Barsbay

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Barsbay
Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf
Bornc. 1369
Died7 June 1438 (aged c. 69)
Spouse
Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf
  • Ahmed

    • Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Dīn Barsbāy (

    Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438. He was Circassian by birth and a former slave of the first Burji Sultan, Barquq
    .

    Early career

    A former slave of the inaugural Burjite sultan, Barquq, Barsbay hailed from Circassian descent. On May 2, 1418, he was designated as the governor of Tripoli. He later assumed the role of tutor to Muhammad, the son of Sultan Tatar, who was just ten years old upon ascending to the throne.[1] Afterward, conflict broke out among three groups of emirs, one supporting the Sultan's Mamluks, while emirs Barsbay and Tarabay opposed him. Barsbay and Taribay swiftly gained control, with Barsbay becoming regent and Taribay the military commander-in-chief.[2]

    Despite quelling a revolt by the Viceroy of Aleppo and imprisoning several emirs,[3] tension between Barsbay and Taribay escalated, resulting in Barsbay's victory.[4] Taribay was captured and imprisoned in Alexandria, allowing Barsbay to pursue the throne.[5] With backing from the Viceroy of Damascus and other emirs, Barsbay deposed Sultan Muhammad just two days later, on April 1, 1422.[6]

    Reign

    Barsbay's 16-year reign was a relatively long reign by the standards of the

    Mamluk period in Egypt. His reign was marked by relative security and stability, with few wars or rebellions. He apparently had a reputation simultaneously for being greedy and bad-tempered but also generous to the poor and to Sufis (the latter tendency being evident in his mausoleum-khanqah complex in the Northern Cemetery).[7]

    He was responsible for a number of administrative reforms in the Mamluk state, including the consolidation of the sultanate as a military magistrature and securing for Egypt exclusive rights over the

    ‘Aydhab
    , a once important port which had been in decline in the previous century.

    The 15th century saw an international economic recession.[clarification needed] During this time, Barsbay knew the importance of trade for Egypt and acted to strengthen Egyptian rule in the Hejaz and Yemen while securing Egyptian trade in the Mediterranean Sea. He reduced customs duties to attract merchants until Egypt became a monopoly of most trade in the East, angering some European powers at the time. He gained the title of the "Merchant Sultan" (السلطان التاجر).[10]

    In 1424–26, he

    Janus of Cyprus (from the House of Lusignan) and forced him to pay tribute.[11]

    In 1430, Egypt was severely struck by famine and plague.

    Barsbay had good ties with other Muslim rulers of his time, namely

    Sultan of Bengal.[12] According to Al-Sakhawi's Al-Daw' al-Lāmi` li-Ahl al-Qarn al-Tāsi',[13] the Mamluk sultan once gifted the Bengali sultan with investiture, a robe of honour and a letter of recognition.[14][15] The Bengali ruler had died before his gifts could be dispatched to Barsbay. His son and successor, Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah, had slightly delayed the dispatching but nevertheless sending the initial gifts of his father off whilst also adding more gifts of his own. In total, the package was worth over 12,000 red tankas and included clothes, cotton, ginger, myrobalan and other spices. The envoy, travelling from Bengal to Cairo via the Indian Ocean, sank whilst at Jeddah's coast. In 1436, the Governor of Jeddah sent some men to search the Red Sea for the gifts and they came back with the textiles although the spices were damaged by the water. After Barsbay was informed of this by the governor, he ordered for the arrest of all members of the Bengali embassy, the confiscation of their envoy's merchandise, and banned them from ever travelling to Cairo again.[16]

    The revenues from this military victory and these trade policies may have helped him finance his construction projects, and he is known for at least three extant and notable monuments. He built a

    al-Muizz street in 1424. His mausoleum complex, which also included a madrasa and khanqah, was built in Cairo's Northern Cemetery in 1432. He also built a mosque in the town of al-Khanqa, north of Cairo, in 1437.[17][9]

    Family

    Barsbay's first wife was Khawand Fatima, the daughter Qajqar al-Qardami. She was the mother of his son Muhammad. She died on 15 May 1424.

    Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq.[28] One of his concubines was Malikbay. She was a Circassian, and was the mother of his son Ahmed[18] (1438 – 1463[26]). After Barsbay's death, she married Qurkmas al-Ashrafi al-Jalab. She died in 1456.[18][21]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, p. 246.
    2. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, p. 221.
    3. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, pp. 222–226.
    4. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, pp. 227–230.
    5. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, pp. 230–231.
    6. ^ Ibn Taghribirdi 1929, pp. 232–233.
    7. ^ a b Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 225–226.
    8. ^ Garcin, 293-94.
    9. ^ a b Doris Behren-Abouseif (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of its Architecture and its Culture. I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
    10. ^ Shalaby, Ahmad (2009). موسوعة التاريخ الإسلامي. دار أسامة. pp. 112, 113.
    11. ^ O'Kane, Bernard (2016). The Mosques of Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 66–70.
    12. OL 30677644M
      . Retrieved 21 April 2024.
    13. ^ Abdul Karim (1960). Corpus of the Muslim Coins of Bengal: (down to A. D. 1538). Asiatic Society of Pakistan.
    14. ^ Al-Sakhawi. Al-Daw' al-Lāmi' li-Ahl al-Qarn al-Tāsi' (in Arabic).
    15. ^ ʻAbdallāh Muḥammad Ibn-ʻUmar al-Makkī al-Āṣafī al-Ulughkhānī Hajjī ad-Dabir. Zafar ul wālih bi Muzaffar wa ālihi (in Arabic).
    16. ^ Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (16 May 2014). Practising Diplomacy in the Mamluk Sultanate: Gifts and Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 9, 29, 46.
    17. ^ "Barsbay". Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture. Vol. 1. New York City: Oxford University Press. 2009.
    18. ^
      ISSN 1307-9581
      .
    19. S2CID 228994024
      .
    20. ^ a b Karam, Amina (2019-05-22). "Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo". AUC DAR Home. p. 86. Archived from the original on 2021-12-18. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
    21. ^
      ISBN 978-90-04-34505-8
      .
    22. ^ Taghrībirdī, A.M.Y.I.; Popper, W. (1957). History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. University of California Press. p. 157.
    23. ISBN 978-0-300-15746-8
      .
    24. ^
      ISBN 978-0-404-58800-7
      .
    25. S2CID 234429319
      . Retrieved 2021-11-27.
    26. ^
      ISBN 978-3-647-54009-2
      .
    27. ^ Belleten, Volume 17, Issues 65-68. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi. 1953. pp. 524–25.
    28. ISBN 978-9-004-10180-7
      .

    Sources

    Further reading

    Regnal titles
    Preceded by
    An-Nasir ad-Din Muhammad
    Mamluk Sultan of Egypt

    1422–1438     		Succeeded by
    Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf
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