Islamic History: The Ayyubid Period in Egypt (567-648/1171-1250) PDF

The Ayyubid Period in Egypt (567-648/1171-1250) Introduction It was a short duration so that it did not exceed 80 years only during which the sultans of this state were preoccupied with war on two fronts; one internally against the Fatimids and externally against th...

The Ayyubid Period in Egypt (567-648/1171-1250) Introduction It was a short duration so that it did not exceed 80 years only during which the sultans of this state were preoccupied with war on two fronts; one internally against the Fatimids and externally against the Crusaders who succeeded in establishing 4 small kingdoms in the Levant are: Antioch Edessa, Tripoli, and Jerusalem Before the Ayyubid Period The Arab world in the Near East in the Late 5th/11th was subjected to a violent shock as a result of the arrival of The First Crusade to the Levant in 490/1097 The victory of the First Crusade over the Muslims and their success in establishing principalities in: Antioch, Edessa, and Tripoli, wasn't caused by the strength of the Crusaders as much as the weakness of the Muslims at that time and as a result of a conflict between Muslims Due to the existence of two crumbling caliphates (Abassid Sunni caliphate in Baghdad and the Fatimid Shiite caliphate in Cairo) The Fatimid Shiite caliphate in Egypt was initially deceived with the Crusaders movement and the reality of their goals but then the Fatimids woke up when the saw that the Crusaders weren't satisfied with controlling only the Northern Levant but rather went too far in the country until they took over Jerusalem. At that time, the Fatimids couldn't remain silent so several land and sea campaigns came out of Egypt at the end of 5 th/11th and early 6th/12th to repeal the Crusaders threat but it seemed that the Fatimid state at that time was too weak to confront the crusaders threat and the Fatimid armies were defeated which enabled Baldwin I (the Crusaders king of Jerusalem) to penetrate to the Land of Egypt till Tennis (south of al-Manzala Lake) where he died in 512/1118 1 The people of Egypt weren't satisfied with that situation and they showed their anger against the Fatimids. There were a period of disturbances in Egypt as there were competitions between ministers who manipulated the caliph. They are Šāwür and Durgām so that each of them used an external force to support him against his opponent and this was the beginning of new stage in the history of Egypt and the history of the Near East. The aggravation of the Crusaders' dangers and the Expansion of their influence increased day after day that caused a violent reaction in the Islamic world which discovered that the success of the Jihad movement can only be achieved by the presence of united Islamic front among the Islamic forces scattered between the Euphrates to the Nile At the head of the Jihad movement was 'Imad al din Zinği (Atabik al-Mosul) who succeeded in annexing Aleppo, and after him his son (Nur al-din Maḥmüd) who succeeded in annexing Damascus 549/1154 and thus the next step became the annexation of Egypt in order to extend the united Islamic front from the Euphrates to the Nile and so the kingdom of Jerusalem will be between the Islamic forces at the North in Damascus and at the South in Egypt At that time there were conflicts in Egypt between Šāwūr and Durgām so that Šāwūr asked the help of Nūr al-din Mahmud in Damascus, and Durgām asked the help of the Crusader king Ammuri in Jerusalem So Nūr al-din alerted to this danger especially since the Fatimid caliphate became weak, thus Egypt became between 559-564/1164-1169, an area for a bitter struggle between Nür al-din and the Crusaders. During this period Nūr al-din sent three campaigns to Egypt under the leadership of Asad al-din Sirküh assisted by his nephew Salāḥ al-din The Egyptians joined Širkuh's side and resisted the Crusaders king Ammuri who finally didn't find a reliable ally in Egypt so he withdraw back to Palestine in 564/1169 while the Egyptians received the leader Širküh as a hero and the Fatimid caliph (al-'Add) chose him as his minister Soon after two months later, Širkuh died and Salah al-din succeeded him as a minister of the Fatimid caliph on one hand and the leader of the forces of Nūr al-din on the other hand. Undoubdly, dual career was a source of great embarrassment for Salah al-din who was a Sunni Shaf'i sect following his master Nūr al din and at the same time, Salah al-din had to carry the duty of the ministry for the Shiite Fatimid caliph 2 At that time Ammuri (king of Jerusalem) asked the help from the Roman Empire in Constantinople and the two sides launched a joint attack on Damietta in 565/1169 but Salah al-din withstood that danger and Damietta was able to resist the attack and the siege; beside also Salah al-din's attacks were intensified on the possessions of the crusaders in the Levant So the Crusaders were forced to lift the siege on Damietta and withdrew The Fatimid Caliphate couldn't live long it the shadow of the Sunni caliphate. After the insistence of Nūr al-din on Salah al-din, Supplications were made on the first Friday in 567/1171 for the Abbasid caliph (al-Mustḍi') and then Salah al-din erased all the traces of the Fatimid caliphate from Egypt which was considered as a turning point in the country's history Meanwhile, Bad relations between Salah al-din and his master Nūr al-din because Salah's desire to monopolize Egypt but at that time Nūr al-din died 570/1174 while he was preparing to carry out his campaign against Egypt. Also there were internal and external dangers face Salah al-din which are the remnants of the Fatimid caliphate and its followers, also the danger of the crusaders and their allies but finally Salah al-din was able to overcome these dangers to open a new page in the history of the Ayyubid state in Egypt and Levant? Salah al-din saw that the Islamic front that extended from the Euphrates to the Nile started to collapse especially that his master Nūr al-din left only a young son which arosed the ambitious of the princes of Nūr al-din in the Levant as well as he saw the Crusaders are the beneficiaries of this disputes that spread in the Islamic forces in the East. Thus he considered himself the only heir to his master Nūr al-din in his possessions and in his policy aimed at uniting the Islamic forces on one hand and then striking the crusaders on the other hand. Thus he decided to get the Levant in order to achieve his aim. Before going out to Syria to fight the Crusaders, he made a series of strong fortifications to protect Egypt against any Crusaders attack since he had grown in the Levant so he noticed the great difference between the defensive conditions of the cities in the Levant and those of Egypt as every major city in the Levant had its fortified citadel that protect it and the defensive wall that surrounded it. Salah al-din found that Cairo without a fortress that fortified it while its walls were demolished most Salah al-din had restored al Qāhira walls in 567/1171 before the fall of the Fatimid caliphate but it was a limited because Salah al-din was as a minister of the Fatimid caliph on one hand and the leader of the forces of Nūr al-din on the other hand. But the situation changed after Salah al-din became the sultan of Egypt and the Levant so he decided to build a huge wall of stone surrounding Cairo, al-Askr, al-Qatai' and al-Fustat and added a Citadel of the Muqattam hill to serve both as a fortress and residence of rulers and their garrisons to the city fortifications in 572/1176 in order to protect the country from any external attack. He went out to the Levant at the end of the 572/1176 where he entered into a bitter struggle against the Islamic separatist forces as well as the other forces that supported them as the 3 Crusaders; then he saw that the time has come to fulfill the second part of his policy to carry out a major Jihad movement against the Crusaders in the Levant Until he finally succeeded in 582/1186 in rebuilding the great Islamic unity between the Euphrates to the Nile and became the master of Egypt and the Levant Salah al-din and his Jihad against the crusaders After Salah al-din fortification of Egypt, he left it to the Levant in May 578/1182 to carry complete jihad movement against the crusaders and this was the last time in which Salah al- din saw Cairo as it was destined to for him to remain after that the Levant until he died. He made Damascus as a center for his military operations and he relied on the sources and strength of Egypt to achieve his policy During that time, Arnat (the owner of Kark Fortress) headed several ships in Red Sea aiming to attack the Holly mosques the Hijaz and demolishing the shrine of the prophet in the Madinah. So Salah al-din sent to his brother (al-'Adil) who was his deputy in Egypt ordering him to prevent the Crusaders the Red Sea from carrying out their goals. -As well as the provocations of Arnat, he took advantage of the position of his emirate (Karak) to cut off the road between Egypt and the Levant and attacked the save Convoys despit the truce between the Muslims and the Crusaders Salah al-din started preparing the armies to meet the Crusaders in a battle and succeeded in uniting a strong army from various Arab countries as the Levant, Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt. Battle of Hattin 583 / 1187 It was a decisive battle between the Crusaders and the Muslims, it was named after the village of Hittin where the events of the battle took place, it was found on Mount Hittin at Palestine What are the reasons of this battle? Stopping the Crusaders advance and their immoral criminal aggression against the Muslim Countries also the liberation of the Jerusalem He succeeded in defeating them in the Battle of Hattin 583/1187 which was the battle that succeeded in eliminating the entire crusader army. Among the captives were Jean Luzgnan (king of Jerusalem) and Arnat (the owner of Kark Fortress) who was punished for his crimes against the Muslims with death Soon Salah al-din's victories followed and he went to seize the coastal parts to deprive the Crusaders of any aid that would come to them from Western Europe. -Also he succeeded in seizing many of cities and fortresses of the Crusaders at Antioch and Tripoli. However these victories provoked Western Europe and they sent the Third Crusade 4 to the Levant but Salah al-din withstood the Crusaders' armies and it ended with the failure of Richard the Lion's heart to recover Jerusalem The peace of al-Ramalah 588A.H/1192A.D It was concluded with Salah al-din and by virtue of its decree the coastal area from Tyre (town on the Mediterranean coast of Southern Lebanon) to Jaffa in Palestine belonged to the Crusaders, and other that included Jerusalem remained in Hands of the Muslims Soon Salah al-din died after a short illness in Damascus in 589/1193 5  The Ayyubid State after Salah Al-Din Salah al-din divided his vast kingdom among his children and members of his family so that he made the kingdom of Damascus for his best son (Nūr al-din) who was the eldest of his children, he made Egypt for his son ʿUṯmān al-Malik al-ʿAzīz ʿUṯmān Salah al-din al-Ayyub 589-595/1193-1198 The second sultan of the Ayyubid state after his father, he was the representative of his father in the Egyptian lands when his father was in the Levant, and when his father died he took the ownership of it by the agreement of the emirs Al-Mansur Muhammad Nasir al-din Ibn al-'Aziz Ibn Salah al-din 595-596/1198-1200 He was the third Ayyubid sultan, he was 9 years so Atabik Baha al-din Qaraqus took the responsibility for him but his uncle (al- Afdal 'Ali Ibn Salah al-din) took all powers from him then he was defeated by al-Adil who came from Damascus Al-Afdal Nur al-din Ibn Ali 595-596/1198-1200 He wasn't fit for the leadership due to his weakness and he failed to maintain the friendship of the people around him, he rejected his father's emirs and advisors. He put his trust in his minister (Diaa' al-din Ibn al-Atir) which made the emirs upset this end with the unification of the Ayyubid house under the leadership al-Adil Saif al-din Al-Adil Saif al-Din Abu Bakr Brother of Salah el-Din 595-615/1200-1218 His reign extended 18 years during which the crusader leaders in Europe realized that there was no point in fighting the Islamic forces in the Levant as long as the Ayyubid Sultanate remained in Egypt which has huge Financial and human resources as the Ayyubid had depended on Egypt to obtain all the capabilities then enabled them to strike the crusaders in the Levant At the end of 6th/12th beginning of 7th/13th the crusaders concluded that the key to Jerusalem are in Cairo, so they had to start with Egypt first if they want to achieve their goals in Palestine and the Levant 6 The Fourth Crusade 599-601/1202-1204 It launched since 7th /13th to erase the ruins of wars with Salah al-din in the East and regain Jerusalem again from the Muslims but it failed to attack Egypt. So in the first half of 7 th 13th; Egypt was subjected to two major Crusades which are the 5th Crusade in 615/1218 and the 7th Crusade in 647/1249. We noticed the great similarity between the two campaigns as both of them headed to Damietta and the both made the same mistakes The first mistake that the Crusaders chose Damietta road because was the closest Egyptian port to the Crusaders in the Levant but they forgot what they could face in their invasion of Egypt by Nile from the natural obstacles as dams, canals, in addition to the flood waters that submerge all the lands As for the second mistake, they landed on the bank of the Nile facing Damietta instead of the Bank where the city of Damietta is located which made a problem of crossing the Nile -Also the Crusaders lost a lot of time after their landing on the shores of Egypt instead of taking advantages of launching quick and sudden attack which gave the Egyptians the opportunity to prepare. Al-Kamil Muhammad Nasir al din Ibn al-Adil During the time when he was acting on behalf of his father in Egypt, the Fifth Crusade occurred 615/1218 Jan de Baren (king of Jerusalem) believed the idea attacking Egypt, and when the preparation of the Crusade were completed in the Levant, Jan left a strong garrison Acre to defend it against Islamic attack. The Crusade chose to go down to Damietta because it is the close Egyptian port to the Crusaders in the Levant but they forgot what they could face in their invasion of Egypt by Nile from the natural obstacles as dams, canals, in addition to flood waters that submerge all the lands which made the access to Cairo impossible When the crusaders arrived, they set up their camp on the Western bank of the Nile facing Damietta. They found the city is strongly fortified where the Silsilah tower (a fortress built by Muslims) in the middle of the river to protect Damietta and repel any attacks 7 When al-Kamil (who was acting on Behalf of his father ruling Egypt) learnt that the Crusaders landed facing Damietta so he hurried at the head of his army and set up his camp at Damietta. At that time, the Crusaders realized the mistake they made they landed on the Western bank of the Nile facing Damietta instead of the Eastern Bank where the city Damietta is located which made a problem of crossing Nile. Then the Crusaders spent three months attacking at Silsilah tower until they finally managed in August 615 / 1218 to seize the Tower and when al-Malik al-Adil heard this news he died 615/1218. The sons of al-Adil are al-Kamil,al-Mu'azam isaa and al-Ašraf Mūsa in Egypt and the Levant realized the danger that threatened them and the Muslims is great and that if the Crusaders arrived in Egypt, there will be no place left for the Muslims in Egypt and the Levant so they did everything to expel the Crusaders from Egypt. Al-Kamil took quick defensive measures as he blocked the coarse of the Nile so he drowned several large boats in the course of the Nile to prevent the enemy ships from advance but the crusaders overcame those obstacles Jan began to face many problems in Egypt after seizing al-Silsilah tower because many Crusader thought that their mission ended with the fall of the tower so they withdrew back to their country. Thus Jan had to wait for supplies which arrived from Europe in 615/1218 but it is noticed that the representative of the pope arrived at the head these supplies (Cardinal Pelaguis) who led the Campaign. There is no doubt that the emergence leader of the Crusaders weakened the position of Jan in addition that the dual leadership had severe damage on the Fifth Crusade As for the Islamic Front, al-Kamil had to expel the Crusaders from Egypt just as (al-Mu'azam isaa and al-Ašraf Mūsa) continued their attacks on the Levant, to pressure on the Crusaders to force them to leave Egypt *During this time Damietta was able to hold out for another nine months *When al-Kamil learnt the arrival of new aid to the Crusaders, he sent to them a generous offer so that he will give them back kingdom of Jerusalem with the exception of al-Kark fortress which will remain in the hands of the Muslims but on one condition that the Crusaders left Egypt. Jan agreed to this offer Pelagius refused as he thought that owing Egypt became easy. When the aid for the Crusaders arrived in 616/1219 so the intensified their attacks on Damietta which it conditions worsened and was forced to surrender. The Crusaders took Damietta as their center 8 As for the Muslims, their loss was great with the loss of Damietta and also the emerge of the danger the Mongols in the Eastern part of the Islamic World when Genghis Khan seized most of Persia. At the end of July 618/1221, the three brothers (al-Kamil, al-Mu'azam, and al-Ašraf) gathered in al-Mansurah with their armies in preparation for the battle with the Crusaders. *During this time, the Crusaders continued their march in the midst of a large triangle surrounded by water on three sides (Lake al-Manzalah in the North, Damietta branch in the West, and Ashmoun Sea in the East.) *The Crusaders reached the area representing the tip of the Triangle surrounded by water on three sides which is the Branching Point of Ashmoun Sea so the Crusaders sunk in the flood water then quickly returned to Damietta but al-Kamil off their return thus the Crusaders were surrounded by water from all sides. There was nothing left except to ask for peace from al- Kamil who agreed. Thus the fifth Crusade ended in failure after it was expected to succeed and the Crusaders lost the opportunity to recover the kingdom of Jerusalem so they were forced finally to evacuate Damietta for free The sons of al-Adil showed strong solidarity after the death of their father, which was the reason for overcoming the Fifth Crusade But this alliance soon broke up at end of 620/1223 the result of the greed of al-Mu'azam Isaa who want to expand his property by the aggression against properties of his brothers. So al-Malik al-Muazam Isaa asked the help from a Ḫawarizm while al-Kamil asked the help of Emperor Fredrick II (Emperor of the Holly Rome state Western Europe) then al-Kamil prepared to go to the Levant. In fact that the appeal of al-Kamil wasn't the one reason that moved Fredrick II to the Levant but the Papacy pressed upon him to launch a new Crusade which would fix the situation of failure the Fifth Crusade The Sixth Crusade Emperor Fredrick decided to carry out his Crusade so he left the West in June 625/1228 heading to the Levant with only five hundred knights. Historians agreed that the Sixth Crusade is the strangest campaign in the history of the Crusades so that all the Crusades keen to gather thousands of fighters and a lot of weapons to fight the Muslims in the East but Fredrick came the Levant with only five hundred knights Also all the Crusades came from Western Europe having spirit hostility against the Muslims but here the Leader of the Sixth Campaign had been grown up on the Island of Sicily which is the Center of Islamic civilization that made this campaign characterized by a unique 9 tolerance as if when he came to the Levant to negotiate and not to fight because Fredrick depend on al-Kamil's promises to give him Jerusalem in return for assistance against his brother al-Muazim However as soon as Fredrick reached Acre on September 625/1228, his hopes collapsed because al-Muazim (owner of Damascus) died which enabled al-Kamil and his brother al- Asraf to share the property of their brother. Thus the situations were stabilized among the members of the Ayyubid house, and al-Kamil no longer needed the help of Fredrick so he wrote to him asking for promises. Al-Kamil felt that it wasn’t in his interest or the interest the Ayyubid house to clash with the Crusaders in Levant at that stage where the Arab World was expos to the threat of the Ḫawrizm and the Mongols The position of Fredrick was worsened at East as he had relied on al-Kamil's promises and he wasn’t prepared for the Muslims war and if he knew that al-Kamil would break his promises he didn't come out to the East at all or he had prepared seriously for the Muslim's war by bringing a big army with him Thus he left with nothing but negotiations to reach his goal but al-Kamil denied his promises and replies that he didn't need any more his help but Fredrik remained his pleas and negotiations with al-Kamil Soon these pleas succeeded with al-Kamil as had agreed to give him Jerusalem and concluded with Fredrick the Jaffa agreement in February 626/1229 According to this agreement peace was decide between the two parties for a period of ten years of the condition that the Crusaders would take Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Sidon The Muslims stipulated that: - The City of Jerusalem should remain as it is so that walls should not be renewed - The Haram including the rock of the dome and al-Aqsa mosque be in the hands of the Muslims and the rites of Islam are held there. However the handling of Jerusalem caused discontent in the Islamic World and intensified the denunciation on al-Kamil. Fredrick II entered it on March 627/1229 Al-Kamil died in 635/1338, he was succeeded by his so al-Adil II (635-637/1238-1240) Al-Salih Najm Al-Din and Al-Nasir Dawood (the owner of Karak) launched a campaign against Egypt to seize from Sultan Al-Adil II The senior princes of al-Adil had resented him for his preoccupation with amusement, so they arrested him and summoned Salih Najm al- Din to return to be the sultan in 637-647 1240-1249 10 Al Salih Nagm al-din Ayyub 637-6477124I He began organizing the affairs of his state an strengthened his Mamluks, he began to construct a new headquarters for them on the island of al-Rawdah where he established the royal houses and the enclosure wall and when it was completed, he moved from the Citadel and lived in it with his family and Mamluks. As for the Levant, a struggle broke out between his uncle al-Salih Ismail (the owner of Damascus) and al-Nasir Dawud (the owner of al-Kark) who was the ally of al-Salih Nagmel- din, so al-Salih Ismail asked the Crusaders to help him exchange for handling them Jerusalem, Tiberias, Askale and number of fortresses at the Levant which were in the hands of the Muslims. He also allowed them to en Damascus by weapons soon the Islamic world revolt against him in Egypt and the Levant The struggle developed to the alliance against al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-din in Egypt Among that alliance was Al-Nasir Dawood (the owner of Karak), Al-Salih Isma'il (the owner of Damascus) and King Al-Mansur Ibrahim (the owner of Hims). And to this alliance joined the Crusader Whom the kings allied with them promised to hand over part of Egypt after the defeat of al- Ṣāliḥ Nağım al-din. Then al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-din asked the help al-Hwarizmiyah and asked them to come to Egypt to help him in fighting the kings who allied with the Crusaders and handed them over the lands the Muslims. The battle of Gaza and the liberation of Jerusalem 1244(between Al-Khwarizmiya and the armies of Al-Salih Ayyūb on the one hand, and the Crusaders and the armies of Hims, Damascus and Jordan on the other hand. Introduction The Hwärizm crossed the Euphrates with about ten thousand fighters led by Prince Hussam al-Din Baraka Hän with several princes and attacked Jerusalem and killed a number of the Crusaders, from which they marched to Gaza and sent al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-din to know him of their arrival, he welcomed them and allowed them to reside in Gasa and sent them horses and money. Al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn prepared an army under the command of Prince Rukn al-Din Baībars, one of his Mamluks. The army, led by Baibars, went out to Gaza, where it joined the Ḫwārizm. As for the Levant, Al-Salih Ismail prepared the army of Damascus, led by King Al-Mansur, the owner of Hims. He was joined by forces from Karak and the Crusader forces 11 coming from Acre. The Crusaders raised crosses over the heads of Levant's army, and they all marched with their oath towards Egypt, and the priests bless them. The Gaza battle between Al-Khwarizmiya and the armies of Al-Salih Ayyūb on the one hand, and the Crusaders and the armies of Ḥims, Damascus and Jordan on the other hand. The crushing defeat befall the Crusaders and those who joined them from the hypocritical Muslims. There is no doubt this is the greatest disaster that has befallen the Crusaders since the Battle of Ḥittin 583/1178 until historians called it Second Hittin. After that, the Ḫwarizm hoped that Al-Salih Ayyūb would reward them by allowing them to settle in Egypt, but it seems that he feared the harm that would result from entering Egypt in the country and the people, so he only allowed them to settle in the Levant Egyptian army succeeded in taking Jerusalem, and Damascus surrendered in October 642 /1244 however, the Ḫwarizm soon became increasingly resentful of Al-Salih Ayyub, because they thought that he would reward them with giving after they helped him to defeat his opponents and to take possession of the Levant. Rather, it happened after his capture of Damascus that he prevented the Ḫwarizm from entering Damascus so they deviated from his obedience and contacted with emir Baibars who was commander of the forces of Al-Salih Ayyūb (his mother was from Hawarizm) and asked to join them in their revolution against the sultan, so he did so As well as al-Nasir Dawud (owner of al-Kark), and al-Salih Ismail (owner of Damascus) took the opportunity to take revenge on al-Salih Nagm al-din so that they joined the revolutionaries and they all marched to Damascus and besieged it. Here al-Salih Ayyūb showed skill and began to win over the people of Aleppo as well as al- Mansur Ibrahim (the owner of Ḥims) al-Salih Ayyūb also deceived Baibars to come to Egypt and executed him. All these measures had enabled al-Salih Ayyūb to defeat al-Hawarzmiah After the elimination of the Ḫwarizm thus, the Ayyubid state regained its unity, and Sultan Al-Salih Ayyub became the owner of Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem. The strength of its fortification and support The Seventh Crusade 647/1249 The conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims in 642 /1244 caused a violent reaction in the European West, so the Papacy, as usual, after every disaster that befalls the Crusaders in the East, called for a new crusade, but the conditions of the European West prevented without many of the kings and princes of Europe responding to that call, only Louis IX, King of France. 12 At that time, the news of the campaign was leaked to al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm aldīn, because Emperor Frederick II, who remained true to al-sultan al-Kamil, and after him his son al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn, sent secretly to the al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al- dīn informing him of this and he was ill in Damascus when he received this news, so he was taken to Egypt to be close to the field of military operations The campaign led by Louis IX sailed to Damietta in 647/1249. Here we note two observations. The first is that the idea of seizing Egypt as the key to Jerusalem was still dominating the minds of the Crusaders, and the second that Louis IX wanted to prepare for his attack with a kind of nerve warfare. As soon as he arrived in Damietta, he sent a message violent violence to al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn asking him to surrender immediately, he replied to Louis to denounce his arrogance and remind him of what the Muslims did to the Crusaders and warn him that he will regret it. In fact, the warning message sent by Emperor Frederick II benefited al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn that he rushed to fortify Damietta, he entrusted Prince Faḫr al-dīn Yūssuf to stand at the head of a force on the western bank of the Damietta branch to prevent the Crusaders from descending on that land. As for Damietta itself, it was loaded with great machines and ammunition When Louis found that Damietta was so well fortified that it was difficult for him to land on its land, he decided to go down on the western bank of the Nile facing Damietta, although Fakhr al-Din's forces had resisted the Crusaders, but they did not succeed in their mission. Then the Crusaders were able to land on the beach which made the people of Damietta terrified and fled away and left the gates of the city opened and forgot to cut the bridge that connects Damietta to the Western bank where the Crusaders are found so Damietta was left without any means of defense which enabled the Crusaders to enter it without any fight on 647/6th June 1249 In their campaign, the Crusaders did not try to benefit from the mistakes of the Fifth Crusade, 615/1218, because it was supposed that Louis IX marched into the interior of the country to try to eliminate the Ayyubid army, but the Crusaders wasted time in Damietta, five whole months most probably waited the end of the Nile Flood which was the reason for the failure of Jan de Baren campaign against Egypt 30 years ago, and this slowdown gave al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn an opportunity to prepare and reorganize his army. Al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn had punished the emir Faḫr al-din and his men for fleeing from Damietta, but the illness worsened and he was taken to the Mansoura Castle, where he continued on his deathbed to organize defense affairs. 13 Finally, the supplies reached Louis, accompanied by his brother, in 647/ October 1249, so the Crusaders decided to march on Cairo. At that time, al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn died on 647/ 23rd November 1249 There is no doubt that his death in these critical circumstances was a great loss because there was no one to replace him quickly in ruling the country and in the face of the danger of the Crusader invasion. The Battle of al-Manṣūrah 647/1249 Introduction Al-sultan al-Ṣāliḥ Nağm al-dīn had one son, Turān Šāh. He was an inexperienced young man who, when his father died, he was representing his father in the fortress of Kiva and Diyar Bakr. Until Turān Šāh came to Egypt, Šağr al-Durr, his father’s wife, played a prominent role, which history preserved for her. She hid the news of her husband’s death and sent to Turān Šāh summoning him to hurry up while preparations continue to defend the country However, despite all these precautions, the news of the sultan’s death was leaked, not only to the Egyptians, but also to the Crusaders, so Louis IX decided to speed up an attack to take advantage of these bad conditions and to be able to strike the Muslims before the arrival of Turān Šāh When the Crusader army moved from Damietta on 647 /20th November 1249, Louis chose the Delta route, so the Crusaders marched on the Eastern bank of the Damietta branch aligned to the Nile Southwards, which is a triangle bounded from the north by Lake Manzala, from the west by the Damietta branch, and from the east by the Ashmoum Ṭannāḥ branch known as the Little Sea. At during their marching southwards, the Crusaders were exposed to many attacks In the end, they reached the point that represents the tip of the triangle at the branch Point of Ashmoum Sea from the Damietta branch, then they found that the Nile separates them from al-Mansurah, at the time when Prince Fakhr al-Din, the commander of the Ayyubid army was killed, which made the position of Muslims in embarrassment But a foolishness occurred from the Crusaders, as a group of them rushed to launch an attack on the Muslims in Mansoura without listening to the king’s special orders to wait and wait. Thus, the Knights of the Crusaders rushed inside Mansoura at a time when the Muslims found a new force in the Bahri Mamluks and their leader Baybars Al-Bunduqdari Al- Salihi, as they saved the situation and attacked the Crusaders in the paths of Mansoura 14 until the battle ended with the defeat of the Crusaders It seems that the battle of Mansoura has restored confidence in the Muslims, and after that their attacks on the Crusaders intensified Turan Šāh and the Crusades At that time Turan Šāh arrived in Mansourah at the end of 647/ February 1249 after he had declared a sultan in Damascus on his way to Cairo. The arrival of the new sultan raised the morale of the Egyptians Meanwhile, the position of the Crusaders worsened due to: A) The interruption of communications between them and Damietta, which threatened them with starvation because Turan Šāh had ordered the Islamic ships attack on the Crusader boats. B)In addition to seizing huge quantities of supplies and equipment, thus cutting off the road to the Crusader ships and preventing the Crusaders from connecting with their base in Damietta. As a result of these difficulties, Louis IX made the opening of negotiations with the Muslims on the basis of leaving Damietta in exchange for the return of Jerusalem to the Crusaders, but Turan Šāh refused because Louis offered this peaceful compensation after his positions were worsened and his army was defeated in al-Mansurah. The Crusaders began to retreat towards Damietta. The Crusaders arrived at the middle of the road between Mansourah and Damietta at Faraskur until the illness defeated Louis IX and most of his army men. The Muslims launched a general attack. Louis was not able to fight, so one of his men led him, and in the battle of Faraskur 648/1250 (between whom??), a crushing defeat occurred on the Crusaders. Louis IX, who was led in shackles to Mansourah The end of the Ayyubid state The Bahri Mamluks became increasingly dissatisfied with Turan Šāh when they found that he was hidden from them and turned to corruption. They realized the badness of what he was implying for them, that he would get rid of them, so they decided to kill him when he stayed in Faraskour, Baibars al-Bunduqdari approach him and cut off his fingers so he fled to top of tower so Bari Mamluks set fire in the tower, so Turan Šāh was forced to throw himself into the water of the Nile until he drowned and With the death of Turan Sah Muharram 648/ 1250, the state of Bani Ayyub ended after they ruled 81 years and the establishment of the Mamluk state in the rule of Egypt and the Levant. We saw how the Ayyubid state was divided against itself after the death of Salah al-Din al- Ayyubi in the year 589/1193, so that Egypt, Damascus, Aleppo, Karak, Hims, Himah... and other centers of emirates ruled by the sons of the Ayyubid house who were called kings. 15 The Muslim emirs during that period achieve their goals by buying more Mamluks and they took care of training them that they could support them. The last years of the sixth century A.H and the first half of the seventh century, the increasing influence of the Mamluks. In fact, Sultan Al-Salih Najm Al-Din is the one who is credited with forming a new group of the Mamluks that played a dangerous role in history, the Mamluk Bahri group, so he bought large numbers of Mamluks, unless no one like him had bought before him, due to the large number of treachery experienced by the Kurds, the algorithm (ḫawarizm) and other armies. As for the reason for calling al-Bahariyah, it is likely that Al-Sah Najm Al-Din had chosen the island of Al-Rawda in the Nile as a center for them. The circumstances that surrounded Egypt at the end of the Ayyubid era enabled the Mamluks to monopolize the rule of Egypt. The Bahri Mamluks continued to rule Egypt (648-784/1250-1381). When the state of the Bahri Mamluks weakened, it was replaced by the towering Mamluk state (784-922/1381- 1517) Thus, Egypt will be under the rule of the Mamluks for more than two and a half centuries, that is, until the Ottomans invaded the country The Sultanate of Šağar al-Durr There is no doubt that Šağar al-Durr (in terms of origin and upbringing is closer to the Mamluks that's why al-Maqrizi considered her to be a Mamluk Turk Sultan of Egypt A) The first problem that faced Sultan Šağar al-Durr was that she rose up in the Sultanate and the French were still in the country. The fact that Louis IX was a captive in Mansoura, but Damietta remained a naval base in the hands of the French, and therefore the Crusader danger to Egypt still remained, as the opportunity exists in front of the European West to land So Šağar al-Durr had to think of a way to recover Damietta first before taking any other step inside or outside It was agreed that the Muslims would release Louis IX in exchange for 800,000 dinars, half of which would be paid in advance, and that the Crusaders would be evacuated from Damietta. Louis IX sent to the Crusaders in Damietta, ordering them to hand over the city to the Muslims B) the second problem: The position of Bani Ayyūb from the Šağar al-Durr Sultanate The killing of Turan Shah and the rise of Šağar al-Durr in the sultanate mean the end of the rule of the Ayyubids and the beginning of the rule of the Mamluks in Egypt. It has been the custom since the days of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi that the sultan has the subjection over the rest of the kings and princes in the Levant, but the Ayyubid princes did not accept to submit to the new sultanate, especially because they believed that they had the legitimate right to rule Egypt and the Levant as they were the strain of Salah al-din 16 So the fire of revolution began in the Levant against the Sultanate of the Mamluks, and the kings of Bani Ayyub refused to acknowledge what had happened in Egypt from declaring Šağar al-Durr a sultan It was not long before the kings of Bani Ayyub began to gather in the Levant to stand against the Mamluks in Egypt. Finally, the Mamluks in Egypt realized that the matter was not easy and that the position of the Ayyubids in the Levant threatening to eliminate their authority in Egypt, and that was at the time C) the third problem when the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta’sim took the blame for the people of Egypt that they chose a woman to rule them, so he sent to them saying, “If the men have been deprived of you, then tell us so that we can lead you a man.”} To confront these problems, the Mamluk princes in Egypt found that the interest is for Šağar al-Durr to marry Prince Izz Al-Din Aibak (Atabek Al-Askar), provided that she leave the Sultanate and this step was taken in Rabi’ II 648 /July 1250, so Šağar al-Durr removed herself from the Kingdom of Egypt and relinquished the rule to your father after she remained in the Sultanate for 80 days. Sultan al-Muʿiz Aībak al-Turkumānī He took over the Sultanate 648 /1250 to find himself facing many serious problems, the first of which was the Ayyubid threat to invade Egypt However, the hostility between the Mamluks in Egypt and the Ayyubids in the Levant could not continue and increase in violence due to the emergence of a new danger that threatened the Muslims in the Near East and asked them to unite to confront it, which is the danger of the Mongols. The state of Hulagu was in Persia, so the Caliph took the initiative to send a messenger to the two parties asking them to make peace and agree on the Mongol war. Indeed, peace was concluded in between the Mamluks in Egypt and the Ayyubids in the Levant, provided that the Mamluks of Egypt have access to the Jordan River and the Ayyubids have what is beyond that from the Levant, meaning that the Mamluk Sultanate take over Gaza, Jerusalem, Nablus, as well as Egypt The killing of al-Muʿiz Aībak and Šağar al-Durr The hostile attitude of the Ayyubids in the Levant was not the only problem facing al-Muʿiz Aībak, but there were internal problems that worried him and threatened his authority in the short period in which he took power. The first of these problems came from the side of the Bahri Mamluks, so that their increasing of influence didn't threatened Aibak only but the security of the common people from Killing and plundering them and exaggerated corruption 17 Aibak realized the danger of the increasing influence of the Bahri Mamluks, as they were about to kill him, so he killed their leader (Faris al-din Aqtai) but this didn't succeed in limiting their influence. As for the major internal problem that al-Muʿiz Aībak faced, which eventually claimed him, it was caused by Šağar al-Durr. This woman was inclined to dominate and control, and it seems that she had hardly given up the sultan to her husband al-Muʿiz Aībak until she returned and felt regret for that and began to think about getting rid of al-Muʿiz Aībak then rumors came to Šağar al-Durr that her husband wanted to marry, so she incited a group of servants to kill him in the bathroom, but the Mamluks of al-Muʿiz Aībak did not forgive her for her action, so they killed her shortly, and thus the scene was empty of al-Muʿiz Aībak and Šağar Al-Durr 655 /1257 Sultanate of ʿAlī Ibn Aībak 655-657/1257-1259 The Mamluk princes decided to choose ʿAlī Ibn Aībak as sultan after the murder of his father 655/1257. He was called al-Mansur and he was fifteen years old. One of the emirs (Saif al-din Qutuz) was chosen as his Atabik. At a time when Sultan Al-Mansur Ali was spending his time playing, as news reached Egypt that the Mongols had captured Baghdad in Safar 656 /1258, and had killed the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu’tasim Billah and burned mosques and shed blood. And (Al-Nasir Yusuf al-Ayyubi) (Owner of Damascus) instead of facing the danger of the Mongols that has become near to the Levant, he sent his son Al-Nasir Yusuf al-Ayyubi (owner of Damascus) to Hulagu asks for his help in seizing Egypt from the Mamluks, so Hulagu responded and sent 20,000 horsemen to the Levant. And when Saīf al-Dīn Quṭuẓ learned, so he decided that there must be a strong Sultan to fight this enemy, so he arrested Al-Mansur Ali, his brother and their mother, and thus the rule of Al-Mansur Ali was ended Sultanate of Saif al-Din Qutuz He began preparing to face the greatest danger that threatened Levant and Egypt at that time, which is the Mongol threat, because the Mongols soon crawled from Iraq to the Levant. Here, Al-Nasir Yusuf (emir of Damascus) awakened to the reality of the danger of the Mongols, as it seems that many of the princes of Levant feared the consequences of the resistance of the Mongols and called that there was no benefit in that resistance, but Prince Baībars al-Bunduqdārī (one of the princes of the Bahri Mamluks in the Levant) did not like that saying, and said to them: “You are the cause of the Muslims’ destruction.” And Baībars al-Bunduqdārī sent to Sultan Qutuz offering him to unite the efforts of the Muslims against the danger of the Mongols. Qutuz responded and sent to Baībars al-Bunduqdārī asking him to come. 18 The Battle of ʿAīn Ğālūt (between whom??) After the Mongols entered Damascus in 15 th Rabi'I 658 /1st March 1260A.D and destroyed it then moved southwards and seized Jerusalem, Karak. The conditions of the Levant were disturbed as a result of the invasion of the Mongols, then Hulagu sent a threatening letter to Qutuz asking him to surrender, but Qutuz killed the Mongol messengers and hung their heads on Bab Zuweila Qutuz chose Baībars al-Bunduqdārī at the head of the front of the army. When Baibars arrived, the Mongols withdrew from Gaza and the Mamluks occupied it. Then, after Qutuz arrived with the rest of the army, the Mamluks moved towards the coast road towards Lake Tiberias, Sultan Qutuz threatened the Crusaders in Acre that if they attacked the rear of the army, he would return to them and fight them before fighting the Mongols. There is no doubt that the Battle of ʿAīn Ğālūt was a dangerous turning point in the history of the Near East, as this battle saved Egypt and the Levant from the danger of the Mongols and made the Mongol state of Persia stand at the borders of Iraq. Ramadan the two teams met in the place known as ʿAīn Ğālūt in Palestine on 25 th 658 AH / 3rd September 1260 AD. The front of the Egyptian army led by Baibars while Qutuz had mobilized his army and with him the cavalry forces. The Mongol army was defeated in this battle History records that in this battle: a) The heavy cavalry of the Egyptian army was able to clearly defeat Mongol. b) Another point that first appearance in that battle is artillery, although it was in a primitive form, but it was used in this battle by the Egyptian army to fear the Mongol horses and confuse their cavalry, which helped to disrupt the Mongol military organization in this battle. c) The explosive composition of gunpowder for these cannons was later explained in Arabic alchemy and military manuals in the early fourteenth century. ‫تم شرح التركيب المتفجر للبارود لهذه المدافع الحقا ً في الكيمياء العربية والكتيبات العسكرية في أوائل‬ ‫القرن الرابع عشر‬ After the battle, there was a unification of the Levant and Egypt under the rule of the Mamluk sultan in Egypt over a period of 270 years until the Ottomans took control of Egypt by Selim I 19 Also after this battle, the Mongol state stood at the borders of Iraq. And Qutuz was able to extend the control of the Mamluk state over the Levant where its people knew of the subordination to the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and pledged to pay the tribute to Qutuz in Egypt and pray for him on the pulpits The end of Qutuz But the circumstances wanted Qutuz not to return to Egypt again and was treacherously killed on his way back to it, because Qutuz had promised Baibars to give him the province of Aleppo in appreciation of his efforts in the Mongol war. But then Qutuz denied his promises and gave Aleppo to Alaa’ al-din ibn Badr al-din Lu’lu’ but Qutuz forgot that Prince Baibars became of great prestige after the events of the Mongols, so that he became a threat to Sultan Qutuz in Egypt. Baibars took advantage of Qutuz's return to Cairo, so Baibars with some princes killed him with swords, and his betrayals ended in 658/ October 1260. Sultanate of Baibars 658-676/1260-1277 It is a common thing in the Mamluk period for the killer to easily replace the murdered one in the Sultanate. When Baibars arrived in Cairo, he went to the citadel and was received by the deputy of the Sultanate (Prince ʿIzz al-Din Aydmir) and other princes, and they swore to the new sultan in October 1260/ 658. His title became al-Zahir Baybars, and no sooner had he settled in the sultanate than he began to close to the common people, so he reduced taxes for them and abolished the money that had been confiscated under the pretext of fighting the Mongols. However, things did not happen easily to Baibars, as some of the princes refused to acknowledge Baibars with loyalty. The first of those rebellious was Prince Alam al-Din Sanjar, whom Qutuz had appointed him as a governor of Damascus. When he learned of Qutuz’s death, he revolted and declared himself a sultan, as he asked the owner of Himah and Hims to obey him, but they refused. Baibars sent a campaign led by Alaa al-Din al-Bunduqdari, which succeeded in capturing Prince Alam al-Din Sanjar and bringing him to Cairo 659/ 1261.He appointed Alaa al-Din as a governor of Damascus and assigned him to arrest some of the princes whom Baibars feared in the Levant Revival of the Abbasid Caliphate It seems that these revolutions that obstructed Baibars path at the beginning of his rule made him feel that he was in need of a major pillar on which to base his sultan after contemporaries viewed him as having usurped the Sultanate from Qutuz, also they insulted the Mamluks due to their non-free origin that’s why Baibars was eager to revive the Abbasid Caliphate in Egypt to take as a support for the rule of the Mamluks. 20 In fact, the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad (al-Musta’sim bi-Allah) at the hands of the Mongols 656/1258 created a strange situation in the Islamic world that Muslims have not become accustomed to since the death of their Prophet. In the midst of this great void that Muslims felt so some rulers of the Islamic world tried to revive the Caliphate in his country to gain great honor and place his court as a Qibla for the rest of the rulers of the Islamic world But Baibars was the quickest of all of them to take that step, so he sent summoning one of the sons of the Abbasid house from Damascus, so the emir arrived in Egypt, then the Sultan held a council in the Citadel to which he called judges, scholars, scientists and princes to testify the proof of the correct lineage of this imam and he was entitled as al-Mustansir bilallah Then this Caliph has inaugurated Baibars to the Sultanate, and thus Baibars held this position with a mandate from the greatest legal high authority in the Islamic world, which is the Caliphate. After Sultan Baibars achieved his goals by giving himself and his kingdom a legal character tradition, but he felt that he made a partner in his kingdom, as the coins were struck in the name of the Caliph and the Sultan together, it was called to the Caliph on the pulpits of mosques on Friday before praying for the Sultan also if a clash occurs between him and the Caliph, the public opinion in the Islamic world will support the Caliphate, as it is the first legitimate authority in a ruling since the death of the Prophet. Therefore, Baibars began to think about getting rid of the Caliph, so Baibars claimed that he wanted to return the Caliph to the Abbasid base in Baghdad, so he went with him to Damascus, and there he left him crossing the desert with a group of Turks heading to Iraq It is clear that if Baibars was serious about retrieving Baghdad from the Mongols and restoring the Abbasid Caliphate to its first base, so he would have personally accompanied the Caliph to Baghdad and be ready by gathering a large army for the Mongol war, but the Caliph was left alone with a few dozen or hundreds of men for the Mongol war, which led to his death. After the death of the Caliph, Baibars felt that he had taken upon himself the task of reviving the Abbasid Caliphate in Cairo, so he had no choice but to summon a new emir from Bani Abbas and pledge allegiance to him as the caliphate, but Baibars was keen this time to limit his influence. The Mamluk sultans in Egypt imitated al-Zahir Baibars in limiting the influence of the Abbasid Caliphs in Cairo, so the situation became throughout the Mamluk period that the Caliph delegated public affairs to the sultan and was called to him before the sultan 21 on the pulpits. Other than that, the Sultan tyrannizes all matters of government Baibars and the Crusaders However, a) The revival of the Abbasid Caliphate and the access of the Mamluks from it to rule the country was not sufficient to justify the Mamluk usurpation of the rights of Bani Ayyūb in the Sultanate. The Mamluks found a justification for their rise to power, and that was b) Their success in defeating Louis IX and his army in Mansoura and then in Faraskour. c) Therefore, it required a continuous effort from them to repel the major dangers (the Crusader and the Mongolian) that threatened Muslims in the Near East, in order to justify their rule and to remain in power. Baibars entered the battle against his enemies of the Crusaders and the Mongols, and beside him were some foreign powers, so that he allied with the Byzantine emperor who was the sworn enemy of the Crusaders in the Levant. Also Baibars allied with the Mongols of the Caucasus or (the golden tribe) at the Caspian Sea, they embraced Islam and the hostility intensified between them and the Pagan Mongols of Persia. They were hostile to both Crusaders and the Mongols In fact, the enmity between the Mamluks and the Mongols has not ceased since the battle of Ain Ğalut, as the Mongols of Persia kept waiting for the opportunity to take revenge and attacked the outskirts of the Mamluk state in Levant. In 663/1265, Hulagu died and his son (Abġā) continued his father hostile policy towards the Muslims and the friendly policy towards the Crusaders in the Levant In the second half of the 7th/13th century, the Mongols of Persia became in a state of internal problems that did not enable them to make a major attempt to invade the Levant. Therefore, Abġā asked for peace from Baibars, but Baibars knew very well that peace with the Mongols is something no Muslim is satisfied with after they destroyed Baghdad and killed the Caliph (al-Musta’sim) and they did with the Muslims what contradicted the rules of mercy and humanity, so Baibars refused peace with the Mongols In fact, Al-Zahir Baybars is considered the real founder of the Mamluk state because the long period he spent in power enabled him to undertake many internal and external projects. Also, Baibars long wars against the Mongols and the Crusaders did not stop him from securing the southern borders of Egypt, as he sent a large campaign to the Christian Kingdom of Nubia in 675/ 1276, which succeeded in subjugating it and forcing its king to pay the tribute. He also fortified the frontiers of Egypt and taking care of the fleet. 22 He returned to the Levant and soon he died in Damascus in 676/1277 after making a great efforts in strengthening the Mamluk state and defended it against its enemies especially the Crusaders and the Mongols Baibars entered the battle against his enemies of the Crusaders and the Mongols, and beside him were some foreign powers, so that he allied with the Byzantine emperor who was the sworn enemy of the Crusaders in the Levant. Also Baibars allied with the Mongols of the Caucasus or (the golden tribe) at the Caspian Sea, they embraced Islam and the hostility intensified between them and the Pagan Mongols of Persia. They were hostile to both Crusaders and the Mongols In fact, the enmity between the Mamluks and the Mongols has not ceased since the battle of Ain Ğalut, as the Mongols of Persia kept waiting for the opportunity to take revenge and attacked the outskirts of the Mamluk state in Levant. In 663/1265, Hulagu died and his son (Abġā) continued his father hostile policy towards the Muslims and the friendly policy towards the Crusaders in the Levant In the second half of the 7th/13th century, the Mongols of Persia became in a state of internal problems that did not enable them to make a major attempt to invade the Levant. Therefore, Abġā asked for peace from Baibars, but Baibars knew very well that peace with the Mongols is something no Muslim is satisfied with after they destroyed Baghdad and killed the Caliph (alMusta’sim) and they did with the Muslims what contradicted the rules of mercy and humanity, so Baibars refused peace with the Mongols In fact, Al-Zahir Baybars is considered the real founder of the Mamluk state because the long period he spent in power enabled him to undertake many internal and external projects. Also, Baibars long wars against the Mongols and the Crusaders did not stop him from securing the southern borders of Egypt, as he sent a large campaign to the Christian Kingdom of Nubia in 675/ 1276, which succeeded in subjugating it and forcing its king to pay the tribute. He also fortified the frontiers of Egypt and taking care of the fleet. 23 He returned to the Levant and soon he died in Damascus in 676/1277 after making a great efforts in strengthening the Mamluk state and defended it against its enemies especially the Crusaders and the Mongols Sons of Baibars A) al-Saʿīd Baraka ḫān 676-678/1277-1279 Baibars held a big celebration 662 /1264 By delegating the Sultanate ‫ تفىيض عهذ السلطنة‬to his son, al-Saʿīd Baraka ḫān he was not completely satisfied with what the princes would do with his son, so Baibars on his deathbed, was keen to advise his son to be aware of the senior princes because they saw him as a boy It was not a short time since Baibars died, so the princes kept causing him trouble in Egypt and the Levant, and in the year 678/ 1279 the princes rushed to tighten the siege on him at the citadel until his position worsened and he was forced to give up ‫ يتخلى‬the sultanate in the presence of the caliph, judges and princes, and he only spent two years in the sultanate.The second son of Baibars (Prince Badr al-Din Salamish) was chosen sultan in the year 678 /1279. B) Badr al-Din Salamish 678/1279 Qalāwūn al-Alfi became al-Atabik and thus achieved his goal because the sultan was seven years old so Qalāwūn used his guardianship to monopolize power and get rid of al- Mamlik al-Zahiriyah. And when the matters became ready for him to ascend the sultanate, he announced that there was no use of the presence of this young boy, so he was dismissed after three months in the Sultanate and was replaced by Saif al-din Qalāwūn The Qalāwūn family enjoys a special importance in the history of the Mamluks. Although the Mamluks did not believe in the principle of the king’s inheritance, the Qalāwūn family deviated from this rule. The family of Banu Qalāwūn was able to retain the position of sultanate for a period of approximately 678-784/1279-1385 which is considered a unique example in the Mamluk state. The period of the Banu Qalāwūn family represents the era of prosperity in the Mamluk state, after the foundation role played by Sultan Baibars ended, and after the Mamluks proved their ability to rule and to face the major dangers that threatened Egypt and the Levant. 24 Qalāwūn and his family were surrounded by a halo of greatness and glory that made contemporaries cling to his sons and grandsons after him and see in Qalāwūn's house strength and stability Sultan Saif al-Din Qalāwūn 678-689 /1279 1290 The matter was settled after Salāmiš was deposed and Prince Saif al-Din Qalāwūn assumed the position of the Sultanate in the year 678/1279. No sooner had he ascended the throne than he began to be close to the people with his good deeds, and if some historians took from him his love for collecting money, but this money he collected has been used in building many vital facilities that immortalized his memory, the most famous of which are the school and the Bimaristān, as well as the castles that he renewed in the Levant and the wars he carried out against the Crusaders and Mongols, which required more money. At the beginning of his reign, the internal revolutions that most of the Mamluk sultans were exposed to at the beginning of their rule, so Prince Šams al-Din Sunqar al-Ašqar, the deputy of the Levant, as he wanted to take over the position of the Sultanate, called the people of Levant to abandon the obedience of Qalāwūn, but he did not find support from them, so Qalāwūn sent a strong army that defeated him 679 /1280. In the following year, some of the Zahirite princes (from the Mamluks of al-Zahir Baibars) conspired against Sultan Qalāwūn and secretly contacted the Crusaders, so Qalāwūn learnt of the plot and punished the conspirators with imprisonment and the execution. Therefore, after the apparent position of al-Zāhirīyah Mamluks, he seriously thought about creating a league of Mamluks for himself, on which he relied in facing the internal and external dangers facing him, therefore he bought more from the Mamluks and raising them in the towers of the castle and created a new group of them known as Burğī Mamluks After the sultan got rid of the internal dangers (what are they??), he started heading towards the Mongols and the Crusaders who threaten the Levant from time to time. Šams al-Din Sunqar al-Ašqar had seized several castles in the Levant, the most important of which was Șahīyūn Castle and from there he sent for help of the Crusaders and Mongols against his opponent Qalāwūn. 25 So on 679/1280, Abġā sent a force that occupied some castles in the North of the Levant and then entered Aleppo and burnt its mosques and schools and killed many of its people. And when the Mongols learnt that Qalawun had arrived in Gaza and he was on his way to them for war so they hurried back to their bases in Iraq However, if the Mongols had retreated to Iraq, but their conquest of Levant in 679/1280 alerted Qalāwūn to the danger surrounding him as a result of the alliance of his three enemies (the Mongols, the Crusaders and Šams al-Din Sunqar al-Ašqar), as the Mongols had attacked the Levant based on the appeal of Prince Sunqar, and at the same time the Crusaders took advantage of an opportunity of the Mongols’ attack and they tried to recover the fortress of the Kurds Rağab 679/ October 1280 but their attempt was unsuccessful So Qalāwūn took a new policy aimed at separating his opponents (who are they??) so that he could fight each of them separately. It seemed that Qalāwūn wanted to inflict his first strike with the Mongols as he began making peace with the main Crusader forces in the Levant in 680/ 1281. As for Sunqar al-Ašqar, the sultan later pardoned him in the year 686 /1287 and gave him generously so he appointed him as a governor over the province of Antioch Abġā went to the Levant at the head of a large army of the Mongols in Ğumada II 680 /Sep 1281, and in the battle of Ḥims that took place between Qalāwūn and the Mongols Ragab 680/ October1281 a crushing defeat occurred to the Mongols, after which they returned to Iraq. Qalāwūn saw that he would take opportunity to inflict his second strike on the Crusaders even though he made peace with them for a period of ten years, of which only four years had passed so in the year 684/1285, Qalāwūn attacked the fortress of al-Marqab, which was the most dangerous Crusader fortification in the Levant, and seized it, which caused a great loss for the Crusaders At a time when the Mamluks were preparing to finally finish off the Crusaders in the Levant, but the Crusaders did not notice the reality of the danger that threatened them, and they continued their internal disputes in Levant in the second half of the 7th /13th century. Qalawun took advantage of the crusaders’ preoccupation with these disputes: *He sent an expedition that captured Latakia 686/1287, which is the last country left for the Crusaders from the province of Antioch. 26  *Likewise, Tripoli fell into his grip on 688/1289. *The Muslims also seized the Crusader centers near Tripoli, and there was nothing left for the Crusaders of their broad kingdom in the Levant except Acre, Tyre, Sidon, where Acre was one of the greatest and most powerful Crusader cities but Qalāwūn did not intend to attack Acre, as he agreed to renew treaty with them for 10 years The Crusaders in the Levant asked Qalāwūn to keep the rest of their cities in the Levant for them. But some of the Crusaders came from Italy 689 / 1290, spoiling the atmosphere between the Muslims and the Crusaders, as these arrived in Acre and attacked the Muslims which renewed the war between the Muslims and the Crusaders. Qalāwūn swore to take revenge on the Crusaders and began preparation in Egypt and the Levant to carry out a major war action against Acre. The Sultan died suddenly 689 /1290 Sultan al-Ašraf Ḫalīl bin Qalāwūn Qalāwūn 689-693/1290-1293 During the lifetime of al-sultan Qalāwūn, he wanted to make his eldest son, ‘Alāa’ al-din Ali, as a sultan in his life, and this step was actually completed 679 /1280, and the new sultan was called al-Malik al-Salih, but he died 687/ 1288 after spending 8 years as a sultan in the lifetime of his father. Then Later on after the death of sultan Qalāwūn, his second son Ḫalīl became a sultan and was called al-Ashraf 689 /1290, especially since the situation required a new sultan quickly to lead the campaign that Qalāwūn had prepared to avenge the Crusaders in Acre. And the new sultan began preparing to go out at the head of the campaign to the Levant, so the Crusaders tried to apologize to him, but he did not accept So the Islamic armies from Egypt and the Levant gathered in front of Acre in 690/April 1291, and the siege of the city began and throwing catapults at it. The Crusaders made a desperate effort to defend Acre, but to no avail. The Muslims stormed the city in 690/May 1291 There is no doubt that the conquest of Acre by the Muslims was the final major blow that struck the Crusaders in the Levant. Thus, Sultan Khalil became the hero of the last pages of the Crusades in Levant. However, the success of Al-Ashraf Khalil in expelling the last remnants of the Crusaders from Levant did not intercede for him with the senior princes, who increased their discontent 27 with him because of his treachery and his contempt‫ تحقير‬for them until they started thinking about getting rid of him. The conspiracy movement was led against him by Prince Badr al-Din Bīdrāa, the deputy of the Sultanate, whose relationship with AlAshraf Khalil worsened. Bīdrāa planned with the great princes such as Hussam al-Din Lajin, Shams al-Din Qarasunqur and Saif al-Din Bahadur. When al-Ashraf Khalil went out hunting 693/ 1293, Bīdrāa struck him with the sword, and the rest of the princes followed him until they killed him. The First Reign of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalāwūn 693-694/1293-1294 After the killing of Al-Ashraf Khalil, the same charade that occurred after the murder of Qutuz was repeated, as the conspirators gathered and decided that the hero of the conspiracy, Prince Bīdrāa, is the one who would take over the sultanate, but the Mamluks of Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil led by (Zain Al-Din Katbuġā) killed Bīdrāa and so the situation was void of Al-Ashraf Khalil and Prince Bīdrāa A new hero appeared is Prince Zain al-Din Katbuġā, who was accompanied by his men to Cairo to proclaim himself a sultan in the citadel. However, Prince ʿAlam al-Din Sanğar al- Šuğāʿī, whom Ashraf Khalil had appointed as his deputy at the Citadel before he went out hunting, prevented the entry of Katbuġā to Cairo until the negotiations between the two parties ended by choosing al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalāwūn as sultan When Al-Nasir Muhammad became a Sultan for the first time 693/1293, he was a young child, no more than nine years old. Indeed, Al-Nasir spent a year in sultanate during which Prince ʿAlam al-Din Sanğar al-Šuğāʿī tyrannized with the affairs of the state. And when Katbuġā realized the increasing influence of al- al-Šuğāʿī to the extent that he threatened him, he got rid of him by killing, then gathered the princes and told them that things had gone wrong because the sultan was young. Thus, he removed al-Nasir Muhammad from the sultanate 694/1294 and Katbuġā became a sultan. 28 Sultan al-ʿĀdil Katbuġā 694-696/1294-1296 He took over the Sultanate 694/1294. Although the Sultan Katbuġā pardoned Prince Hussam al-Din Lağīn, who participated in the killing of Al-Ashraf Khalil, and appointed him as deputy of the Sultanate, but it was not long before Lağīn’s greed for the sultanate, and at that time the anger of the princes of Levant against Katbuġā was because he dismissed Prince Izz Al-Din Aībak Al-Hamwi, the deputy of the Sultanate in the Levant and appointed one of his Mamluks instead. Also when Katbuġā visited the Levant for the first time after his sultanate, he did not distribute grants to the princes, as was the custom. Lāğīn plotted with the princes to kill Katbuġā during his return from the Levant to Egypt, but Katbuġā managed to escape and returned to Damascus, while Husam Al-Din Lāğīn declared himself sultan and the princes pledged allegiance to him and he returned to the citadel, where he was entitled as Sultan Al-Mansur Sultan al-Mansur Lāğīn 696-698/1296-1298 He took the position of Sultanate 696/1296, and Katbuġā found himself defeated, so he accepted what Lāğīn offered him to abdicate and reside in the city of Șarḫad. Al-Nasir, the holder of the legal right in the Sultanate, was expelled to Karak. The princes also stipulated ‫ يشترط‬that al-Mansur Lāğīn should not favor his Mamluks as Katbuġā did, and not be alone in his opinion, so Lāğīn pledged to them ‫تعهد‬with all that. But soon Lāğīn forgot his promises after things were settled for him, so he dismissed Shams al-Din Qarasunqur, who had been appointed as the deputy of the Sultanate and appointed instead of him his Mamluk Mankūtumur So this caused troubles that faced Sultan Lāğīn, as he provoked ‫يستفس‬the princes by doubting them and excluding them from state positions and replacing them with other from his Mamluks which made the emirs getting angry and think about getting rid of Lāğīn and Mankūtumur together in 698/1298 The second reign of sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun 698-708 / 1298-1308 Al-Nasir Muhammad returns to the throne again 698/1298 because there was no major figure among the Mamluk princes, after the killing of Lāğīn and Mankūtumur, who could control the situation and monopolize the sultanate, so they brought Al-Nasir Muhammad from Karak as the owner of the legal right in the sultanate to take over the sultanate for the second time.Prince Saif al-Din Salar was appointed deputy of the sultanate, and Prince Rukn al-Din Baibars al- Ğāšankīr was appointed as the Ustadar 29 The most important thing that the Mamluk state was subjected to at that time was the renewed attack of the Mongols on the Levant, as Ghazan’s armies penetrated the Levant at end of 697/1298 until the Mamluks were defeated At that was at the time when a large army of the Mamluks came out headed by Sultan Al- Nasir to Levant 698/1299 and were able to enter Levant. They did not care about Ġāzān’s request to make a truce. Then at the battle of Marğ al-ṣafar, which took place near Damascus in 702/1302, the Mongols were crushed by a crushing defeat, which made the people rejoice in the victory of Muhammad despite his young age But Al-Nasir Muhammad could not stand in the face of the senior prince Mamluks due to his young age, so his sultanate was nominal, especially after the two emirs Salar and Baibars narrowed the noose around him. Finally, Sultan Al-Nasir was fed up with this, so he surmounted emir Baktamur al-Ğunkāndār to help him getting rid of these two emirs. And when they learnt of the plot, they besieged the Citadel to arrest al-Nasir Muhammad, but the people supported the young sultan, so Salar and Baibars were forced to renew their loyalty to Nasser Muhammad But Al-Nasir Muhammad remained uncomfortable with this situation, afraid of the treachery of these two princes and he was tired of his life which he spent in the confines ‫ فى حدود‬of the castle. He realized that there was no benefit in overcoming them so he thought of escaping from the Sultanate. So he pretended that he wanted to perform the pilgrimage and left Egypt for the Hijaz by way of Karak. No sooner had he reached Karak in 708/1308 than he sent a message to the princes in Egypt telling them that he had left the Sultanate. The princes were confused when they received the message of Al-Nasir Muhammad, so they sent asking him to return but he refused. So the princes offered Salar the position of the Sultanate, but he refused for fear of not being exposed to the fate of Katbuġā and Lāğīn, especially since the conditions of the state were confused, so he apologized. The princes pledged allegiance to Baibars al-Ğāšinkīr in the Sultanate 30 Sultan Al-Muzaffar Rukn Al-Din Baibars Al-Ğāšinkīr 708/1308 He took the position of the Sultanate 708/1308 and appointed Prince Salar as his deputy, but soon the hopes of Baybars II collapsed as al-Nasir Muhammad still enjoyed great popularity in Egypt and the Levant, so that people could not forget him easily. The rise of Baibars would come coupled with the decline of the Nile and the rise in prices, so the people became angry in the streets, then many of the princes of the Levant declared their loyalty to the House of Qalāwūn and sent to al-Nasir Muhammad at al-Karak asking permission to come to him for supporting Indeed, Al-Nasir began organizing his ranks ‫ صفوفه‬to recover his lost sultanate, and when he visited Damascus, its people greeted him and the sermon on was held in his name in a ŠaꜤbān 709/1309. As for Al-Muzaffar Baibars, his position worsened, and most of his men abandoned him and fled to the side of al-Nasir. Finally, al-Nasir Muhammad came with his men and supporters to Egypt. Baibars found himself alone and no army standing by him, so he was forced to give up the throne and allow al-Nasir to pardon him. The Third Reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalāwūn 709-741/1309-1340 The first period of his reign, he was a puppet in hands of Katbuġā and al-Suga’I. In the second period, although he grew up but he lived under siege of Baibars al-Ğāšinkīr and Salar who were the actual sultan and controlled his life. Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad who had passed the age of childhood and reached age of 25 years and was experienced So Baibars Ğāšinkīr was arrested and executed, but Salar was arrested and died in prison. Thus, al-Nasir was alerted at this time to the ambitions of the princes. Whenever he heard about emir's orders, he got rid of him immediately. The rule of al-Nasir Muhammad lasted for the third time 32 years, a long period that no other sultan of the Mamluk sultans in Egypt could match. 31  Very important This particular era represents the greatest era in Egyptian history, the time of the Mamluks, the most stable and most prosperous, because al-Nasir’s influence extended from the West to the Levant and the Hijaz in the East and from Nubia in the south to Asia Minor During his third reign, the country didn’t expose to external threats of the Mongols and Crusaders but in Egypt, some disturbances occurred in Upper Egypt so al-Nasir sent an expedition to Nubia 704/1304-1305, then sent two other campaigns 715 and 716 ̸1315 and 1316 in his third sultan. These campaigns were able to establish the first Muslim kingdom of the Nubia people, but the conditions of Nubia did not stabilize after that, which required Sultan al-Nasir to send a new campaign 723 ̸1323 However, it is noticed that since that time Nubia gradually lost its Christian character to take on an Arab and Islamic character. On the inside, the era of Nasser Muhammad was an era of prosperity and stability. Thus, al-Nasir Muhammad spent his long reign in reform, construction, which made modern historians and travelers praising his virtue, his career and the prosperity of his rule. Al-Nasser also enjoyed great popularity. The administrative system in his period reached a great deal of accuracy and coordination In 713/1313 He abolished some state positions including the position of the minister and confiscated the funds of corrupt state leaders who made their fortune of bribery In 714/1314 he abolished the position of deputy of the sultan In 715/1315 he abolished the unjust taxes imposed by emirs and statesmen for the common people to enrich themselves and this is part of his policy to limit the power of emirs and to abolish bribery In 715/1315 he introduced (al-Ruk al-Nasiri) which redistributed fiefs and limited the authority of the emirs (al-Ruk is a Coptic word that means measuring the land by acre, securing it, and assessing its degree of fertility in order to estimate the tax on it. al-Ruk Al-Nasiri refers to the process of surveying lands to decide fiefs) (‫) عملية مسح االراضى لتقرير االقطاعات‬ 32 He issued a decree prohibiting the deputies from punishing and abusing the accused without his permission He closed the prison of the citadel which had a bad reputation and was inhabited by bats He was interested in organizing financial resources with the aim of increasing and reviving the country's economy. ‫تنظيم الموارد الملية بهدف زيادة وانعاش اقتصاد الدولة‬ This was evidenced by the treasures overflowed with revenues from trade and agricultural which enabled him to build many religious and civil buildings as al- Madrassah al-Nasiriyah on al-Mu'izz street, remains of Ablaq palace in the citadel, the Citadel Mosque, he renovated the stream of the springs (Magraa al-'Uyun) on which water is carried from Nile to the citadel at the top of fence, he renovated the square below the citadel where he played ball with the princes. He built many facilities, such as mosques, and others. The sons and grandsons of Al-Nasir Muhammad It is certain that Qalāwūn family enjoyed the people’s love and sincerity, so they found their goal in the era of Al-Mansur Qalāwūn and the era of his son Al-Nasir Muhammad Perhaps this great popularity that the House of Qalāwūn enjoyed is what also made people cling to the dynasty of Al-Nasir Muhammad after his death in 741/1340. His sons and grandsons continued to rule the state until the year 784/1382 that is for 40 years. There is no importance in history that makes us talk about each of the sons of Al-Nasir Muhammad and his grandchildren who took power after him Although among these sons and grandsons are those who do not deserve the sultanate because of his weakness or his bad character and with That is because the prestige that Qalāwūn family had in the hearts of the people made them cling to The death of Al-Nasir marked the end of the period of stability and prosperity that Egypt enjoyed during the era of that sultan, as the sons of Al-Nasir Muhammad and his grandsons lived on the good reputation, the firm position and the wide fame that Al-Nasir Muhammad in particular left in the hearts of his contemporaries. A brief picture is sufficient to give us a general idea of the extent to which the state suffered after the death of Al-Nasir Muhammad in terms of turmoil and chaos that left clear effects in all aspects of political, economic and social life. 33 The sons of al-Nasir Muhammad Al-Mansur Saīf al-dīn Abū-Bakr 741/1341 He was the first son of al-Nasir Muhammad to rise to the throne of sultanate He ruled 2 months only Although he was the sultan but the reins of power were held by al-Nasir Muhammad's senior emirs as Qawsun al-Nasiri and Baštak al-Nasiri Al-Ṣāliḥ ʿImād al-dīn Ismāʿīl 743/1342 He ruled 3 years which distinguished by internal disturbances emir Manğak al-Silahdar beheaded his brothers Šihāb al-dīn Aḥmad at al-Karak and returned with it to Cairo to present it to sultan Imad al-din when he saw his brother's head , he became frightened and fell ill and his illness worsened he died on 746 1345 Al-Muzaffar Saīf al-dīn Hāğğ I 747/1346 He left managing of the affairs of the state and started raising pigeons having fun with the lower classes Al-Nāṣir Abū al-MaʿālīBadr al-dīn al-Ḥasan(first reign) 748/1347 His first reign witnessed the emergence of the epidemic black Plague that killed a lot of people (Second reign) 755/1354 He built his madrassah and mosque The Grandsons al-Ašraf Abū al-Maʿālī Nasir al-dīn Šaʿbān II 764/1363 He fight franks in Tripoli, he protected his lands he became the sole authority in the country and ruled without consulting the emirs he was beloved by people 34 The Circassian Mamluk State Burğī dynasty takes over Mamluk Sultanate under Saīf al-dīn Barqūq in 784/138A.D The increasing influence of the Circassian And soon the development of internal events in Egypt after the death of Al-Mansur Qalāwūn helped to the appearance of al-Burgiyah on the scene of those events and the increase of their influence in the era of the young sultans, (one of the grandsons of Al-Nasir), one of the princes of Al-Burgiyah appeared who was Prince Barquq who was to reach the position of Atabik Al-Askar 780/ 1378, and thus became a great power during the reign of Sultan ‘Alaa al-din Ali, who was not more than 6 years old. Sultan Ali al-Din Ali He remained in power until his death 783/1381 when he was twelve years old and Barquq was able to take the throne of the Sultanate immediately after the death of Sultan Ali, but Barquq was aware that things were not yet mature, as he had opponents from among the senior princes Therefore, Barquq pretended asceticism in the Sultanate and declared that the interest required the continuation of the function of the Sultanate in the House of Qalāwūn. He summoned Amir Hāğğī, the grandson of Al-Nasir, who was 11 years old, and declared Sultan 783 /1381. But Barquq continued dominating the affairs of the state. Also he gained people's love, so he reduced their taxes and became the owner of the supreme word in governance The establishment of the Circassian Mamluk state Finally, Barquq found that things were stable for declaring himself a sultan, so he assumed the same excuse that had been previously used by the aspiring to rule, which is the young age of the sultan and the country's need for a rational man to eliminate the factors of turmoil at home and abroad. Therefore, a meeting was held in the castle 784/1383, attended by the Caliph, judges and princes and the attendees unanimously agreed to depose Sultan Hāğğī after a rule that lasted a year and a half. With the removal of Hāğğī from the Sultanate, the House of Qalawun ended, i.e: the rule of the Bahri Mamluks, and with the rise of al-Zahir Barquq in the rule 784/1383, the Burji or Circassian Mamluk state began 35  Characteristics of the Circassian Mamluk era It differs from the Bahri in several respects: a) The first is that the sultans of the Burgi state were all Circassians, except for two of Greek origin, ḫušqudum and Tamrbugha. b) The principle of hereditary rule that some of the sultans of the Bahri Mamluk state tried to implement insistently, and which clearly succeeded in the era of Beit Qalāwūn but disappeared during Burgi Mamluk  There is no doubt that the country suffered a lot during the reign of the Circassian Mamluks as a result of the ongoing disputes between the Mamluk sects, which created an atmosphere of instability in Cairo in particular, as they did not find a way to maintain their positions other than striking the Mamluk sects against each other Al-Ẓāhir Sāīf al-dīn Barqūq (First reign) 784-791/1382-1389 A year had not passed since the rise of al-Zahir Barquq in the Sultanate until a conspiracy was made to isolate him but Barquq discovered the plot At the Levant, the continuous conspiracies that his opponents plotted against him until the matter ended in 791/1389 with a revolution in the North of Levant led by Minṭāš and Yalbugha al-Nasiri, which reached the castle Barquq escaped from the castle until he was arrested and exiled to Karak When the revolutionaries entered Cairo, they brought back to the throne, Amir Hāğğī Ibn al-Ašraf Šāʿaaban, grandson of Al-Nasir Muhammad 791-792/1389-1390, but the dispute intensified between Mintāš and Yalbuga al-Nasiri, which gave Barquq an opportunity to regain his position. Al-Ẓāhir Sāīf al-dīn Barqūq (second reign) 792-801/1390-1399 Barquq spent the next two years subduing ‫ اخضاع‬Mintāš in the Levant, and no sooner had he finished that, a new danger came upon him, namely, Tamerlane and the Mongols. Tamerlane had captured Baghdad 795/1393 Tamerlane sent a fearsome letter to Barquq of the type that Hulagu sent to Qutuz 658/1260 asking him to surrender, but Barquq showed steadfastness and expelled his messenger from Cairo. He died on Friday 15th Šawwāl 801/6th June 1399 at the age of 60, 36 and people cried for his justice and companionship with his people, without having the opportunity to show his bravery in the Mongol war He was brave, intelligent, knowledgeable in equestrianism, skilled in playing the spear, loved the poor and humbled them. It was said of him that he was the undisputed greatest of the Circassian kings Among his achievements were the abolition of taxes on fruits, He ordered the establishment of the architectural group which is a school and Khanaqa on al-Muʿizz Street, made lessons there, and made monthly allowances for all its teachers and students of sweets, oil and soap. He also repaired the Damanhūr wall to protect it from the attacks of the Bedouins. Renew the canal that carries the Nile water to the mountain. He succeeded in concluding several treaties with the Ottomans, the Caucasus and Sivas against the advancing Mongol threat. Al-Nassir Farag Ibn Barquq first reign 801/1399 Barquq was succeeded by the eldest of his three sons, Al-Nasir Faraj, who was 13 years old. The young Sultan hurried to Levant after hearing Tamerlane's return to it but Al-Nasir Faraj feared for his life, so he returned to Cairo, leaving his army to meet the worst fate at the hands of Tamerlane near Aleppo. Thus Damascus was forced to surrender, so the Mongols looted ‫ نهب‬Damascus, destroyed it and set it on fire, as they destroyed most of the northern sides of the Levant And when Al-Nasir Faraj heard of the news of the victories that Tamerlane had brought about in Asia Minor, he accepted to the conditions that Tamerlane had presented, and it was not long before Tamerlane died 808/ 1405, without realizing his dream of occupying Egypt. As for Al-Nasir Faraj, he lost his place in the hearts of his contemporaries as a result of his acceptance to the demands of the Mongols, and soon a dispute arose between the Mamluk senior princes in Egypt, and chaos erupted in Cairo. Al-Nasir Faraj was forced to disappear for two months and was replaced in the Sultanate by his brother Abd al-Aziz 808/1405 until things calmed down and Faraj was able to return to the Sultanate in the same year. Al-Nassir Farag Ibn Barquq second reign 808-815/1405-1412 Al-Nasir Faraj was unable to resist Prince Sheikh Al-Mahmūḥdi and Nawruz, so he had to surrender to them in 815/1412 on the condition that he insure his life. The Caliph and the scholars issued a fatwa to kill Al-Nasir Faraj due to his bad manners and alcohol addiction. 37 He was assassinated in Damascus in the same year. The problem after the killing of Al-Nasr Faraj was which of the two was next to the throne, Prince Nawruz or Prince Shaikh, until this problem was settled. The sultanate was entrusted to the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta’in in the year 815/1412, and it was a nominal sultanate only for a period of 5 months. Al-Mū'ayyad Shaikh Soon, a Šaīḫ won the sultanate and entitled al-Mū'ayyad, but Nawruz didn’t accept that. So he announced the revolution in the Levant and refused to recognize the sultan Muayyad Shaikh, which prompted the sultan to get rid of him by killing As for the most important external events in the era of Al-Muayyad Shaikh, it was his two campaigns on the Northern outskirts of the Levant to force the Turkmen states on the borders to return to their subordination to the Mamluk state 821/1418 He left several architectural monuments so that the most important and largest is al-Mu’yyad Mosque near bab Zweilla and bimaristan al-Mu’yyadi near the Citadel He controlled the Levant, Higgaz Iraq parts of Yemen and parts of Libya and Sudan He fell ill in 824/1421 and died after a reign of 8 years and five months Al-Mu’ayyad Shaikh was succeeded by his son Ahmed in 824/1421 under the guardianship of Prince Ṭaṭṭar. After a few months, Ṭaṭṭar took over the sultanate for a short period. His son Muhammad succeeded him, who remained in power for several months under the guardianship of Birsbay. In 825/ 1422, Birsbay seized the sultanate for himself and was entitled al-Asraf. Al-Ašraf Birsbay 825-841/1422-1438 The conquest of the island of Cyprus He ruled for more than 16 years, a long period during which none of the Circassian sultans understood except al-Ašraf Qaitbay. Despite the bad economic conditions and high prices people suffered during his reign, due to his monopolistic policy however, this era was characterized by stability and lack of disturbances, which led to that Birsbay from undertaking a huge war project, which is the conquest of the island of Cyprus. 38 He sent three campaigns against the island of Cyprus which considered one of the greatest war actions that took place in the Circassian Mamluk era, and succeeded in annexing the island and subjugating it to a Circassian Mamluk sultanate, the island of Cyprus has been considered one of the Sultan's countries until the fall of the Mamluk Sultanate 923/1517 Sultan Ğaqmaq 842-857/1438-1453 The conquest of the island of Rhodes Sultan Barsbay died 841/1438, his people didn’t grieve for him, because of his arbitrariness ‫ تحكم‬in his economic policy and his extremism ‫التطرف‬in the policy of monopoly, which caused great harm to the people. Al-Aziz Yusuf ibn Birsbay, at the age of 14, was unable to retain the throne before the influence of the most powerful prince, Ğaqmaq who took over the sultanate shortly. Al-Zahir Ğaqmaq (842-857/1438-1453) He was moderate as he was known for his religiosity, so he prohibited drinking alcohol. In fact, the importance of the Ğaqmaq era is due to what distinguished this era of external activity, the most prominent of which was the improvement of relations between the Mongols and the Mamluk state on the one hand, and Ğaqmaq’s invasion of the island of Rhodes on the other hand. Ğaqmaq sent three campaigns 844, 847,848/1440, 1443, 1444 After the first and second campaigns failed to achieve a clear goal, he was interested in preparing a third campaign and mobilized a large number of men and ships for it, so it laid siege to Rhodes for forty days, but the city withstood the siege and the Muslims were unable to storm it, and the situation of the campaign worsened after the arrival of European supplies to Rhodes. Although peace was concluded between the Russians and the Mamluks shortly, but the relationship continued to fluctuate between hostility at times and calmness at times for the rest of the 15th century It is clear that in the latter half of the 15th century, the Mamluk Sultanate became unable to carry out a major military action against Rhodes or other hostile forces. 39 Al-Ashraf Inal 857-865/1453-1461 Sultan Ğaqmaq died 857/1453 after being entrusted on his deathbed to his son Othman, with the mandate of the covenant. Al-Mansur Othman could only stay in the Sultanate for 43 days, as Prince Inal dismissed him and replaced him after he was called the Ashraf. Perhaps the clear phenomenon in the history of the Mamluks at that time was the absence of the spirit of order and the abundance of disputes, strife and rivalries between the Mamluk sects. ‫ولعل الظاهرة ا لواضحة في تاريخ المماليك في ذلك الوقت هي غياب روح النظام وكثرة الخالفات والمنافساتبين طوائف‬ ‫المماليك‬ The difference was clear between the order and obedience of the Mamluks in the early part of their era, and the dissolution of their affairs in the 9th/15th century. ‫وكان الفرق واضحا بين نظام المماليك وطاعتهم في اوائل عصرهم وبين انحالل شؤونهم في القرن التاسع‬ Al-Ashraf Inal remained in power for 8 years, 857-865/1453-1461, during which there were strife and internal disputes. There is nothing worth mentioning in the period following the succession of the Mamluk Sultanate  Ahmed ibn Inal  Al-Zahir Saif al-Din Khusqadam  Al-Zahir Saif al-Din Yalbay  Al-Zahir Tamurbugha Al-Rumi Thus, it seems to us how the succession of Sultans is speed and how some of them hardly ascended the throne for days until they are removed, which indicates the instability that affected the Mamluk Sultanate. Sultan Qaitbay and the Turkmens 872-901/ 1468-1496 In this, the situation stabilized with the rise of Sultan Al-Ashraf Qaitbay in the Sultanate 872/1468 because he remained in the Sultanate for about 29 years 872-901/ 1468-1496 It was a long period that none of the Mamluks had preceded him, except Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Qalāwūn. Sultan Qaitbay proved throughout his reign that he was one of the most capable Mamluk sultans in the field of war, the most knowledgeable of them in the affairs of the outside world, and the most courageous and wise. 40 The problem that faced the Mamluk state at that time was the Turkmen state that threatened the Northern outskirts of the Mamluk state in the North of the Levant, Iraq and Eastern Asia Minor. However, the increasing influence of the Ottomans and their interference in the affairs of those Turkmen emirates on the borders of the Mamluk state made Sultan Qaitbay felt the new danger and think of putting an end to the Turkmens on the borders of the Mamluk state so that they would not be a tool for the penetration of Ottoman influence on the outskirts of the Mamluk state from the Northern outskirt of the Mamluk state He made the pilgrimage and visited the holy sites in the Hijaz and Jerusalem, and wherever he went, his name was immortalized by the construction of roads, bridges, mosques, schools and other vital facilities. This prompted some researchers to say that there is no other sultan from the Mamluk sultans except for Al-Nasir Muhammad, who did what Qaitbay did in terms of taking care of the arts, especially in architecture. Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri 906-922/1501-1516 Fall of the Mamluk SultanateLeaving Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II the Vizier, in charge, Al- Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri marched against the Ottoman Turks. He was defeated by Selim I at the Battle of Marj Dabiq, North of Aleppo, on 24 August 1516; the betrayal of two Mamluk leaders Janbirdi al-Ghazali and Khayr Baik led to the Mamluk defeat and to the death of the Sultan Qansuh. This marked the end of Mamluk control of the Middle East that eventually passed to the Ottomans. Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri himself fell upon the field and his head was carried to the Conqueror. But he tended toward injustice, abuse, and plundering people's money, and the people of Egypt became angry with him. So God gave Sultan Selim I power over him, removing his kingdom and defeating his army in the Battle of Marj Dabiq in the year (923 AH/1517 AD), where the Sultan was killed, so the sultan ordered one of the emirs to threw the Sultan's head away, in order that the body of Sultan Al-Ghuri would not fall into the hands of Sultan Selim and they would take his head around the world, and he would not recognize his body after the battle had ended. 41