Professor Ulrich Haarmann discussed the decline of the awl?d al-n?s in the Circassian period through a comparative analysis of iqt?‘ holdings in the Bahri period and the Circassian period in which he clearly showed that iqt?‘s held by them decreased in the latter period (Haarmann, 1984). Later he turned his eyes to the fact that the awl?d still enjoyed their economic activities in a period when they are considered to have declined, and modified his view regarding the decline theory (Idem, 1998). Recent studies reinforce the two movements that were pointed out by Haarmann, that is, the loss of the awl?d’s military status and increase of the awl?d’s waqf. However, there is as yet no study that explains the relations between the two seemingly contradictory occurrences. This paper therefore begins with the problem why the awl?d could acquire waqfs at a time they had lost land resources, and discusses change and continuity from the Mamluks to the Ottomans focusing on the following points: 1) It reveals the background to the formation of the awl?d’s economic base from the actual situation around the process of their land acquisition and the waqfization. 2) It gives a convincing interpretation of the problem why the awl?d were able to acquire land resources. In the process, it discusses characteristics of Mamluk administration in the Circassian period. 3) It further explores how administration changed through the Ottoman conquest and the establishment of Ottoman administration in Egypt, focusing on land holdings and the management of records concerning land.