The Battles of Marj Dabiq and Ridaniya (1516-1517)

After Chaldiran, relations between the Ottomans and the Mamluks of Egypt deteriorated. The Mamluk sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, alarmed by the Ottoman victory over the Safavids, brought a large army into Syria. A note on origin: by this time most Mamluk sultans and emirs were Circassians; the Kipchak Turks of the early period no longer held power.

On 24 August 1516 the armies met on the plain of Marj Dabiq north of Aleppo. Ottoman guns and muskets inflicted heavy losses on the Mamluk cavalry, and Khayr Bey, governor of Aleppo, went over to the Ottomans with his troops. The old sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri died on the field, and Syria passed to the Ottomans.

In Egypt the new sultan Tuman Bay fought on. On 22 January 1517 the Ottomans won again at Ridaniya near Cairo and took the city; Tuman Bay was captured and executed. The Mamluk Sultanate fell, Mecca and Medina came under Ottoman protection, and the Abbasid caliph was taken to Istanbul; the Ottoman sultans later bore the title of caliph.