Abu Sa'id Qansuh, also Qansuh Al-Ashrafi, Qansuh I or Al-Zahir Qansuh, was the twenty third
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
Sultan of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
from the
Burji dynasty. He ruled the Mamluk Sultanate between 1498–1500.
Biography
Abu Sa'id Qansuh was originally a young
Circassian purchased by Sultan
Qaytbay
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay ( ar, السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي) (c. 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–149 ...
. When Sultan Qaytbay discovered that he was the brother of his favorite concubine he was appointed
dawadar, the protector of the Sultan's heir and the future Sultan,
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
. When Muhammad took over, the Mamluks grew discontent with the Sultan, rebelled, killed him, and elected Abu Sa'id Qansuh in his place. Facing another similar path as Sultan, the Mamluks became discontent with Qansuh. Qansuh tried to flee the palace disguised as a woman, but was caught and exiled to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
.
Qansuh was supposedly strangled to death by the orders of the future Sultan
Tuman bay I.
[Dobrowolski, Jarosław. ''The Living Stones of Cairo'' American University in Cairo Press, 2001, p.60] However, he was overthrown and succeeded by
Abu al-Nasir Janbalat.
Sources
16th-century Mamluk sultans
Burji sultans
1473 births
Circassian Mamluks
{{Egypt-bio-stub