The mulazimin (sing. mulazim, nisbamulazimiyya) were the attendants-cum-bodyguards of the Khalifa Abdallahi b. Muhammad (q.v.). They could be divided into four corps, the mulazimin bi-l-bab al-sharif or personal attendants who stood at the Mahdi and Khalifa's gates, al-mulazimiyya al-jadid or the 'regulars' of the Mahdist army under Uthman Shaykh al-Din (q.v.), al-mulazimiyya al-qadim/al-imdadiyya the private guard of the Khalifa, and al-mulazimiyya al-sighar or the junior bodyguard composed of the sons of tribal leaders and political prisoners.
