[The Social Sphere]
Society in Egypt and Syria during this period was awash with many peoples who differed in customs, traditions, and morals. As noted earlier, the Crusaders arrived bearing their own habits and ideas from one direction, while the Tatars came from another with their distinctive traditions and principles. Some Baghdadis moved to Egypt, some Egyptians left for Syria, and others journeyed from Syria to Egypt. These peoples mingled in both war and peace, forming a turbulent society that knew neither stability nor calm.

Al-Maqrizi depicts this society, saying:
“...When the Tatar incursions multiplied in the eastern and northern lands and in the territory of the Qipchaqs, they captured many people and sold them, and those captives were dispersed throughout the regions. Sultan al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub purchased a group of them and called them the Bahriyya; from among them came the rulers of Egypt, the first of whom was al-Muʿizz Aybak. Later, Qutuz met them in the famous battle at Ayn Jalut, defeated the Tatars, and captured many of them, who then settled in Egypt and Syria.
“During the reign of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars the influx of newcomers increased still further until they filled Egypt and Syria. The lands of Egypt and Syria became crowded with Mongol factions, and their customs and ways spread throughout the region. Meanwhile the kings, amirs, and armies of Egypt held hearts filled with terror of Genghis Khan and his sons; such awe and veneration had mingled with their very flesh and blood. Yet these men had been raised in the Abode of Islam, taught the Quran, and acquainted with the rulings of the Muhammadan faith. Thus they combined truth with falsehood and the good with the bad. They delegated to the Chief Judge everything connected to religious matters—prayer, fasting, zakat, and pilgrimage—entrusted him with the oversight of endowments and orphans, and assigned to him judgment in matters of Islamic law such as marital disputes, debts, and the like.” (1)

Hence, the society of this era was composed of:
The class of emirs, headed by the sultan: and this class possessed the greatest share of