amlukes or Mameluke were slaves and became rulers in Egypt. There was also a slave dynasty in India founded by Qutubuddin Aibak who was a former slave and rose to became Sultan of Delhi in1206. Qutub Minar in Delhi bears his name. The Mamluke rule in Egypt started in 1240 and the slave dynasty rule ended in 1517.
Here is a link ro Mumlukes on BBC radio 4 on a program Called In Our Time
The ABCs of Islam and Sufism 