Baybars
Baybars | |
---|---|
Sultan Misr wa-Suria Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din | |
Bahri | |
Religion | Islam |
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (
The reign of Baybars marked the start of an age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and solidified the durability of their military system. He managed to pave the way for the end of the Crusader presence in the Levant and reinforced the union of Egypt and Syria as the region's pre-eminent Muslim state, able to fend off threats from both Crusaders and Mongols, and even managed to subdue the kingdom of Makuria, which was famous for being unconquerable by previous Muslim empire invasion attempts. As sultan, Baybars also engaged in a combination of diplomacy and military action, allowing the Mamluks of Egypt to greatly expand their empire.
Name & personal info
In his native Turkic language, Baybars' name means "great panther"[7] or "lord panther"[8] (see also Wiktionary: bay "rich person, noble" + pars "leopard, panther").
Possibly based on the Turkic meaning of his name, Baybars used the panther as his heraldic blazon, and placed it on both coins and buildings.[7] The lion/panther used on the bridge built by Baybars near al-Ludd (today's Lod) plays with a rat, which may be interpreted to represent Baybars' Crusader enemies.[10]
Baybars was described as a tall man with
Biography
Baibars was a
Rise to power
In 1250, he supported the defeat of the Seventh Crusade of Louis IX of France in two major battles. The first was the Battle of Al Mansurah, where he employed an ingenious strategy in ordering the opening of a gate to let the crusader knights enter the town; the crusaders rushed into the town that they thought was deserted to find themselves trapped inside. They were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town population, and suffered heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house,[21][22] and William Longespée the Younger were both killed, along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive.[23] The second was the Battle of Fariskur which essentially ended the Seventh Crusade and led to the capture of Louis IX. Egyptian forces in that battle were led by Sultan Turanshah, the young son of recently deceased as-Salih Ayyub. Shortly after the victory over the Crusaders, Baybars and a group of Mamluk soldiers assassinated Turanshah, leading to as-Salih Ayyub's widow Shajar al-Durr being named sultana.[24]
In 1254, a power shift occurred in Egypt, as
Baybars then sent 'Ala al-Din Taybars al-Waziri to discuss with Qutuz his return to Egypt, which was eagerly accepted.[28] He was still a commander under sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when he decisively defeated the Mongols. After the battle, Sultan Qutuz (aka Koetoez) was assassinated while on a hunting expedition. It was said that Baybars was involved in the assassination because he expected to be rewarded with the governorship of Aleppo for his military success, but Qutuz, fearing his ambition, refused to give him the post.[29] Baybars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt.[30]
Becoming Sultan
Soon after Baybars had ascended to the Sultanate, his authority was confirmed without any serious resistance, except from
There was also a brief rebellion in Cairo led by a leading figure of the Shiite named al-Kurani. Al-Kurani is said originated from Nishapur.[31] Al-Kurani and his follower are recorded to have attacked the weapon stores and stables of Cairo during a night raid. Baibars, however, manage to suppress the rebellion quickly as he surrounded and arrested them all. Al- Kurani and another rebel leaders were executed (crucified) in Bab Zuweila[31]
After suppressing the revolt of Sinjar, Baibars then managed to deal with the
After the
Campaign against the Crusaders
As sultan, Baibars engaged in a lifelong struggle against the Crusader kingdoms in Syria, in part because the Christians had aided the Mongols. He started with the Principality of Antioch, which had become a vassal state of the Mongols and had participated in attacks against Islamic targets in Damascus and Syria. In 1263, Baibars laid siege to Acre, the capital of the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, although the siege was abandoned when he sacked Nazareth instead.[35] He used siege engines to defeat the Crusaders in battles such as the Fall of Arsuf from 21 March to 30 April. After breaking into the town he offered free passage to the defending Knights Hospitallers if they surrendered their formidable citadel. The Knights accepted Baibars' offer but were enslaved anyway.[36] Baibars razed the castle to the ground.[37] He next attacked Atlit and Haifa, where he captured both towns after destroying the crusaders' resistance, and razed the citadels.[38]
In the same year, Baibars laid siege to the fortress of
Later, in 1266, Baibars invaded the Christian country of
This isolated Antioch and Tripoli, led by Hethum's son-in-law, Prince
Then he continued to
Alliance with Golden Horde
Baybars actively pursued close relationship with Berke, the Khan of Golden Horde.[46] He particularly were recorded to receive the first two hundred soldiers from Golden Horde to visit warmly, where Baybars persuade them to convert to Islam while also observing the growing enmity between the Golden Horde Khan with Hulagu.[46] Baybars, who at that time has just defeated Hulagu, immediately sent envoy to Berke to inform the latter about this. Then, As soon as Berke converted to Islam, he sent envoy to Egypt to give news about this matter, and later, Baybars brought more peoples from Golden Horde to be sent into Egypt, where they also converted into Islam.[46]
In some time around October to November 1267, or about 666 Safar of
Continued campaign against Crusaders
On 30 March 1271, after Baibars captured the smaller castles in the area, including Chastel Blanc, he besieged the Krak des Chevaliers, held by the Hospitallers. Peasants who lived in the area had fled to the castle for safety and were kept in the outer ward. As soon as Baibars arrived, he began erecting mangonels, powerful siege weapons which he would turn on the castle. According to Ibn Shaddad, two days later the first line of defences was captured by the besiegers; he was probably referring to a walled suburb outside the castle's entrance.[48] After a lull of ten days, the besiegers conveyed a letter to the garrison, supposedly from the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Tripoli, Hugues de Revel, which granted permission for them to surrender. The garrison capitulated and the Sultan spared their lives.[48] The new owners of the castle undertook repairs, focused mainly on the outer ward.[49] The Hospitaller chapel was converted to a mosque and two mihrabs were added to the interior.[50]
Baibars then turned his attention to Tripoli, but he interrupted his siege there to call a truce in May 1271. The fall of Antioch had led to the brief
Campaign against Makuria
In 1265 a Mamluk army allegedly raided Makuria as far south as Dongola
Baibars then completed his conquest of Nubia, Including the
Further campaign against Ilkhanate
In 1277, Baibars invaded the
The possibility of a new Mongol army convinced Baibars to return to Syria, since he was far away from his bases and supply line. As the Mamluk army returned to Syria the commander of the Mamluk vanguard, Izz al-Din Aybeg al-Shaykhi, deserted to the Mongols.
Death
Baibars died in
Family
Sultan Baibars married a noble lady from Tripoli (modern-day Lebanon) named Aisha al Bushnatiya, a prominent Arab family. Aisha was a warrior who fought the Crusader oppression along with her brother lieutenant Hassan. She met Sultan Baibars after he camped in Tripoli during his siege.[citation needed] They had a short relationship and after that they got married. There are conflicting stories of whether Aisha returned with Baibars to Egypt or was martyred in Tripoli. Her tomb was an important religious and historical spot in Tripoli until it was destroyed by the French colonizers in the 20th century.[citation needed]
One of Baibar's wives was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Nogay at-Tatari.[71] Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Giray at-Tatari.[71] Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Tammaji.[71] Another wife was Iltutmish Khatun.[72] She was the daughter of Barka Khan a former Khwarazmian amir. She was the mother of his son Al-Said Barakah.[73] She died in 1284–85.[72] Another wife was the daughter Karmun Agha, a Mongol Amir.[74] He had three sons al-Said Barakah, Solamish and Khizir.[71] He had seven daughters;[71] one of them was named Tidhkarbay Khatun.[75]
Legacy
As the first Sultan of the
Rage and sorrow are seated in my heart...so firmly that I scarce dare to stay alive. It seems that God wishes to support the Turks to our loss...ah, lord God...alas, the realm of the East has lost so much that it will never be able to rise up again. They will make a
Baibars also played an important role in bringing the Mongols to Islam.[46] He developed strong ties with the Mongols of the Golden Horde and took steps for the Golden Horde Mongols to travel to Egypt. The arrival of the Mongol's Golden Horde to Egypt resulted in a significant number of Mongols accepting Islam.[78]
Military legacy
Baibars was a popular ruler in the Muslim world who had defeated the crusaders in three campaigns, and the
Culture and science
He was also an efficient administrator who took interest in building various infrastructure projects, such as a mounted message relay system capable of delivery from
His memoirs were recorded in
Al-Madrassa al-Zahiriyya is the school built adjacent to his Mausoleum in
See also
- Ablaq
- Bahri dynasty
- Cumania
- Cuman people
- Kipchak people
- Mosque of al-Zahir Baybars
- Sirat al-Zahir Baibars
Notes
- ^ al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī
References
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- ^ "Baybars I". Britannica. 15 February 2024.
- ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Macropædia, H.H. Berton Publisher, 1973–1974, p.773/vol.2
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الظاهر بيبرس: ركن الدين أبو الفتوح بيبرس التركي البندقداري ثم الصالحي صاحب مصر والشام ولد في حدود العشرين وستمائة كان رجلاً شجاعاً فارساً مقداماً مجاهداً عظيم الهيبة يضرب بشجاعته المثل، وله في الإسلام أيام بيض وفتوحات مشهورة. أجازه الشيخ محيي الدين ابن عربي برواية جميع مؤلفاته توفي 676 هـ، ذكره الشعراني ضمن تلاميذ ابن عربي.
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- ISBN 978-1-4456-8418-5. "He was described as being a tall man with a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes.
- ^ "Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE — Brill". referenceworks.brillonline.com. "Baybars is described as a tall man with broad chest and shoulders, slim legs, a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes."
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By origin he was a Kipchak Turk from the territory lying to the north of the Black Sea. When the Mongols conquered this region about 1241, Baybars's people fled across the Black Sea and sought refuge with a Turcoman chieftain in Anatolia, who proved treacherous, and turned on the fugitives with fire and sword. Baybars was among the captives. He was then about fourteen years of age, and his journey southwards can be traced through the slave-markets of Sivas, Aleppo, Damascus and Hamah.
- ISBN 9789004161658.
Baybars is described as a tall man with broad chest and shoulders, slim legs, a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes. He was probably born about 625/1227–8 in the southern Russian steppes as a member of a Qipçāq-Turkish group. At the age of fourteen he became a slave. The amīr Aydakīn al-Bunduqdār bought him in Ḥamāt (Hama) a short while later.
- ISBN 978-1-57958-041-4.
Baybars I, al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn ak-Din Baybars al-Salihi, was born around the year 1223 in what is now southern Russia. A member of the tribe of Kipchak Turks living on the north shores of the Black Sea, Barbars was a victim of the Mongol invasion of his native region in the late 1230's. By the time he was fourteen, Baybars had become a prisoner of war; he was sold in the slave market in Sivas, Anatolia.
- ISBN 978-0-415-96690-0.
Baybars was born around 1220 CE among the Qipchaq Turks, who lived in the steppe region north of the Black Sea. Fleeing from the Mongol invasions in the area in 1241–1242, Baybars and his family moved to Anatolia. There, Baybars was captured and ended up in the slave market of Damascus.
- ^ Rabie, Hassanein Muhammad. "Baybars I | Mamlūk Sultan of Egypt & Syria". Britannica. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4711-5664-9.
- ^ Dimitri Korobeinikov (2008), "A Broken Mirror: The Kıpçak World in the Thirteenth Century", in Florin Curta; Roman Kovalev (eds.), The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans, Leiden: Brill, pp. 379–412.
- ^ Lord of Joinville, 110, part II.
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Skip Knox, Egyptian Counter-attack, The Seventh Crusade. - ^ According to Matthew Paris, only 2 Templars, 1 Hospitaller and one 'contemptible person' escaped. Matthew Paris, Louis IX's Crusade, p. 14/ Vol. 5.
- ^ Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, Volume Three: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, Cambridge University Press, London, 1951, pp. 272–273
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 326.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 331.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 332.
- ^ Humphreys 1977, p. 348.
- ^ The story of the involvement of Baybars in the assassination was told by different historians in different ways. In one account the assassins killed Qutuz while he was giving a hand to Baybars (Al-Maqrizi and Ibn-Taghri). In another, from an Ayyubid source, Qutuz was giving a hand to someone when Baybars struck his back with a sword (Abu-Al-Fida). A third account mentioned that Baybars tried to help Qutuz against the assassins (O. Hassan). According to Al-Maqrizi, the Emirs who struck Qutuz were Badr ad-Din Baktut, Emir Ons, and Emir Bahadir al-Mu'izzi. (Al-Maqrizi, p.519/vol.1)
- ^ MacHenry, Robert. The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 1993. Baybars
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A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith Sir Thomas Walker Arnold. men , observing the growing enmity between ... Baybars , who persuaded them to embrace Islam.1 Baybars himself was at war with Hūlāgū , whom he had recently ...
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- Seignobos, Robin (2016). "La liste des conquêtes nubiennes de Baybars selon Ibn Šadd ād (1217 – 1285)" (PDF). In A. Łajtar; A. Obłuski; I. Zych (eds.). Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70 th Birthday (in French). Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. pp. 553–577. ISBN 9788394228835.
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External links
- Baibars article from Encyclopedia of the Orient
- Baibars in Concise Britannica online
- Al-Madrassa al-Zahiriyya and Baybars Mausoleum
- Brief article in Columbia Encyclopedia
- Extensive Arabic Article on Baybars
- Brief biography
- ISBN 0821444611
- S2CID 267765212.