribution in order to centralise power rendered the Halqa powerless.
Sultan As-Salih Al-Ayyubi (rules 1240-1249) in his rise to power transformed the Ayyubid Sultanate in several ways. First, he attempted to change the Sultanate from a confederation of principalities where the Ayyubid Sultan was the primus inter pares, into a centralized autocratic state. Second, to centralize the military power, he recruited Mamluk in en-masse. These changes led to the foundation of the later Mamluk sultanate. Amongst the purchased Mamluks he trained to be the new core of the army, he organized into two units: The 200-men strong Jamdariyyah and the 800-men strong Bahriyyah. The Bahriyyah namesake was the river island barrack they were based in. It was the Bahriyyah Mamluks who in the end toppled the Ayyubid Dynasty's rule over Egypt and Syria, forming the first dynasty of The Mamluk Sultanate.
Axe-bearing Royal Guards were a common symbol of a Sultan's power in the Middle East. It is quite unclear, however, whether these axe-bearers were a battlefield unit, or merely ceremonial guards fo similar to Roman Lictors. Jean de Joinville described 30 Halqa members in 1250 carrying dane-axes hung on their necks. In Mamluk era, Sultan al-Nsir Muhammad Qalwn used to go to the hippodrome in an impressive procession, with a group of Kurdish axe-bearers going on foot in front of him with their axes drawn.
Kitāb al-Khiṭaṭ al-Maqrīzīyah defined the Tawashiyya as an holder of an income ranging from 700 and 1,000 and 1,200 dinars; which has a baggage train (barak) composed of ten or less heads of animals, including pure-bred horses, ordinary horses, mules, and camels; and has a page who carries his arms. In the year 1181 Salahuddin reorganised the regular forces in Egypt. The number of the troops amounted to 8.640 - 6876 of them were Tawashiyya. From their names, the Tawashiyya were Arabs, possibly also Kurds, and not Mamluks. Amirs of the Ayyubid era brought Tawashiyya in their retinues instead of Mamluks, up to early Mamluk era.
Under the later Fatimids and Ayyubids the system of land tenure in Egypt had become similar to a feudal regime. In Salahuddin's time all the cultivated lands were assigned as Iqta to army, especially to upkeep the Turkish and Kurdish horsemen.
Wafidiyya, or "Refugees" is the unit formed from people displaced by the Mongol Invasion. They especially include Mongol defectors and Muslim soldiers from destroyed realms - Persians, Turkomans, Kurds; excellent horsemen from the get-go which the Mamluks need not provide training. In the Mamluk Sultanate, they enter the ranks of the Sultan's Halqa, or as Tawashiyya under the Amirs. Later on, as the Wafidiyya influx dwindled, Amirs no longer has a cheap source of experienced troops; therefore it forces the Amirs to buy an all-Mamluk retinue if he wants his personal troops to have any value at all at the battlefield, no matter the high expenses.
In the Mamluk Sultanate, it was required by law for 2/3rds of an Amir's Iqta revenue has to be for the recruitment and maintenance of his retinue, and that must include a number of both Mamluk and non-Mamluk horsemen. The number of Mamluk an Amir may have depended on his rank; the lowest is Amir of 5, followed by Amir of 10 and 20. Amir al-Tablkhanah or Amir with a Marching Band may have 40 to 80 Mamluks. The highest Amir was the Amir Mi'a Muqaddam Alf, or the Amir of 100 Mamluks and Commander of 1000 horsemen.
The Awlad an-Nas were the sons of Mamluks, free Muslims by birth, unlike their fathers. Therefore, they cannot join the prestigious ranks held by Mamluks. In other words, the freeborn is lower in position than those who were once slaves in the Mamluk Sultanate social pyramid. In the Army, they comprised the elites of the Ajnad al-Halqa. An Awlad an-Nas may rise to become an Amir if the Sultan's need it, for instance, to counterbalance the influence of some opposing Mamluk factions.
The mainstay of the Ayyubid army was Kurdish and Turkish horse archers, and The Qaraghulam were Ghulam Turkish Horse Archers of the Sultan's central army - in 1181 during the rule of Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, he had 1153 Qaraghulam. Note that the "Qara" or black in the name does not denote Black Africans, since Salahuddin has disbanded the old Fatimid army, and mounted archery is the fighting style of the Turks. Most likely, Qara refers to the Turks from the North, denoted by Black in the traditional Turkish Colour-Cardinal Directions association.
Ajnad al-Halqa were the non-mamluk cavalry force of the Mamluk Sultanate, recruited from native Egyptians and sons of Mamluk. Halqa means Ring or Circle, composed of free small landholders serving the central administration. Once the elites of the Ayyubid army, they fell into mere sidekicks of the Mamluks and garrison guards.
The Jund was a standing army comprised of raised militia and paid soldiers either by salary, or more commonly by land grants forming military colonies. Originally in the Ummayad era, it specifically means military colonies, districts, and barracks; plus the regiments it housed who were capable of long expeditions. Over time, the term comes to describe the army as a whole.
The constant deterioration of the Halqa reached a point starting in the late 14th century, due to the fief redistributions, lands assigned to the Halqa dwindles to the point that some of them cannot afford horses anymore, therefore must serve alongside the Mamluks as infantry.
Mamluk manuals states that the infantry are to hold the line if the army were caught unprepared, until the cavalry can mount up and organize themselves. As attested by Al-Maqrizi report of a 1354 battle, the front line kneels in shieldwall, spears held from the their chest, archers stood right behind ready to shoot at the enemies' face, as cavalry stood in safety.
Even though the Composite Bow is the Mamluk's main ranged weaponry, Crossbow was also used by the Mamluk Army. As an illustrative example, a Mamluk archery manual from 1386 contains a section about shooting Crossbow from horseback. The crossbow is a Qaws ar-Riqab (stirrup crossbow), used with jabbadh (belt) and khattaf (double hook)
The first Arquebus unit of the Mamluk Sultanate was comprised of Awlad an-Nas, whose monthly pay in the year of 1490 was 1000 Dirham or less, a meagre pay. The Tabaqa al-Khamisa, "The fifth barracks" the arquebus unit raised later in 1510 were called so because they have separate payday so they won't mingle with the higher status Mamluk getting their pay in the previous 4 paydays. Sultan An-Nasir once made an Arquebus unit of Black Abid, which ended up with the unit slaughtered, and the Sultan intimidated by his own Royal Mamluks in 1498
Petroleum Mixtures, called Naft in medieval Arab parlance, were used throughout the Middle East as Incendiary weapon. Special units who specialized in this were called the Naffatun, who wears the Libas an-Naffatun, a protective fire-resistant suit to protect themselves from their own weapon.
The Ahdath, literally "young men", is a kind of urban militia that plays a considerable role in the cities of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia from the 10th to the 12th centuries, and is particularly well known at Aleppo and Damascus. Officially, its role is that of police, charged with public order, fire-fighting, etc., and also, in time of need, with military defence in the reinforcement of the regular troops.
The Infantry was never counted as a part of an Ayyubid or Mamluk army proper. Mamluk infantry units were irregulars recruited ad-hoc in times of military campaigns, Principally they were utilized for garrisoning fortresses, sieges, amphibious assaults, and occasionally accompanying the Mamluk field army. Mutatawwi'a means "volunteers".
At-Turkman at-Ta'a means "Obedient Turkmen", Turkmen loyal to the central authority. Turkmen were the most favoured of Mamluk Sultanate's auxiliaries. Together with the Kurds, they were settled to guard Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine from threats. Some Turkmen tribes were given the honour and task of running the Barid postal network and supplying the Sultanate with warhorses. Each region fielded different composition of auxiliaries in the raised armies, with Syrian armies utilizing most of the Turkmen.
'Urban at-Ta'a, literally "Obedient Arabs" were Bedouin Nomads loyal to the central authority, serving as light cavalry, scouts, raiders, and screening force. Some Arab tribes were tasked with supplying horses to the Barid postal service, and guarding roads south to Sudan.
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