Sultan Baybars started his life as a Kipchak Turk on the steppe and ended it as the ruler of the most powerful state in the Islamic world. Slavery - military slavery, the practice of taking boys and training them as soldiers - was his pathway to power, but what did it mean for him and the thousands of others forced into that life?Become a member now at www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia. You'll get access to the Past Lives Discord server and four pieces of bonus content per month (including a historian interview, book club, Q and A, and a sources and evidence discussion). Past Lives is a 100-percent independent production, and your support is what allows us to make this show. So, thank you.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.