"The noble Selim had magnanimously omitted to do this. He allowed
the Mamelukes to take the oath of fidelity, supposing they would
keep it. He then made all Egypt a province of the Turkish Empire,
and returned to the banks of the Bosporus. He came home, a
victorious hero, covered with honor, and the whole empire received
him with exultation, and peace and happiness returned with him to
Stamboul. Over in Egypt, however, things were no longer looking so
peaceful, although the noble Selim had been so generous to the
Mamelukes that he had not only given them their lives, but also
accorded them a portion of their former power. He had desired to
have two powers in the government that should watch each other, and
therefore the great and wise ruler ordered that twenty-four Mameluke
officials should be appointed to share the government with his own
Turkish officials. In the same manner as the sultan appoints a
pacha, or governor, had the Mamelukes also appointed a chief. This
chief was called Sheik-el-Belad, and his power was equal to that of
the pacha. He had seven adjutants, the odjaklis, who commanded the
seven corps of which the Mameluke army consisted. And, I say to you,
the Mamelukes were more powerful in El-gahera than are the pachas in
Turkish cities. Their strifes and feuds were such, that those were
among the unhappiest of Egypt's days.
"And now, hearken to the dreadful conclusion.
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