Conflict with the Ayyubids

Tensions between as-Salih Ayyub and his mamluks came to a head later in 1249 when Louis IX of France's forces captured Damietta in their bid to conquer Egypt during the Seventh Crusade.^[21] As-Salih believed Damietta should not have been evacuated and was rumored to have threatened punitive action against the Damietta garrison. The rumor, accentuated by the execution of civilian notables who evacuated Damietta, provoked a mutiny by the garrison of his camp in al-Mansurah, which included numerous Salihi mamluks.^[21] The situation was calmed after the intervention of the atabeg al-askar (commander of the military), Fakhr ad-Din ibn Shaykh al-Shuyukh.^[21]

As the Crusaders advanced, as-Salih died and was succeeded by his son al-Muazzam Turanshah,^[23] who was in al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) at the time. Initially, the Salihiyyah welcomed Turanshah's succession, with many greeting him and requesting confirmation of their administrative posts and iqtaʿ assignments at his arrival to the Egyptian frontier.^[24] However, Turanshah sought to challenge the dominance of the Salihiyyah in the paramilitary apparatus by promoting his Kurdish retinue from Upper Mesopotamia ("al-Jazira" in Arabic) and the Levant as a counterweight to the predominantly Turkic Salihiyyah.^[24]

Horsemen wheeling around, with a sword in each one's hand. Nihāyat al-su’l (horsemanship manual) by Aḥmad al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian"), dated 1371, Mamluk Egypt or Syria.

Prior to Turanshah's arrival at the front facing the French, the Bahriyyah, a junior regiment of the Salihiyyah commanded by Baibars al-Buduqdari, defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of al-Mansurah on 11 February 1250. On 27 February, Turanshah, as new sultan, arrived in Egypt from Hasankeyf, where he had been Emir of Hisn Kayfa since AH 636 (1238/1239 CE), and went straight to al-Mansurah to lead the Egyptian army. On 5 April 1250, covered by the darkness of night, the Crusaders evacuated their camp opposite al-Mansurah and began to flee northward towards Damietta. The Egyptians followed them into the Battle of Fariskur where the Egyptians utterly destroyed the Crusaders on 6 April. King Louis IX and a few of his surviving nobles surrendered and were taken as prisoners, effectively ending the Seventh Crusade.^[25]

Turanshah proceeded to place his own entourage and mamluks, known as the "Mu'azzamiyah",^[23] in positions of authority to the detriment of Salihi interests. On 2 May 1250,^[23] a group of disgruntled Salihi officers had Turanshah assassinated at his camp in Fariskur.^[26]

According to Humphreys, as-Salih's frequent wars against his Ayyubid relatives likely voided the Salihiyyah's loyalty to other members of the Ayyubid dynasty.^[27] Nonetheless, the Salihiyyah were careful not to depict the assassination of Turanshah as an assault against Ayyubid legitimacy, but rather an act against a deviant of the Muslim polity.^[28] Moreover, an electoral college dominated by the Salihiyyah convened to choose a successor to Turanshah among the Ayyubid emirs, with opinion largely split between an-Nasir Yusuf of Damascus and al-Mughith Umar of al-Karak. Ultimately, however, consensus settled on as-Salih's widow, Shajar ad-Durr.^[28]

Shajar ad-Durr ensured the Salihiyyah's dominance of the paramilitary elite, and ushered in a process of establishing patronage and kinship ties with the Salihiyyah. In particular, she cultivated close ties with the Jamdari (pl. Jamdariyyah) and Bahri (pl. "Bahriyyah") elements of the Salihiyyah, by distributing to them iqtaʿ and other benefits.^[29] The Bahriyya were named after the Arabic word bahr, meaning "sea" or "large river", because their barracks was located on the Nile River island of Rawda. They were mostly drawn from among the Cumans-Kipchaks who controlled the steppes north of the Black Sea.^[17] Shajar al-Durr's efforts and the lingering desire among the military in Egypt to maintain the Ayyubid state was made evident when the Salihi mamluk and atabeg al-askar, Aybak, attempted to claim the sultanate, but was prevented from monopolizing power by the army and the Bahriyyah and Jamdariyyah, which asserted that only an Ayyubid could exercise sultanic authority.^[28][29] The Bahriyyah compelled Aybak to share power with al-Ashraf Musa, a grandson of Sultan al-Kamil.^[30]

Factional power struggles

1300

CHAGATAI
KHANATE

GOLDEN HORDE

EMPIRE
OF THE
GREAT KHAN

ILKHANATE

DELHI
SULTANATE

YADAVAS

Tungus

MYIN-
SAING

KHMER

BEYLIKS

BYZANTIUM

MUSCOVY

FRANCE

ENGLAND

SPAIN

MARINIDS

MALI
EMPIRE

MAMLUK
SULTANATE

GO-
RYEO

KAMA-
KURA

BALI

SUNDA

◁ ◇

The Mamluk Sultanate and main contemporary polities c. 1300. Most of the Asian continent was occupied by the Mongol Empire by that time, with Turkic polities occupying South and Western Asia, the other main one being the Delhi Sultanate in India

Aybak was one of the oldest of the Salihi mamluks and a senior member of as-Salih's inner circle, despite only being an emir awsat (middle-ranked emir).^[31] He served as the principal bulwark against the more junior Bahri and Jamdari elements of the Salihiyyah, and his promotion to atabeg al-askar was met by Bahri rioting in Cairo, the first of many examples of intra-Salihi tensions surrounding Aybak's ascendancy.^[32] The Bahriyyah and Jamdariyyah were represented by their patron, Faris ad-Din Aktay, a principal organizer of Turanshah's assassination and the recipient of Fakhr ad-Din's large estate by Shajar al-Durr; the latter saw Aktay as a counterweight to Aybak.^[32] Aybak moved against the Bahriyyah in 1251 by shutting down their Rawda headquarters in a bid to sap Aktay's power base. Aybak was still unable to promote his own mamluks, known as the "Mu'izziyah", to senior posts until 1252. That year, he managed to dispatch Aktay to Upper Egypt to suppress an Arab uprising.^[33] Instead of isolating Aktay as was Aybak's intention, the assignment allowed Aktay to impose extortionate taxes in Upper Egypt and provide him the personal funds to finance his patronage of the Bahriyyah. In 1254, Aybak had his Mu'izzi mamluks assassinate Aktay in the Citadel of Cairo.^[34]

Mamluk court scene. Probably Egypt, dated 1334. Maqamat of al-Hariri.^[35] "In the paintings the facial cast of these [ruling] Turks is obviously reflected, and so are the special fashions and accoutrements they favored".^[36] Possible depiction of Mamluk Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad.^[37][38]

Afterward, Aybak proceeded to purge those in his retinue and in the Salihiyyah whom he believed were disloyal to him, causing a temporary exodus of Bahri mamluks, most of whom settled in Gaza, but also in Upper Egypt and Syria.^[30][39] The purge led to a dearth of military support for Aybak, which in turn led to Aybak's recruitment of new supporters from among the army in Egypt and the Turkic Nasiri and Azizi mamluks from Syria, who had defected from their Ayyubid masters, namely an-Nasir Yusuf, and moved to Egypt in 1250.^[39] The Syrian mamluks were led by their patron Jamal ad-Din Aydughdi and were assigned most of the iqtaʿ of Aktay and his allies. However, Aydughdi's growing ambitions made Aybak view him as a threat. After Aybak learned that Aydughdi was plotting to topple him and recognize an-Nasir Yusuf as Ayyubid sultan, which would likely leave Aydughdi in virtual control of Egypt, Aybak had Aydughdi imprisoned in Alexandria in 1254 or 1255.^[40]

Meanwhile, the Bahriyya faction in Gaza commanded by Baybars sought to enlist their services with an-Nasir Yusuf. In an attempt to dislodge Aybak, the Bahriyyah petitioned an-Nasir Yusuf to claim the Ayyubid throne and invade Egypt, but an-Nasir Yusuf initially refused. However, in 1256, he dispatched a Bahri-led expedition to Egypt, but no battle occurred when Aybak met an-Nasir Yusuf's army.^[41] Aybak was assassinated on 10 April 1257,^[41] possibly on the orders of Shajar al-Durr,^[42] who was assassinated a week later.^[41] Their deaths left a relative power vacuum in Egypt, with Aybak's teenage son, al-Mansur Ali, as heir to the sultanate.^[41] While al-Mansur Ali was sultan, the strongman in Egypt was Aybak's former close aide, Sayf ad-Din Qutuz,^[43] who also had hostile relations with the Salihiyyah, including the Bahri mamluks.^[44]

By the time of Aybak's death, the Bahriyyah had entered the service of al-Mughith Umar of al-Karak, who agreed to invade Egypt and claim the Ayyubid sultanate, but al-Mughith's small Bahri-dominated invading force was routed at the frontier with Egypt in November.^[41] The Bahriyyah and al-Mughith launched a second expedition in 1258, but were again defeated.^[43] The Bahriyyah subsequently raided areas around Syria, threatening an-Nasir Yusuf's power in Damascus. After a first attempt to defeat the Bahriyyah near Gaza failed, an-Nasir Yusuf launched a second expedition against them with al-Mansur Muhammad II of Hama, resulting in a Bahriyyah defeat at Jericho.^[43] An-Nasir Yusuf proceeded to besiege al-Mughith and the Bahriyyah at al-Karak, but the growing threat of a Mongol invasion of Syria ultimately led to a reconciliation between an-Nasir Yusuf and al-Mughith, and Baybars's defection to the former.^[43] Qutuz deposed al-Mansur Ali in 1259. Afterward, he purged and/or arrested the Mu'izziyah and any Bahri mamluks he could locate in Egypt in a bid to eliminate dissent towards his rule.^[44] The surviving Mu'izzi and Bahri mamluks made their way to Gaza, where Baybars had created a virtual shadow state in opposition to Qutuz.^[44]

Horsemen with lances. Nihāyat al-su’l (horsemanship manual) by Aḥmad al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian"), dated 1371, Mamluk Egypt or Syria.

While various mamluk factions competed for control of Egypt and Syria, the Mongols under the command of Hulagu Khan had sacked Baghdad, the intellectual and spiritual center of the Islamic world, in 1258, and proceeded westward, capturing Aleppo and Damascus.^[45] Qutuz sent military reinforcements to his erstwhile enemy an-Nasir Yusuf in Syria, and reconciled with the Bahriyyah, including Baybars, who was allowed to return to Egypt, to face the common Mongol threat.^[46] Hulagu sent emissaries to Qutuz in Cairo, demanding submission to Mongol rule. Qutuz had the emissaries killed, an act which historian Joseph Cummins called the "worst possible insult to the Mongol throne".^[45] Qutuz then prepared Cairo's defenses to ward off the Mongols' threatened invasion of Egypt, but after hearing news that Hulagu withdrew from Syria to claim the Mongol throne, Qutuz began preparations for the conquest of Syria. He mobilized a force of some 120,000 soldiers and gained the support of his main Mamluk rival, Baybars.^[47]

The Mamluks entered Palestine to confront the Mongol army that Hulagu left behind under the command of Kitbuqa.^[47] In September 1260, the two sides met in the plains south of Nazareth in a major confrontation known as the Battle of Ain Jalut.^[48] Qutuz had some of his cavalry units hide in the hills around Ain Jalut (Goliath's Spring), while directing Baybars's forces to advance past Ain Jalut against Kitbuqa's Mongols. In the ensuing half-hour clash, Baybars's men feigned a retreat and were pursued by Kitbuqa. The latter's forces fell into a Mamluk trap once they reached the springs of Ain Jalut, with Baybars's men turning around to confront the Mongols and Qutuz's units ambushing the Mongols from the hills.^[47] The battle ended in a Mongol rout and Kitbuqa's capture and execution. Afterward, the Mamluks proceeded to recapture Damascus and the other Syrian cities taken by the Mongols.^[49] Upon Qutuz's triumphant return to Cairo, he was assassinated in a Bahri plot. Baybars subsequently assumed power in Egypt in late 1260,^[46] and established the Bahri Mamluk sultanate.^[50]

Reign of Baybars

Centralisation of power

Modern bust of Baybars in Cairo.

Baybars rebuilt the Bahriyyah's former headquarters in Rawdah island and put Qalawun, one of his most senior associates, in command of it. In 1263, Baybars deposed al-Mughith of al-Karak based on allegations of collaborating with the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia, and thus consolidated his authority over Muslim Syria.^[59] During his early reign and through heavy financial expense, Baybars rebuilt and stringently trained the Mamluk army, which grew from 10,000 cavalry to 40,000, with a 4,000-strong royal guard at its core.^[60] The new force was rigidly disciplined and highly trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship and archery.^[60]

Baybars attempted to institute dynastic rule by assigning his four-year-old son al-Said Barakah as co-sultan, thereby ending the Mamluk tradition of electing a leader, but this effort was ultimately unsuccessful, at least for his Zahirid household; successful rulership became highly dependent on Baybars' personal qualities.^[59] However, Baybars success in establishing centralized rule resulted in the consolidation of the Mamluk Sultanate.^[59]

Foreign policy

Through opening diplomatic channels with the Mongols, Baybars also sought to stifle a potential alliance between the Mongols and the Christian powers of Europe, while also sowing divisions between the Mongol Ilkhanate and the Mongol Golden Horde. In addition, his diplomacy was also intended to maintain the flow of Turkic mamluks from Mongol-held Central Asia.^[59]

Enameled and gilded bottle with the scene of battle. Egypt, late 13th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art

Military campaigns

With Bahri power in Egypt and Muslim Syria consolidated by 1265, Baybars launched expeditions against the Crusader fortresses throughout Syria, capturing Arsuf in 1265, and Halba and Arqa in 1266.^[61] According to historian Thomas Asbridge, the methods used to capture Arsuf demonstrated the "Mamluks' grasp of siegecraft and their overwhelming numerical and technological supremacy".^[62] Baybars' strategy regarding the Crusader fortresses along the Syrian coast was not to capture and utilize the fortresses, but to destroy them and thus prevent their potential future use by new waves of Crusaders.^[62]

In August 1266, the Mamluks launched a punitive expedition against the Armenian Cilician Kingdom for its alliance with the Mongols, laying waste to numerous to Armenian villages and significantly weakening the kingdom. At around the same time, Baybars' forces captured Safad from the Knights Templar, and shortly after, Ramla, both cities in interior Palestine. Unlike the coastal Crusader fortresses, the Mamluks strengthened and utilized the interior cities as major garrisons and administrative centers.^[63] Campaigns against the Crusaders continued in 1267, and in the spring of 1268, Baybars' forces captured Jaffa before conquering the major Crusader fortress of Antioch on 18 May.^[64]

Horseman impales a bear. Nihāyat al-su’l by Aḥmad al-Miṣrī ("the Egyptian"), dated 1371, Mamluk Egypt or Syria.

Baybars initiated a more aggressive policy than his predecessors toward the Christian Nubian kingdom of Makuria on Egypt's southern border. In 1265, the Mamluks launched an invasion of northern Makuria, and forced the Nubian king to become a vassal of the Mamluks.^[65] Around that time, the Mamluks had conquered the Red Sea areas of Suakin and the Dahlak Archipelago, while attempting to extend their control to the Hejaz, the desert regions west of the Nile, and Barqa (Cyrenaica).^[66] In 1268, the Makurian king, David I, overthrew the Mamluks' vassal and in 1272, raided the Mamluk Red Sea port of ‘Aydhab.^[67]

Meanwhile, Louis IX of France launched the Eighth Crusade, this time targeting Tunis with the intention of ultimately invading Egypt. However, Louis IX died, allowing the Mamluks to refocus their efforts at further conquests of Crusader territories in Syria, including the County of Tripoli's Krak des Chevaliers fortress, which Baybars captured in 1271.^[68] Despite an alliance with the Assassins in 1272, in July 1273, the Mamluks, who by then determined that the Assassins' independence was problematic, wrested control of the Assassins' fortresses in Jabal Ansariyah, including Masyaf.^[69] In 1275, the Mamluk governor of Qus, with Bedouin allies, launched an expedition against Makuria, defeating king David in battle at Dongola in 1276, and installed Shakanda as king.^[67] This brought the fortress of Qasr Ibrim under Mamluk jurisdiction.^[67] The conquest of Nubia was not permanent, however, and the process of invading the region and installing a vassal king would be repeated by Baybars' successors.^[67] Nonetheless, Baybars' initial conquest led the annual expectation of tribute from the Nubians by the Mamluks until the Makurian kingdom's demise in the mid-14th century.^[65] Furthermore, the Mamluks also received the submission of king Adur of al-Abwab further south.^[70] In 1277, Baybars launched an expedition against the Ilkhanids, routing them in Elbistan in Anatolia, before ultimately withdrawing to avoid overstretching their forces and risk being cut off from Syria by a second, large incoming Ilkhanid army.^[69]

Early Qalawuni period

The siege of Tripoli, led against the Crusaders by the Mamluks of Qalawun in 1289

Interior of the Mausoleum of sultan Qalawun

In July 1277, Baybars died en route to Damascus, and was succeeded by Barakah.^[71] However, the latter's ineptness precipitated a power struggle that ended with Qalawun being elected sultan in November 1279.^[72][73] The Ilkhanids took advantage of the disarray of Baybars' succession by raiding Mamluk Syria, before launching a massive offensive against Syria in the autumn of 1281. Qalawun's forces were significantly outnumbered by the estimated 80,000-strong Ilkhanid-Armenian-Georgian-Seljuk coalition, but marched north from Damascus to meet the Ilkhanid army at Homs. In the 28 October battle of Homs, the Mamluks routed the Ilkhanids and confirmed Mamluk dominance in Syria.^[72] The defeat of the Ilkhanids allowed Qalawun to proceed and eliminate the remaining Crusader outposts in Syria. In May 1285, he captured the Marqab fortress and garrisoned it.^[74]

Qalawun's early reign was marked by policies that were meant to gain the support of important societal elements, namely the merchant class, the Muslim bureaucracy and the religious establishment.^[73] Among these early policies were the elimination of illegal taxes that burdened the merchant community and extensive building and renovation projects for Islam's holiest sites, such as the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.^[75] Following the détente with the Ilkhanate after 1280, Qalawun launched a wide arrest campaign to eliminate internal dissent, imprisoning dozens of high-ranking emirs in Egypt and Syria.^[76] The détente also saw a shift in Qalawun's building activities to focus on more secular and personal purposes, including a large, multi-division hospital complex in Cairo across from the tomb of as-Salih Ayyub.^[77] Construction of the hospital, a contrast from his Mamluk predecessors who focused on establishing madrasas, was done to gain the goodwill of the public, create a lasting legacy, and secure his spot in the afterlife.^[77] Its location facing as-Salih's tomb was meant demonstrate Qalawun's lasting connection to his master and to honor the Salihiyyah.^[77] While the Salihi mamluks were typically Kipchak Turks, Qalawun diversified mamluk ranks purchasing numerous non-Turks, particularly Circassians, forming out of them the Burji regiment.^[78]

Qalawun was the last Salihi sultan and following his death in 1290, his son, al-Ashraf Khalil, drew his legitimacy as a Mamluk by emphasizing his lineage from Qalawun, thus inaugurating the Qalawuni period of Bahri rule.^[79] Like his two Bahri predecessors, Khalil's main priorities were organization of the sultanate, defeat of the Crusaders and the Mongols, incorporation of Syria into the Mamluk domain and preservation of the import of new mamluks and weaponry.^[80] With regards to the latter policy, Baybars had purchased 4,000 mamluks, Qalawun purchased 6,000–7,000 and by the end of Khalil's reign, there was an estimated total of 10,000 mamluks in the sultanate.^[81] In 1291, Khalil captured Acre, the last major Crusader fortress in Palestine and thus Mamluk rule extended across the entirety of Syria.^[82]

Khalil's death in 1293 led to period of factional struggle, with Khalil's prepubescent brother, an-Nasir Muhammad, being overthrown the following year by a Mongol mamluk of Qalawun, al-Adil Kitbugha, who in turn was succeeded by a Greek mamluk of Qalawun, Husam ad-Din Lajin.^[79] In a bid to consolidate his control, Lajin attempted to redistribute iqtaʿat to his supporters.^[79] Lajin was unable to retain the sultanate and al-Nasir Muhammad was restored to power in 1298, ruling a fractious realm until being toppled a second time by Baybars II, a Circassian mamluk of Qalawun, who was known to be more wealthy, pious and cultured than his immediate predecessors.^[79] Early into an-Nasir Muhammad's second reign, the Ilkhanids, whose leader, Mahmud Ghazan, had converted to Islam, invaded Syria and routed a Mamluk army near Homs in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299. However, Ghazan withdrew most of his troops from Syria shortly after due to a dearth in fodder for their numerous horses and the residual Ilkhanid force retreated in 1300 at the approach of the rebuilt Mamluk army.^[83] A further Ilkhanid invasion in 1303 was repelled after the Ilkhanid defeat at the Battle of Marj al-Suffar in the plains south of Damascus.^[84]

Third reign of an-Nasir Muhammad

Prince with Turkic features and clothing (detail). Maqamat of al-Hariri 1334, probably Egypt.^[85][86] Possible depiction of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad,^[87] who was himself of Kipchak (Turkic) and Mongol descent.^[88]

Baybars II ruled for roughly one year before an-Nasir Muhammad became sultan again in 1310, this time ruling for over three consecutive decades in a period that is often considered by historians of the Mamluk period to be the apex of both the Bahri regime specifically and the Mamluk Sultanate in general.^[89] To avoid the experiences of his previous two reigns where the mamluks of Qalawun and Khalil held sway and periodically assumed the sultanate, an-Nasir Muhammad launched efforts to establish a centralized autocracy.^[90] Early into his third reign, in 1310, an-Nasir Muhammad imprisoned, exiled or killed any Mamluk emirs that supported those who toppled him in the past, including the Burji mamluks.^[90] He then assigned emirates to over thirty of his own mamluks.^[90] Initially, an-Nasir Muhammad left most of his father's mamluks undisturbed, but in 1311 and 1316, he imprisoned and executed most of them, and again redistributed emirates to his own mamluks.^[91] By 1316, the number of mamluks was reduced to 2,000.^[81] An-Nasir Muhammad went further in imposing his rule by intervening to have al-Wathiq succeed Caliph al-Mustakfi, as well as compelling the qadi (judge) to issue legal rulings that advanced his interests.^[92]

The third reign of an-Nasir Muhammad also saw a departure from the traditions of succession and administrative elevation of his predecessors since he observed in his first two reigns that such traditions had been ignored anyway, while sultans were being assassinated and mamluks were abusing other mamluks in bids for power.^[93] Moreover, an-Nasir Muhammad's being the son of a mamluk instead of a mamluk himself risked undermining his position among the largely mamluk elite.^[93] This partially explains his purges of the thousands of mamluks purchased by his predecessors. Amid conditions that stemmed the flow of mamluks from the Mongol-held lands to the sultanate, an-Nasir Muhammad resolved to make up for the loss of the purged mamluks by adopting new methods of training and military and financial advancement that introduced a great level of permissiveness.^[94]

Interior of the Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad Mosque, featuring mihrab and minbar.

This permissiveness, which manifested in far more relaxed conditions for new mamluks, encouraged the pursuit of military careers in Egypt by aspiring mamluks outside of the country, to the point that parents would sell their children as mamluks with the belief the children would enjoy an improved standard of living.^[95]

Under an-Nasir Muhammad, the Mamluks successfully repelled an Ilkhanid invasion of Syria in 1313 and then concluded a peace treaty with the Ilkhanate in 1322, bringing a long-lasting end to the Mamluk-Mongol wars.^[89] Following the détente, an-Nasir Muhammad was able to usher in a period of stability and prosperity in the sultanate through the enacting of major political, economic and military reforms that were ultimately intended to ensure his continued rule and consolidate the Qalawunid-Bahri regime.^[89] Concurrent with an-Nasir Muhammad's reign was the disintegration of the Ilkhanate into several smaller dynastic states and the consequent Mamluk effort to establish diplomatic and commercial relationships with the new political entities.^[89] An-Nasir Muhammad also attempted to assert permanent Mamluk control over the Makurian vassal state, launching an invasion in 1316 and installing a Muslim Nubian king, Abdallah Barshambu.^[67] The latter was overthrown by Kanz al-Dawla, who an-Nasir Muhammad temporarily ousted in a 1323/24 expedition.^[67]

End of the Bahri regime

Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan

An-Nasir Muhammad died in 1341 and his rule was followed by a succession of his descendants to the throne in a period marked by political instability.^[89] Most of his successors, except for an-Nasir Hasan (r. 1347–1351, 1354–1361) and al-Ashraf Sha'ban (r. 1363–1367), were sultans in name only, with the patrons of the leading mamluk factions holding actual power.^[89] The first of an-Nasir Muhammad's son to accede to the sultanate was Abu Bakr, who an-Nasir Muhammad designated as his successor before his death. However, an-Nasir Muhammad's senior aide, Qawsun, held real power and ultimately imprisoned and executed Abu Bakr and had an-Nasir Muhammad's infant son, al-Ashraf Kujuk, appointed in his stead.^[96] By January 1342, however, Qawsun and Kujuk were toppled, and the latter's half-brother, an-Nasir Ahmad of al-Karak, was declared sultan.^[97] Ahmad relocated to al-Karak and left a deputy to rule on his behalf in Cairo.^[98] This unorthodox move, together with his seclusive and frivolous behavior and his execution of loyal partisans, ended with Ahmad's deposition and replacement by his half-brother as-Salih Ismail in June 1342.^[99] Isma'il ruled until his death in August 1345, and was succeeded by his brother al-Kamil Sha'ban. The latter was killed in a mamluk revolt and was succeeded by his brother al-Muzaffar Hajji, who was also killed in a mamluk revolt in late 1347.^[100]

First pages from the Qur'an commissioned by sultan Al-Ashraf Sha'ban. This manuscript is part of the National Library of Egypt's Collection of Mamluk Qur'an Manuscripts inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register

Following Hajji's death, the senior emirs of an-Nasir Muhammad hastily appointed another of his sons, the twelve-year-old an-Nasir Hasan.^[101] Coinciding with Hasan's first term,^[102] in 1347–1348, the Bubonic Plague arrived in Egypt and other plagues followed, causing mass death in the country, which in turn led to major social and economic changes in the region.^[89] In 1351, Hasan attempted to assert his executive power and was ousted by the senior emirs, led by Emir Taz, and replaced with his brother, as-Salih Salih.^[102] The emirs Shaykhu and Sirghitmish deposed Salih and restored Hasan in a coup in 1355, after which Hasan gradually purged Taz, Shaykhu and Sirghitmish and their mamluks from his administration.^[102] Concurrently, Hasan began recruiting and promoting the awlad al-nas (descendants of mamluks who did not experience the enslavement/manumission process) in the military and administration, a process that lasted for the remainder of the Bahri period.^[102][103] This led to resentment from Hasan's own mamluks, led by Emir Yalbugha al-Umari, who killed Hasan in 1361.^[102][104]

Yalbugha became the regent of Hasan's successor and the young son of the late sultan Hajji, al-Mansur Muhammad. By then, mamluk solidarity and loyalty to the emirs had dissipated.^[105] To restore discipline and unity within the Mamluk state and military, Yalbugha applied the rigorous educational methods used for mamluks during the reigns of sultans Baybars and Qalawun.^[106] In 1365, attempts by the Mamluks to annex Armenia, which had since replaced Crusader Acre as the Christian commercial foothold of Asia, were stifled by an invasion of Alexandria by Peter I of Cyprus.^[89] The Mamluks concurrently experienced a deterioration of their lucrative position in international trade and the economy of the sultanate declined, further weakening the Bahri regime.^[89] Meanwhile, the perceived harshness of Yalbugha's educational methods and his refusal to rescind his disciplinary reforms led to a mamluk backlash.^[106] Yalbugha was subsequently killed by his own mamluks in an uprising in 1366.^[106] The rebellious mamluks were supported by Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban, who Yalbugha installed in 1363.^[107] Sha'ban was able to rule as the real power in the sultanate until 1377, when he was killed by mamluk dissidents on his way to Mecca to perform the Hajj.^[107]

Reign of Barquq

Sha'ban was succeeded by his seven-year-old son al-Mansur Ali, although the oligarchy of the senior emirs held the reins of power.^[116] Among the senior emirs who rose to prominence under Ali was Barquq, a Circassian mamluk of Yalbugha who was involved in Sha'ban's assassination,^[107][116] and Baraka, another of Yalbugha's mamluks.^[116][117] Barquq was made atabeg al-asakir in 1378, giving him command of the Mamluk army,^[107] which he used to oust Baraka in 1380.^[116] Afterward, he managed to bring to Egypt his father Anas and many of his kinsmen,^[116] possibly in an attempt to establish a power base outside of the Mamluk establishment.^[118] Ali died in May 1381 and was succeeded by his nine-year-old brother, as-Salih Hajji.^[116] However, power was in the hands of Barquq, as-Salih Hajji's regent; Barquq tried to succeed Ali as sultan, but his bid was vetoed by the other senior emirs.^[116] Nonetheless, in the following year, Barquq toppled as-Salih Hajji with the backing of Yalbugha's mamluks and assumed the sultanate, adopting the title of Baybars, "al-Malik az-Zahir".^[107][118]

Barquq's accession had been made possible by the support of Yalbugha's mamluks, whose subsequent rise to power also made Barquq's position vulnerable.^[118] His rule was challenged in Syria in 1389 during a revolt by the Mamluk governor of Malatya, Mintash, and the governor of Aleppo, Yalbugha an-Nasiri, who was a former mamluk of both an-Nasir Hasan and Yalbugha al-Umari.^[118][119] The rebels took over Syria and headed for Egypt, prompting Barquq to abdicate in favor of as-Salih Hajji.^[118] The alliance between Yalbugha an-Nasiri and Mintash soon fell apart, however, and factional fighting ensued in Cairo ending with Mintash ousting Yalbugha.^[118] Barquq was arrested and exiled to al-Karak where he was able to rally support for his return to the throne.^[118] In Cairo, Barquq's loyalists took over the citadel and arrested as-Salih Hajji.^[118] This paved the way for Barquq's usurpation of the sultanate once more in February 1390, firmly establishing the Burji regime.^[118]

Interior of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq

Barquq solidified his control over the sultanate in 1393, when his forces killed the major opponent to his rule, Mintash, in Syria.^[118] Barquq's reign saw the mass recruitment of Circassians (estimated at 5,000 recruits^[120]) into the mamluk ranks and the restoration of the Mamluk state's authority throughout its realm in the tradition of the early Mamluk sultans, Baybars and Qalawun.^[121] A major innovation to this system by Barquq was the division of Egypt into three provinces (niyabat) similar to the administrative divisions in Syria.^[121] The new Egyptian niyabas were Alexandria, Damanhur and Asyut.^[122] Barquq instituted this change as a means to better control the Egyptian countryside from the rising strength of the Arab tribes.^[123] To that end, Barquq dispatched the Berber Hawwara tribesmen of the Nile Delta to Upper Egypt to keep the Arab tribes in check.^[123]

During Barquq's reign, in 1387, the Mamluks were able to force the Anatolian entity in Sivas to become a Mamluk vassal state.^[119] Towards the end of the 14th century, challengers to the Mamluks emerged in Anatolia, including the Ottoman dynasty who absorbed the territory of the Karamanids in central Anatolia and installed a vassal as the leader of the Dulkadirids in 1399, and the Turkic allies of Timur, the Aq Qoyonlu and Kara Qoyounlu tribes who entered southern and eastern Anatolia in the same time period.^[119] Barquq entered into a brief engagement with Timur at the Euphrates in 1394, but Timur withdrew during that episode.^[119]

Crises and restoration of state power

Battle between the troops of Timur (left) and the Mamluk troops of An-Nasir Faraj (right)

Ambassadors of An-Nasir Faraj present tribute, including a giraffe, to Timur

Barquq died in 1399 and was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son, an-Nasir Faraj, who was in Damascus at the time.^[124] In that same year, Timur invaded Syria, sacking Aleppo before proceeding to sack Damascus.^[124] The latter had been abandoned by Faraj and his late father's entourage, who left for Cairo. Timur ended his occupation of Syria in 1402 to pursue his war against the Ottomans in Anatolia, who he deemed to be a more dangerous threat to his rule.^[124] Faraj was able to hold onto power during this turbulent period, which in addition to Timur's devastating raids, the rise of Turkic tribes in Jazira and attempts by Barquq's emirs to topple Faraj, also saw a famine in Egypt in 1403, a severe plague in 1405 and a Bedouin revolt that virtually ended the Mamluks' hold over Upper Egypt between 1401 and 1413.^[124] Thus, Mamluk authority throughout the sultanate was significantly eroded, while the capital Cairo experienced an economic crisis.^[124]

Faraj was toppled in 1412 by the Syria-based emirs, Tanam, Jakam, Nawruz and al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh, who Faraj sent a total of seven military expeditions against during his reign.^[124] The emirs could not usurp the throne themselves, however, and had Caliph al-Musta'in installed; the caliph had the support of the non-Circassian mamluks and legitimacy with the local population.^[124] Six months later, Shakyh eased al-Musta'in out of power after neutralizing his main rival, Nawruz, and assumed the sultanate.^[124] Shaykh's main goal in office was restoration of the state's authority within the sultanate, which saw further plagues in 1415–1417 and 1420.^[125] During his reign, Shaykh reestablished the state's fiscal administration to replenish the treasury.^[126] To that end, his fiscal administrator led tax collection expeditions that were akin to plundering throughout the sultanate to compensate for the tax arrears that had accumulated under Faraj's reign.^[126] Shaykh also commissioned and led military expeditions against the Mamluks' enemies in Anatolia, reasserting the state's influence in that region.^[126]

Reign of Barsbay

Barsbay's mausoleum and charitable complex in Cairo, completed in 1432. The carved dome (center) covers his tomb.^[127]

Before Shaykh died in 1421, he sought to offset the power of the Circassian mamluks by importing Turkish mamluks and installing a Turk as atabeg al-asakir in 1420 to serve as regent for his infant son Ahmad.^[126] However, following his death, a Circassian emir, Tatar, married Shaykh's widow, ousted the atabeg al-asakir and assumed power.^[126] Tatar died three months into his reign and was succeeded by Barsbay, another Circassian emir of Barquq, in 1422.^[126] Under Barsbay's reign, the Mamluk Sultanate reached its greatest territorial extent and was militarily dominant throughout the region,^[128] but his legacy was ultimately mixed in the eyes of contemporary commentators who criticized his fiscal methods and economic policies.^[129]

Barsbay pursued an economic policy of establishing state monopolies over the lucrative trade with Europe, particularly regarding spices, to the chagrin of the civilian merchants of the sultanate.^[130] European merchants were forced to buy spices from state agents who set prices that maximized revenue rather than promoting market competition. This monopoly over the spice trade set a precedent for his successors, some of whom established state monopolies over other goods such as sugar and textiles.^[131] Moreover, Barsbay compelled Red Sea traders to offload their goods at the Mamluk-held Hejazi port of Jeddah rather than the Yemeni port of Aden in order to derive the most financial benefit from the Red Sea transit route to Europe.^[130] Barsbay's efforts at monopolization and trade protection were meant to offset the severe financial losses of the sultanate's agricultural sector due to the frequent recurring plagues that took a heavy toll on the farmers.^[132] In the long term, the monopoly over the spice trade had a negative effect on Egyptian commerce and became one of the factors that motivated European merchants to seek alternative routes to the east around Africa and across the Atlantic.^[131]

Barsbay also undertook efforts to better protect the caravan routes to the Hejaz from Bedouin raids and the Egyptian Mediterranean coast from Catalan and Genoese piracy.^[130] With regards to European pirates, he launched campaigns against Cyprus in 1425–1426, during which the island's Lusignan king, Janus, was taken captive, because of his alleged assistance to the pirates; the large ransoms paid to the Mamluks by the Cypriots allowed them to mint new gold coinage for the first time since the 14th century.^[130] Janus was forced to become Barsbay's vassal, an arrangement that was also enforced on his successors for several decades after.^[133]

After the victories in Cyprus, Barsbay became concerned with growing Timurid influence over the Hejaz and its holy sites. On several occasions, Shah Rukh, Timur's son and successor, seized the privilege of providing the Kiswa (mantle) that was draped over the Kaaba shrine in Mecca every year, a prerogative that had belonged to the Mamluk sultan since the time of Baybars.^[134] Barsbay challenged this in 1434, convening the four senior qadis of Cairo to discuss Shah Rukh's presumption. The Hanafi judge sided against Shah Rukh and the other three refrained from issuing judgements, which Barsbay took as a validation of the Mamluk position.^[134] He reasserted Cairo's prerogative to send to Kiswa, though an exchange of letters on the matter with Shah Rukh grew increasingly antagonistic. During his reign he reduced the independence of the Sharifs of Mecca to a minimum, sent Mamluk troops to occupy the Hejaz and to reign in local tribes, and took direct control of much of the region's administration.^[135][136]

Barsbay launched military expeditions against the Aq Qoyonlu in 1429 and 1433.^[130] The first expedition involved the sacking of Edessa and the massacre of its Muslim inhabitants in retaliation for the Aq Qoyonlu's raids against the Mamluks' Mesopotamian territories.^[130] The second expedition was against the Aq Qoyonlu capital of Amid, which ended with the Aq Qoyonlu recognizing Mamluk suzerainty.^[130] Barsbay may have also come to fear an alliance between Shah Rukh, the Ottomans, and other regional states in the area.^[128] Janibak al-Sufi, a Mamluk who had originally opposed Barsbay's rise to power and had fled to Anatolia, was also a serious threat in this regard and rekindled concerns over unrest to the north.^[129][128] Barbsay sent an expedition that defeated Janibak near 'Ayntab (present-day Gaziantep) in July 1436^[129] and advanced as far as Erzincan.^[128] Janibak escaped, but was eventually deemed a liability by his allies and died a prisoner in 1437, ending any further threats to Barsbay from the north.^[129]

While the Mamluks were able to force the Anatolian beyliks to generally submit to their hegemony in the region, Mamluk authority in Upper Egypt was largely relegated to the emirs of the Hawwara tribe.^[130] The latter had grown wealthy from their burgeoning trade with central Africa and achieved a degree of local popularity due to their piety, education and generally benign treatment of the inhabitants.^[130]

The successors of Barbsay

Barbsay died on 7 June 1438 after suffering from the plague over several months.^[129] Per his wishes, his 14-year-old son, Yusuf, was officially installed as his successor that same day and one of his senior amirs, Jaqmaq al-Jarkasi al-'Ala'i al-Zahiri, was appointed as his regent. The usual disputes over succession ensued and after three months Jaqmaq won out and became the new sultan, exiling Yusuf to Alexandria and adopting the laqab (regnal name) al-Zahir.^[137]

Gold dinar of Mamluk sultan Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq minted in Cairo between 1438 and 1440

Jaqmaq was a mamluk recruited by Barquq and was already 65 years old when he came to power.^[138][139] He had survived the preceding period by avoiding conflict and making few enemies, an attitude that continued into his reign. He maintained friendly relations with the Ottomans and, departing from Barsbay's forceful approach, allowed Shah Rukh to dispatch the mahmal on the pilgrimage caravan to Mecca in 1444.^[138] His most important foreign military effort was an unsuccessful campaign to conquer Rhodes from the Knights of St. John, involving three expeditions between 1440 and 1444.^[138]

Domestically, Jaqmaq largely continued Barsbay's monopolies, though he promised to enact reforms and formally rescinded some tariffs. He continued to make extortions for financial gain but made a show of his piety and sought to frame all his actions within the mechanisms of Islamic law.^[140] When he finally died on 13 February 1453, at the age of 80, he was well-respected by much of the population and was publicly mourned.^[141]

Jaqmaq's 18-year-old son, 'Uthman, was installed on the throne after his father's death but soon lost all support when he tried to buy the loyalty of other mamluks with debased coins.^[141] Inal al-'Ala'i al-Zahiri al-Nasiri, who Barsbay had made his atabeg al-asakir in 1446, eventually won enough support to be declared sultan two months after Jaqmaq's death. Inal came to power at the age of 73. He was the last Mamluk sultan who began his career as a mamluk of Barquq and, unlike many predecessors, he had managed to distinguish himself under previous sultans without ever being arrested.^[141]

Inal was sultan when Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan, conquered Constantinople in 1453. An Ottoman embassy arrived in Cairo on 27 October 1453 to bring the news, after which Inal ordered lavish public celebrations to commemorate the event,^[141] much like the celebrations of a Mamluk victory.^[142] It's unclear whether Inal and the other mamluks understood the implications of this event,^[141] though they must have received the news with mixed feelings.^[143] This marked the rise of the Ottomans as a superpower, a status that would bring them into increasing conflict with the Mamluk Sultanate, which grew more stagnant.^[144]

In Cyprus, Inal became embroiled in a succession dispute within the Lusignan dynasty on the island, still vassals of the Mamluk.^[145] John II, the son and successor of Janus, died in 1458 and the succession was disputed between his legitimate daughter, Charlotte, and his illegitimate son, James. The latter arrived in Cairo in May 1459 to request Inal's aid. The sultan agreed and began preparations for an expedition to the island to enforce his claim, but in March 1460 an embassy from Charlotte arrived and bribed Inal and his amirs into endorsing her claim instead. When James learned of this seeming betrayal, his supporters convinced Inal's amirs to reverse to their original position with an even larger bribe. Inal was finally convinced himself to reaffirm the claim of James. A military expedition was sent to the island, defeated Charlotte, and installed James as king.^[145]

Inal's behaviour during this episode was noted by contemporary observers as evidence of his unsteady policies.^[146] His willingness to accept the highest bribe reflected the state's severe financial difficulties. The ruling class tried to raise funds by selling offices and judge positions to individuals willing to buy them. The state's iqta' properties were also sold off in return for military service, depriving the treasury of the tax revenues collected on these lands. Coins based on precious metals nearly disappeared from circulation.^[147]

Inal died on 26 February 1461. His son, Ahmad, was promptly installed as his successor and then promptly challenged by Janam al-Ashrafi, the governor of Damascus, and Janibak al-Zahiri, the governor of Jeddah. Eventually the Mamluks settled on a compromise candidate, Khushqadam al-Mu'ayyadi, who took the laqab al-Zahir.^[146] Ahmad was sent into exile in Alexandria. Khushqadam was initially considered a temporary choice because he was not a Circassian (he was a possibly of Greek origin). However, he managed to outplay his rivals. Janam was bribed at first and then alienated. He fled and sought help from Uzun Hasan, the Aq-Qoyunlu ruler, but died on a campaign near Edessa in 1462, before he could cause further trouble. Janibak was assassinated in August 1463.^[146]

Khushqadam's reign was marked by further political difficulties abroad and near to home. Cyprus remained a vassal, but Khushqadam's representative was killed in battle after insulting James II (who had been installed by Inal).^[146] In the Dulkadirid principality to the north, a succession dispute saw a Mamluk-backed candidate defeated by Shah Suwar, the candidate supported by the Ottomans.^[146] Closer to home, Bedouin Arab tribes were restless and the sultan had to send his forces against the Labid tribe in the Nile Delta region and against the Hawwara in Upper Egypt, with little effect.^[146]

The reign of Qaytbay

Mamluk Sultan Qaytbay (r.1468-1496, here "Mag Caitbeivs Cairi Svltan", "The great Caitbeius, Sultan of Cairo") by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo (16th century), Galleria degli Uffizi.^[148]

Khushqadam died on 9 October 1467 and the mamluk amirs initially installed Yalbay al-Mu'ayyadi as his successor. After two months he was replaced by Timurbugha al-Zahiri. Timurbugha was deposed in turn on 31 January 1468, but voluntarily consented to the accession of his second in command, Qaytbay (Qayitbay al-Mahmudi al-Zahiri Jaqmaq), to the throne.^[149] Qaytbay was a Circassian purchased in 1435 or 1436 by a slave merchant called Mahmudi ibn Rustam, who was then recruited by Barsbay's agents in Cairo and manumitted by Jaqmaq. Under Inal and Khushqadam, he rose through the ranks. Timurbugha, during his brief rule, appointed him as his atabeg. After he was installed as sultan, Qaytbay granted Timurbugha's request to retire peacefully in Damietta.^[149] at the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, dated to 1482^[150] Qaytbay's 28-year-long reign, the second longest in Mamluk history after al-Nasir Muhammad,^[151] was marked by relative stability and prosperity. Historical sources present a sultan whose character was markedly different from other Mamluk rulers. Notably, he disliked engaging in conspiracy, even though this had been a hallmark of Mamluk politics, and he had a reputation for being even-handed and treating his colleagues and subordinates fairly. His magnanimous treatment of the deposed Timurbugha was an example of this.^[152] These personality traits seem to have kept internal tensions and conspiracies at bay throughout his reign.^[153] While the Mamluk practices of confiscation, extortion, and bribery continued in fiscal matters, under Qaytbay they were practiced in a more systematic way that allowed individuals and institutions to function within a more predictable environment.^[154] His engagement with the civil bureaucracy and the ulama (Islamic jurists and scholars) appeared to reflect a genuine commitment to Sunni Islamic law.^[154] He was one of the most prolific Mamluk patrons of architecture, second only to al-Nasir Muhammad,^[151] and his patronage of religious and civic buildings extended to the provinces beyond Cairo.^[154] Nonetheless, Qaytbay operated in an environment of recurring plague epidemics that underpinned a general population decline. Agriculture suffered, the treasury was often stretched thin, and by the end of his reign the economy was still weak.^[155]

Sabil of Qaytbay.

The challenges to Mamluk dominance abroad were also mounting, particularly to the north. Shah Suwar, the leader of the Dulkadirid principality in Anatolia, benefited from Ottoman support and was an excellent military tactician. Meanwhile, Qaytbay supported the ruler of the Karamanid principality, Ahmad.^[153] Initially, the Mamluks failed in a series of campaigns against Shah Suwar. The tide turned in 1470–1471 when an agreement appears to have been reached between Qaytbay and Mehmed II, by which Qaytbay would stop supporting the Karamanids and the Ottomans would stop supporting the Dulkadirids.^[156][157] Now without Ottoman support, Shah Suwar was defeated in 1471 by a Mamluk expedition led by Qaytbay's senior field commander, Yashbak min Mahdi.^[157] Shah Suwar held out for a time in his fortress near Zamantı, before agreeing to surrender himself if his life was spared and he was allowed to remain as a vassal. In the end, Qaytbay was unwilling to let him live and Shah Suwar was betrayed, brought to Cairo, and executed.^[156][157] Shah Budaq was installed as his replacement and as a Mamluk vassal, though the Ottoman-Mamluk rivalry over the Dulkadirid throne continued.^[156]

The next challenge came in the form of Uzun Hasan, the Aq-Qoyunlu leader who was rising as a possible rival to the Ottomans. In 1471 he was defeated by Mehmed II,^[157] but he subsequently declared his intent to assert his suzerainty over Shah Budaq and to destroy the Mamluks.^[158] In 1472 he led an expedition into Mamluk territory around Aleppo, but Yashbak min Mahdi soundly defeated him and forced him to retreat in disorder.^[158] The next year, in summer of 1473, Uzun Hassan was even more resoundingly defeated in battle against Mehmed II near Erzurum.^[159] His son and successor, Ya'qub, resorted to inviting Yashbak min Mahdi to participate in a campaign against Edessa. As this avoided any challenge against Qaytbay's authority, Yashbak accepted. Although initially successful, he was killed during the siege of the city, thus depriving Qaytbay of his most important field commander.^[157]

In 1489, the Republic of Venice annexed Cyprus.^[160][145] The Venetians promised Qaytbay that their occupation would beneficial to him as well, as their much larger fleet would be better than the Cypriots at keeping the peace in the eastern Mediterranean. Venice also agreed to keep paying the yearly tribute of 8,000 ducats to Cairo that the Cypriots had previously sent. A treaty signed between the two powers in 1490 formalized this arrangement. It was a sign that the Mamluks were now depending partly on the Venetians for naval security.^[160]

Confrontation with the Ottomans

Further information: Ottoman–Mamluk War (1485–1491)

With the death of Mehmed II in 1481 and the accession of his son, Bayezid II, to the Ottoman throne, Ottoman-Mamluk tensions escalated.^[157] Bayezid's claim to the throne was challenged by his brother, Jem. The latter was forced to flee into exile and Qaytbay granted him sanctuary in Cairo in September 1481. The Mamluk sultan eventually allowed him to return to Anatolia to lead a new attempt to confront Bayezid again. This venture failed and Jem was forced to flee into exile again, this time into Christian hands to the west. Bayezid interpreted Qaytbay's welcome to Jem as direct support for the latter's cause and was furious.^[161][157] Qaytbay also supported the Dulkadirid leader, Ala' al-Dawla (who had replaced Shah Budaq), against the Ottomans,^[157] but Ala' al-Dawla was compelled to shift his loyalty to Bayezid c. 1483 or 1484, which soon triggered the start of an Ottoman–Mamluk war over the next six years.^[162][163]

A shirt of mail and plate armor belonging to Sultan Qaytbay, one of the few surviving sets of armor from the Mamluk period.^[164]

In the spring of 1484, a combined Dulkadirid and Ottoman force captured Malatya. After some further reverses, the Mamluk army managed to ambush and defeat the attackers near Malatya in September 1484.^[165][166] Qaytbay sent an envoy, Janibak Habib, to Istanbul to negotiate a peace in 1485, but to no avail.^[167][168] Over several years, Ottoman advances into Cilicia were met with Mamluk counterattacks that generally reversed their gains but failed to end the war decisively. In February 1486, the Mamluk commander, Azbak, scored a major victory. In response, Beyazid sent a larger force led by Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, his father-in-law and the beylerbey of Anatolia, but the latter was defeated and captured by Azbak near Adana in March 1486.^{[169][170][171]}

In the spring of 1487, a new Ottoman campaign led by grand vizier Davud Pasha advanced into the region, reoccupying Adana.^{[172][173][174]} Qaytbay, realizing that the Ottomans were able to reconstitute a large army even after suffering apparently major defeats, resolved to send a huge, well-armed expedition to force a more decisive outcome. The Mamluk army, led by Azbak, left Cairo in late May 1488.^[175] An Ottoman fleet attempted to land near a coastal fortress at Bab al-Malik but was repelled by Azbak. The decisive encounter occurred near Adana in August 1488, in the Battle of Ağaçayırı. Over two days, both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the Ottomans lost many members of their chain of command and were eventually forced into a rout.^[176][177] Adana held out for three months longer, but Azbak eventually returned triumphant to Cairo in February or March 1489.^[176]

In the aftermath of the battle, the Ottomans sent a peace overture which arrived in Cairo in May 1489, but Qaytbay rejected it.^[178][179] The Ottomans again sent another army that advanced into southeastern Anatolia in late 1489. Though the Mamluks struggled to finance their war efforts, Azbak led another expedition from Cairo in March 1490. The Ottomans refrained from attacking the Mamluks directly and Azbak pursued them into central Anatolia, with confrontations occurring near Kayseri. The Mamluks pillaged the region up until October 1490, when Azbak, pressured by his troops and fearing a possible Ottoman trap, opted to turn back – a decision that soured his relationship with Qaytbay.^[180][181] By 1491, however, both sides were exhausted and an Ottoman embassy arrived in Cairo in the spring. An agreement was concluded and the status quo ante bellum was reaffirmed.^[182] During the rest of Qaytbay's reign, no further foreign conflicts took place.^[157]

The reign of al-Ghuri

Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri (r.1501-1516, here "Campson Gavro re d'Egitto", "Campson Gauro, king of Egypt") by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Galleria degli Uffizi.^[183]

Anonymous 1511 painting depicting a reception of Venetian ambassadors in Damascus during the time of al-Ghuri^[184]

Qaytbay's death on 8 August 1496 inaugurated several years of instability. His son, Muhammad, succeeded him but was eventually assassinated on 31 October 1498.^[185] He was succeeded by his maternal uncle, al-Zahir Qansuh, who was driven out by al-'Adil Tuman Bay in June 1500.^[185] Tuman Bay initially had to accept Janbalat as sultan instead, but later proclaimed himself sultan while suppressing a revolt near Damascus and returned to force him out, taking power in January 1501.^[185] Three months later, he was deposed in turn and replaced by Qansuh al-Ghuri (or al-Ghawri), his second in command. Al-Ghuri had stayed relatively uninvolved in Mamluk politics until then and initially refused to accept what he considered a dangerous position. He only agreed after multiple assurances were given and after Tuman Bay was executed.^[186]

Al-Ghuri secured his position over several months and appointed new figures to key posts. His nephew, Tuman Bay (not to be confused with al-'Adil Tuman Bay) was appointed dawadar and his second in command.^[187] In Syria, al-Ghuri appointed Sibay, a former rival who opposed him in 1504–1505, as governor of Damascus in 1506. The latter remained a major figure during his reign but he acknowledged Cairo's suzerainty and helped to keep the peace.^[188]

Al-Ghuri is often viewed negatively by historical commentators, particularly Ibn Iyas, for his draconic fiscal policies.^[188] The sultan inherited a state beset by financial problems. In addition to the demographic and economic changes under his predecessors, changes in the organisation of the Mamluk military over time had also resulted in large numbers of soldiers feeling alienated and repeatedly threatening to revolt unless given extra payments, which drained the state's finances.^[188] To address the shortfalls, al-Ghuri resorted to heavy-handed and far-reaching taxation and extortion to refill the treasury, which elicited protests that were sometimes violent. He used the raised funds to repair fortresses throughout the region, to commission his own construction projects in Cairo, and to purchase a large number of new mamluks to fill his military ranks.^[189]

Al-Ghuri also attempted some reforms of the Mamluk military. He recognized the impact of gunpowder technology used by the Ottoman and Europeans, but which the Mamluks had eschewed. In 1507, he established a foundry to produce cannons and created a new regiment trained to use them, known as the "Fifth Corps" (al-Ṭabaqa al-Khamisa). The latter's ranks were filled by people recruited outside the traditional mamluk system, including Turkmen, Persians, the sons or descendants of mamluks, and civilian craftsmen.^[188] The traditional mamluk army, however, regarded firearms with contempt and vigorously resisted their incorporation into Mamluk warfare, which prevented al-Ghuri from making effective use of them until the end of his reign.^[188][190]

In the meantime, Shah Ismail I had emerged in 1501 to forge a new Safavid Empire in Iran. The Safavids styled themselves as champions of Twelver Shi'ism, in direct opposition to the Sunnism of the Mamluks and Ottomans.^[191] In 1508, Ismail captured Baghdad, threatening the eastern frontier of the Mamluk and Ottoman empires.^[192] In 1510, Safavid and Venetian envoys on their way to Iran were captured by the Mamluks near Aleppo, allegedly with evidence that the Safavids had proposed an anti-Mamluk alliance with Venice. This soured Venetian-Mamluk relations.^[160][193] Tensions were exacerbated when Rhodes attacked and destroyed a Turkish fleet carrying naval supplies and timber to the Mamluks. Al-Ghuri held the Venetians partly responsible for this and responded by impounding all Venetian goods in the Mamluk Sultanate. Eventually, the Venetians persuaded him to reopen trade in 1512 and resume normal relations.^[194][195] These events encouraged al-Ghuri to rely more on the Ottomans for aid, a policy that the Venetians ultimately also urged him to follow in order to counter their common foe, the Portuguese.^{[160][196][195]}

Fall to the Ottomans

Ottoman painting showing the head of Mamluk Sultan al-Ghuri being remitted to Selim I

Selim I, the new Ottoman sultan, defeated the Safavids decisively at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514. Soon after, he attacked and defeated the Dulkadirids, a Mamluk vassal, for refusing to aid him against the Safavids.^[191] Secure now against Ismail I, in 1516 he drew together a great army aiming at conquering Egypt, but to obscure the fact he presented the mobilisation of his army as being part of the war against Ismail I. The war started in 1516 which led to the later incorporation of Egypt and its dependencies in the Ottoman Empire, with Mamluk cavalry proving no match for the Ottoman artillery and the janissaries. On 24 August 1516, at the Battle of Marj Dabiq, the Ottomans were victorious against an army led by al-Ghuri himself.^[203] Khayr Bak, the governor of Aleppo, had secretly come to an agreement with Selim and betrayed the Mamluk sultan, leaving with his troops part-way during the battle. In the subsequent chaos, al-Ghuri was killed and his body never recovered.^[204] The surviving Mamluk forces returned to Aleppo but were denied entry to the city and forced to march back to Egypt, harassed along the way.^[205] Syria passed into Ottoman possession,^[206] and the Ottomans were welcomed in many places as deliverance from the Mamluks.^{[207][208][209]}

The Mamluk Sultanate survived a little longer until 1517. Tuman Bay, whom al-Ghuri had left as deputy in Cairo, was hastily and unanimously proclaimed sultan on 10 October 1516.^[204][210] The amirs rejected his plan to confront the next Ottoman advance at Gaza, so instead he prepared a final defense at al-Raydaniyya to the north of Cairo.^[204] In the early days of 1517, Tuman Bay received news that a Mamluk army was defeated at Gaza.^[211] The Ottoman attack at al-Raydaniyya overwhelmed the defenders on 22 January 1517 and reached Cairo.^[205] Over the following days, furious fighting continued between Mamluks, locals, and Ottomans, resulting in much damage to the city and three days of pillaging. Selim proclaimed an amnesty on 31 January, at which point many of the remaining Mamluks surrendered.^[212] Tuman Bay fled to Bahnasa in Middle Egypt with some of his remaining forces.^[205]

Selim initially offered the Mamluk sultan peace as an Ottoman vassal, but his messengers were intercepted and killed by mamluks.^[213] Tuman Bay, with 4000 cavalry and some 8000 infantry, confronted the Ottomans in a final bloody battle near Giza on 2 April 1517, where he was defeated and captured.^[213][205] Selim intended to spare him, but Khayr Bak and Janbardi al-Ghazali, another former Mamluk commander, persuaded the Ottoman sultan that Tuman Bay was too dangerous to keep alive. Accordingly, the last Mamluk sultan was executed by hanging at Bab Zuwayla, one of Cairo's gates, on 13 April 1517.^[214] In reward for his betrayal at Marj Dabiq, Selim installed Khayr Bak as Ottoman governor of Egypt.^[205] Janbardi al-Ghazali was appointed governor of Damascus.^[215]

Muslim community

Finispiece from the Qur'an copied by Ahmad ibn Kamal al-Mutatabbib in 1334. This manuscript is part of the National Library of Egypt's Collection of Mamluk Qur'an Manuscripts inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register

A wide range of Islamic religious expression existed in Egypt during the early Mamluk era, namely Sunni Islam and its major madhabs (schools of thought) and various Sufi orders, but also small communities of Ismai'li Shia Muslims,^[233] particularly in Upper Egypt.^[234] In addition, there was a significant minority of Coptic Christians.^[234] Under Sultan Saladin, the Ayyubids embarked on a program of reviving and strengthening Sunni Islam in Egypt to counter Christianity, which had been reviving under the religiously benign rule of the Fatimids,^[234] and Ismailism, the branch of Islam of the Fatimid state.^[233] Under the Bahri sultans, the promotion of Sunni Islam was pursued more vigorously than under the Ayyubids.^[234] The Mamluks were motivated in this regard by personal piety or political expediency for Islam was both an assimilating and unifying factor between the Mamluks and the majority of their subjects; the early mamluks had been brought up as Sunni Muslims and the Islamic faith was the only aspect of life shared between the Mamluk ruling elite and its subjects.^[235] While the precedent set by the Ayyubids highly influenced the Mamluk state's embrace of Sunni Islam,^[236] the circumstances in the Muslim Middle East in the aftermath of the Crusader and Mongol invasions also left Mamluk Egypt as the last major Islamic power able to confront the Crusaders and the Mongols.^[237] Thus, the early Mamluk embrace of Sunni Islam also stemmed from the pursuit of a moral unity within their realm based on the majority views of its subjects.^[237]

The Mamluks sought to cultivate and utilize Muslim leaders to channel the religious feelings of the sultanate's Muslim subjects in a manner that did not disrupt the sultanate's authority.^[225] Similar to their Ayyubid predecessors, the Bahri sultans showed particular favoritism towards the Shafi'i madhab, while also promoting the other major Sunni madhabs, namely the Maliki, Hanbali and Hanafi. Baybars ended the Ayyubid and early Mamluk tradition of selecting a Shafi'i scholar as qadi al-qudah (chief judge) and instead had a qadi al-qudah appointed from each of the four madhabs.^[237] This policy change may have been partly motivated by a desire to accommodate an increasingly diverse Muslim population whose components had immigrated to Egypt from regions where other madhabs were prevalent.^[237] Ultimately, however, the diffusion of the post of qadi al-qudah among the four madhabs enabled Mamluk sultans to act as patrons for each madhab and thus gain more influence over them.^[237] Regardless of the policy change, the Shafi'i scholars maintained a number of privileges over their colleagues from the other madhabs.^[237]

The Mamluks also embraced the various Sufi orders that existed in the sultanate.^[236] Sufism was widespread in Egypt by the 13th century, and the Shadhiliyyah was the most popular Sufi order.^[238] The Shadhiliyyah lacked an institutional structure and was flexible in its religious thought, allowing it to easily adapt to its local environment.^[238] It incorporated Sunni Islamic piety with its basis in the Qur'an and hadith, Sufi mysticism, and elements of popular religion such as sainthood, ziyarat (visitation) to the tombs of saintly or religious individuals, and dhikr (invocation of God).^[238] Other Sufi orders with large numbers of adherents were the Rifa'iyyah and Badawiyyah.^[238] While the Mamluks patronized the Sunni ulama through appointments to government office, they patronized the Sufis by funding zawiyas (Sufi lodges).^[225] On the other end of the spectrum of Sunni religious expression were the teachings of the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyyah, which emphasized stringent moral rigor based on literal interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and a deep hostility to the aspects of mysticism and popular religious innovations promoted by the various Sufi orders.^[238] While Ibn Taymiyyah was not a typical representative of Sunni orthodoxy in the sultanate, he was the most prominent Muslim scholar of the Mamluk era and was arrested numerous times by the Mamluk government for his religious teachings, which are still influential in the modern-day Muslim world.^[238] Ibn Taymiyyah's doctrines were regarded as being heretical by the Sunni establishment patronized by the Mamluks.^[239]

Christian and Jewish communities

Mamluk-era astrolabe with Coptic numerals, dated 1282/1283. This astrolabe and other items of its kind are proof that Mamluks still used Coptic numerals and Coptic calendar for various practical and scientific purposes.^[240] Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

Christians and Jews in the sultanate were governed by the dual authority of their respective religious institutions and the sultan.^[241] The authority of the former extended to many of the everyday aspects of Christian and Jewish life and was not restricted to the religious practices of the two respective communities.^[241] The Mamluk government, often under the official banner of the Pact of Umar which gave Christians and Jews dhimmi (protected peoples) status, ultimately determined the taxes that Christians and Jews paid to the sultanate, including the jizyah (tax on non-Muslims), whether a house of worship could be constructed and the public appearance of Christians and Jews.^[241] Jews generally fared better than Christians, and the latter experienced more difficulty under Mamluk rule than under previous Muslim powers.^[241][242] The association of Christians with the Mongols, due to the latter's use of Armenian and Georgian Christian auxiliaries, the attempted alliance between the Mongols and the Crusader powers, and the massacre of Muslim communities and the sparing of Christians in cities captured by the Mongols, may have contributed to rising anti-Christian sentiments in the Mamluk era.^[243] The manifestations of anti-Christian hostility were mostly spearheaded at the popular level rather than under the direction of Mamluk sultans. The main source of popular hostility was resentment at the privileged positions many Christians held in the Mamluk bureaucracy.^[244]

The Coptic decline in Egypt occurred under the Bahri sultans and accelerated further under the Burji regime.^[245] There were several instances of Egyptian Muslim protests against the wealth of Coptic Christians and their employment with the state, and both Muslim and Christian rioters burned down each other's houses of worship in times of intercommunal tensions.^[244] As a result of popular pressure, Coptic Christians had their employment in the bureaucracy terminated at least nine times between the late 13th and mid-15th centuries, and on one occasion, in 1301, the government ordered the closure of all churches.^[244] Coptic bureaucrats would often be restored to their positions after the moment of tension passed.^[246] Many Coptic Christians decided to convert to Islam or at least adopt the outward expressions of Muslim faith to protect their employment, avoid jizyah taxation and avoid official measures against them.^[246] The 14th century saw a large wave of Coptic conversions to Islam^[246] as a result of the intermittent persecution and destruction of the churches^[244] and forced conversion to Islam.^{[247][248][249][250]} Others may have converted in order to retain employment.^[246] By the end of the Mamluk period, the ratio of Muslims to Christians in Egypt may have risen to 10:1.^[244]

In Syria, the Mamluks uprooted the local Maronite and Greek Orthodox Christians from the coastal areas as a means to prevent their potential contact with European powers.^[251] The Maronite Church was especially suspected by the Mamluks of collaboration with the Europeans due to the high degree of relations between the Maronite Church and the papacy in Rome and the Christian European powers, particularly Cyprus.^[251] The Greek Orthodox Church experienced a decline following the Mamluk destruction of its spiritual center, Antioch, and the Timurid destruction of Aleppo and Damascus in 1400.^[251] The Syriac Christians also experienced a significant decline in Syria due to intra-communal disputes over patriarchal succession and the destruction of churches by the Timurids or local Kurdish tribes.^[252] The Mamluks brought about a similar decline of the Armenian Orthodox Church after their capture of the Armenian Cilician Kingdom in 1374, in addition to the raids of the Timurids in 1386 and the conflict between the Timurids and the nomadic Turkmen Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Qoyonlu tribal confederations in Cilicia.^[253]