 According to Holt, the factious nature of emirs who were not the sultan's "khushdashiyyah" derived from the primary loyalty of emirs and mamluks to their own "ustadh" (master) before the sultan.However, emirs who were part of the sultan's "khushdashiyyah" also rebelled at times, particularly the governors of Syria who formed power bases within their territory.Typically, the faction most loyal to the sultan were the Royal Mamluks, particularly those mamluks whom the sultan had personally recruited and manumitted.