 The Mamluk government, often under the official banner of the Pact of Umar which gave Christians and Jews "dhimmi" (protected peoples) status, ultimately determined the taxes that Christians and Jews paid to the sultanate, including the "jizyah" (tax on non-Muslims), whether a house of worship could be constructed and the public appearance of Christians and Jews.Jews generally fared better than Christians, and the latter experienced more difficulty under Mamluk rule than under previous Muslim powers.The association of Christians with the Mongols, due to the latter's use of Armenian and Georgian Christian auxiliaries, the attempted alliance between the Mongols and the Crusader powers, and the massacre of Muslim communities and the sparing of Christians in cities captured by the Mongols, may have contributed to rising anti-Christian sentiments in the Mamluk era.