Al-Ashraf Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as al-Ashraf Sha'ban or Sha'ban II, was a
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 the
Bahri dynasty
The Bahri dynasty or Bahriyya Mamluks ( ar, المماليك البحرية, translit=al-Mamalik al-Baḥariyya) was a Mamluk dynasty of mostly Turkic origin that ruled the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate from 1250 to 1382. They followed the Ayyubid ...
in 1363–1377. He was a grandson of Sultan
an-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( ar, الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad ( ar, الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qal ...
(r. 1310–1341). He had two sons (out of a total of eight) who succeeded him:
al-Mansur Ali
Al-Mansur Ali ( ar, المنصور على, ''epithet'': ''al-Malik al-Manṣūr Nūr ad-dīn ʾAlī ibn Aybak'', Arabic: ) (b. c. 1242, Cairo) was the second of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt in the Turkic, or Bahri, line. Some historians, however ...
and
as-Salih Hajji
Al-Salih Hajji (Epithet: Al-Salih Salah Zein al-Din Hajji II), also Haji II, was a Mamluk ruler, and the last ruler of the Bahri dynasty in 1382. He briefly ruled again in 1389, during the advent of the Burji dynasty. He fell hostage to Barquq
...
.
Biography
Early life and family
Sha'ban was born in 1353/54.
His father was al-Amjad Husayn (died 1363), a son of Sultan
an-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun ( ar, الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad ( ar, الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qal ...
(r. 1310–1341) who,
unlike many of his brothers, never reigned as sultan. Sha'ban's mother was Khawand Baraka (d. 1372), a former slave woman who married al-Amjad Husayn. Sha'ban had four brothers, Anuk (d. 1390/91), Ibrahim, Ahmad and Janibak (d. 1428), and three sisters, Zahra (d. 1370), Shaqra (d. 1401) and Sara (d. 1432).
Reign
In late May 1363, the Mamluk
magnate
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
s, in effect the senior emirs, led by Emir
Yalbugha al-Umari
Sayf ad-Din Yalbugha ibn Abdullah al-Umari an-Nasiri al-Khassaki, better known as Yalbugha al-Umari or Yalbugha al-Khassaki, was a senior Mamluk emir during the Bahri period. Originally a ''mamluk'' of Sultan an-Nasir Hasan (r. 1347–1351, 1354 ...
, deposed Sultan
al-Mansur Muhammad on charges of illicit behavior and installed al-Ashraf Sha'ban, then ten years old, as his replacement.
[Steenbergen 2011, p. 437.] Yalbugha and the emirs viewed al-Ashraf Sha'ban as a figurehead who would be easy to manage. Yalbugha maneuvered to become the effective regent of the sultan.
In December 1366, a number of senior emirs and Yalbugha's own ''
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'') ...
s'' launched a revolt against him.
[Steenbergen 2001, pp. 139–140] At the start of the revolt, a significant number of Yalbugha's ''mamluks'' remained loyal to their master, but once al-Ashraf Sha'ban, who sought to rule in his own right, lent his support to the rebels, they too joined the revolt.
After Yalbugha was captured and killed by his ''mamluks'', al-Ashraf Sha'ban made a number of them emirs, but most were left without employment or a patron.
At that point, al-Ashraf Sha'ban had only 200 of his own ''mamluks'', the relatively low number being attributed to his lack of real power during Yalbugha's regency. By June 1367, Yalbugha's former ''mamluks'' had largely entered the services of Emir Asandamur an-Nasiri, who had neutralized his rival emirs.
In late 1367, Asandamur and his newly-acquired ''mamluks'' moved against al-Ashraf Sha'ban, but were defeated.
[Steenbergen 2011, pp. 142–143.] The revolt was also supported by Emir Khalil ibn Qawsun, the son of former regent Emir
Qawsun
Sayf ad-Din Qawsun ibn Abdullah an-Nasiri as-Saqi (1302 – April 1342), commonly known as Qawsun (also spelled ''Qausun'' or ''Qusun'') was a prominent Mamluk emir during the reigns of sultans an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–41), al-Mansur Abu Bakr ( ...
(d. 1342) and a daughter of an-Nasir Muhammad who had been appointed ''atabeg al-asakir'' (commander in chief) by al-Ashraf Sha'ban earlier that year.
[Levanoni 2006, p. 100.] Khalil had been promised the throne by Asandamur.
According to a contemporary Mamluk chronicler,
al-Nuwayri al-Iskandarani, al-Ashraf Sha'ban was significantly assisted by the "common people", who killed many of the ''mamluk'' rebels, "making them bite the dust". The support of the commoners was enlisted by al-Ashraf Sha'ban's loyalist commanders, emirs Asanbugha Ibn al-Abu Bakri and Qushtamur al-Mansuri, both of whom withdrew from the battle in Cairo and left the commoners to fight Asandamur's forces alone.
[Levanoni 1995, pp. 111–112.] The commoners were able to turn the tide in favor of al-Ashraf Sha'ban's partisans, and the latter's emirs and Royal Mamluks returned to the battle,
defeated the rebels and arrested Asandamur.
Because of their loyalty and key support during the revolt, al-Ashraf Sha'ban treated the commoners well throughout his reign.
Later, in 1373, survivors among Yalbugha's former ''mamluks'', including the future sultan,
Barquq
Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq ( Circassian: Бэркъукъу аз-Захьир Сэфудин; ar, الملك الظاهر سيف الدين برقوق; ruled 1382–1389 and 1390–1399; born in Circassia) was the first Sultan of the ...
, were allowed back to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
from exile to train al-Ashraf Sha'ban's ''mamluks''.
[Steenbergen 2011, p. 145.] In June/July 1373, conflict broke out between al-Ashraf Sha'ban and Emir Uljay al-Yusufi.
[Levanoni 1995, p. 103.] The commoners once again took up arms alongside al-Ashraf Sha'ban's loyalists.
After some eleven confrontations, al-Ashraf Sha'ban, using Emir Aynabak al-Yalbughawi as an intermediary, persuaded Uljay's emirs and lower-ranking ''mamluks'' to defect.
Uljay was killed that year. In 1374, a famine set in within Egypt that would last two years. To mitigate the burden on his subjects, al-Ashraf Sha'ban undertook efforts to provide food for the poor, dividing the financial responsibility of the effort among his emirs and the well-to-do merchants of Cairo.
In March 1376, al-Ashraf Sha'ban departed for the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
. Once he left Egypt, Aynabak led a revolt of the Royal Mamluks and unemployed ''mamluks'' against the sultan.
Meanwhile, the Mamluk guard that accompanied al-Ashraf Sha'ban also rebelled against him.
[Levanoni 1995, p. 104.] Al-Ashraf Sha'ban attempted to flee, but he was later captured by the rebels at
Aqaba
Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
.
[Haarmann 1998, p. 68.] In return for a promised promotion from Aynabak, Emir Jarkas as-Sayfi strangled and killed al-Ashraf Sha'ban in 1377.
The rebels installed one of al-Ashraf Sha'ban's sons,
al-Mansur Ali
Al-Mansur Ali ( ar, المنصور على, ''epithet'': ''al-Malik al-Manṣūr Nūr ad-dīn ʾAlī ibn Aybak'', Arabic: ) (b. c. 1242, Cairo) was the second of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt in the Turkic, or Bahri, line. Some historians, however ...
, as his successor.
Sha'ban was buried in one of the mausoleums of
the madrasa he had built for his mother in the
Darb al-Ahmar area, having never completed his own mausoleum complex.
See also
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Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban
The Madrasa of Umm al-Sultan Sha'ban ( ar, مدرسة أم السلطان شعبان, Madrasa Umm al-Sulṭān Shaʿbān) is a Mamluk-era complex located in the Al-Darb al-Ahmar area of Islamic Cairo in Egypt. It was founded or built in 1368-69 CE ...
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Demise of Cilician Armenia
References
Bibliography
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*Caroline Williams, Richard Bordeaux Parker, Robin Sabin, Jaroslaw Dobrowolski, Ola Sei, ''Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide'' American Univ in Cairo Press, 2002
External links
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{{Authority control
1354 births
1377 deaths
14th-century Mamluk sultans
Bahri sultans
Muslims of the Alexandrian Crusade