Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh (; 1369 – 13 January 1421) was a

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 Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

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 ...

from 6 November 1412 to 13 January 1421.

Early career

At the age of twelve, Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh was purchased as a slave by 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 ...

. Having entered the service of the Sultan, he went through all the ranks. In 1400, he was appointed governor of Tripoli by Sultan An-Nasir Faraj during the

Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...

's invasion of Syria. While the other emirs took refuge during the sack of Aleppo, he dared to attack and was imprisoned before he managed to escape. Following Tamerlane's departure, he was appointed as governor of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. In 1404, he allied himself with Yazbak, in which both seriously threatened An-Nasir Faraj's rule in Syria but they were ultimately defeated. A year later, a new sedition deposed the sultan, who had to flee and was replaced by his brother Izz al-Din Abd al-Aziz. Yazbak's party triumphed and Al-Mu'ayyad became lieutenant general of the sultanate. He returned to the government of Damascus after the re-establishment of An-Nasir Faraj. He even seemed to be a faithful servant by assisting the latter in suppressing the revolt of Djakam, emir of Aleppo, who proclaimed himself sultan. However, An-Nasir Faraj recklessly arrested Al-Mu'ayyad who escaped and recaptured Damascus from Nauroz, his designated successor, to whom he ceded the governance of Tripoli. In 1409, Nasir Faraj returned to Damascus, where Al-Mu'ayyad protested his loyalty to the sultan. In 1410, he along with other emirs took control of

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 ...

where they attempted to establish An-Nasir Faraj's son as sultan. As Sultan approached, Al-Mu'ayyad retreated to

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

. An-Nasir Faraj pardoned him once again and gave him the government of Aleppo. In 1412, a new rebellion forced the sultan to return to Damascus, but this time the sultan, abandoned by his troops, was beaten and had to surrender to the insurgents. On 23 May 1412, An-Nasir Faraj was arrested and killed in the

Citadel of Damascus The Citadel of Damascus () is a large medieval fortified palace and citadel in Damascus, Syria. It is part of the Old city of Damascus, Ancient City of Damascus, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The location of the curr ...

. Later on, Al-Mu'ayyad returned to Cairo and conspired to make the Abbasid caliph Abu’l-Faḍl Abbas Al-Musta'in Bi'llah unpopular, before he managed to dismiss him after seven months of reign and was proclaimed sultan.

Reign

The situation that Al-Mu'ayyad found in Cairo was chaotic, the plague was wreaking havoc on the population,

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

reigned and the currency was devalued. Al-Mu'ayyad had to take corrective measures. The monetary situation was fixed,

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

incursions were repressed, and the agricultural production resumed with the price of cereals fell. Nauroz, emir of Damascus, refused to recognize Al-Mu'ayyad as new sultan, and proclaimed holy war under the pretext of the destitution of the caliph. In July 1414, Nauroz was defeated, arrested and put to death after being besieged in Damascus. After restoring order, Al-Mu'ayyad prepared to wage war in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. Tarsus had just been taken from the Ramadanids by Mehmed of Dulkadir. In 1415, Al-Muayyad returned Tarsus to the Ramadanid emir Shihāb al-Dīn Ahmad. In 1418, danger came from the Turkmen Qara Qoyunlu, where Tarsus was recaptured. Al-Mu'ayyad sent his son Ibrahim to regain what was lost, in which he managed to take

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

and

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.Cypriots attempted a landing at Damour in 1413. Al-Mu'ayyad responded by organizing a landing on the island, which prompted King Janus to sign a peace agreement, despite continuing Catalan pirates' raids on the coasts of Egypt and Syria. Al-Mu'ayyad died on 13 January 1421 and was succeeded by his young son, Al-Muzaffar Ahmad.

Family

Shaykh's first wife was Khawand Khadija, whom he married before his accession to the throne. Another wife was Khawand Zaynab, the daughter of Sultan

. She died in February–March 1423, and was buried in the mausoleum of her father. Another wife was Khawand Sa'adat. She was the daughter of Sirgitmish, and was the mother of his son Sultan Al-Muzaffar Ahmad. After Shaykh's death, she married Sultan Sayf ad-Din Tatar. She died in 1430. One of his concubines was Qutlubay, a Circassian. She was the mother of his son Sidi Ibrahim. After Shaykh's death she married Amir Inal al-Jakami. Ibrahim married Satita, daughter of Sultan An-Nasir Faraj. His only daughter was Khawand Asiya. She died in 1486.

Architectural patronage

Al-Mu'ayyad was one of the major patrons of Mamluk architecture in his era, commissioning or restoring a number of buildings around Cairo. Between 1415 and 1420, he built a large mosque and funerary complex, the

Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad The Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad () is a Mosque in Cairo, Egypt next to Bab Zuwayla built under the rule of sultan Shaykh al-Mahmudi, Al-Mu'ayyad Sayf ad-Din Shaykh from whom it takes its name, "''Al-Mu'ayyad''", meaning ''The Supporter'' in Arabi ...

. It is located adjacent to Bab Zuweila, above which he built the mosque's two

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s. A large

hammam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

associated with the complex was also built nearby, partially preserved today. Upon his death, al-Mu'ayyad was buried in the mausoleum attached to the mosque. Another of his construction projects still partially preserved today is the Maristan of al-Mu'ayyad in Darb al-Ahmar, a hospital (maristan) built between 1418 and 1420. His other contributions included a mosque on Roda Island, a ''

khanqah A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'' ...

'' in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

, a palace called al-Khamas Wujuh along the Khalij (canal) on the northern edge of Cairo, and a palace along the Nile in present-day

Imbaba Imbaba ( ', ) is a working-class neighbourhood in northern Giza, Egypt, located west of the Nile and northwest of and near Gezira Island and downtown Cairo, within the Giza Governorate. The district is located in the historic upper Nile Delta, and ...

, but none of these are still extant. He also restored the hippodrome (training ground) near the Nile River which had been previously built by al-Nasir Muhammad and since abandoned.

References

Sources

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