Mamluk or mamaluk (; (singular), , mamālīk (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") Georgians, Armenians, Russians, (see Saqaliba). They also recruited from the Egyptians. The "Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon", was of great political importance; for one thing, it endured for nearly 1,000 years, from the 9th century to the early 19th. (See: Ghilman.)
Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military knightly class in various Muslim societies that were controlled by dynastic Arab rulers.