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 Turk
Mamluk
Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
sultan of the
Bahri dynasty in 1363–1377. He was a grandson of Sultan
al-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–1341). He had two sons (out of a total of eight) who succeeded him:
al-Mansur Ali and
as-Salih Hajji.
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 (r. 1310–1341) who,
unlike many of his brothers, never reigned as sultan. Sha'ban's mother was Khawand Baraka (d. 1372), a former ''
jarya'' 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 term magnate, 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, 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 or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
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 (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 (; born ) was the first Sultan of the Circassians, Circassian Mamluk Burji dynasty of Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Egypt ruling from 1382 to 1389 and 1390 to 1399. Born to a Christianity, Christian father in Cir ...
, were allowed back to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
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
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
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 1375, al-Ashraf Sha'ban
conquered
Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...
the city of
Sis, the last stronghold of the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...
. This destroyed the Armenian kingdom and extended the boundaries of the Mamluk empire up to the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...
in southern Anatolia.
In March 1376, al-Ashraf Sha'ban departed for the
Hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. 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 ( , ; , ) 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 center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
.
[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, 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
*
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
1350s births
1377 deaths
14th-century Mamluk sultans
Bahri sultans
Muslims of the Alexandrian Crusade
Qalawunid dynasty