Al-Mu'ayyad Shihab al-Din Ahmad (; 1430 – 28 January 1488) was the son of
Sayf ad-Din Inal
Al-Malik al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Abu an-Nasr Inal al-'Ala'i az-Zahiri an-Nasiri al-Ajrud (better known as Sayf al-Din Inal; also spelled Saif al-Din Aynal; 1381 – 26 February 1461) was the 13th Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt, ruling between 1453– ...
, and 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 ...
of
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 26 February to 28 June 1461.
Biography
Shihab al-Din Ahmad was born in
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 ...
to Sayf ad-Din Inal and Khawand Zaynab bint Khasbek. He was ''
emir al-hajj'' ("commander of the
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
o Mecca">Mecca.html" ;"title="o Mecca">o Mecca), before he was proclaimed sultan on 26 February 1461, after his father became ill.
However, Ahmad ruled for four months before peacefully abdicating on 28 June as a result of pressure from an alliance of powerful ''mamluk'' factions opposed to his leadership, including the Zahiris, Ashrafis, Nasiris and his own Mu'ayyadis. They were led by Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam who became sultan in Ahmad's stead. Ahmad was imprisoned along with his brother Al-Nasri Mohammed in Alexandria, until he was released during the reign of Timurbugha in 1467.
He was allowed to return to Cairo with his son Ali by Sultan
Qaitbay
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (; 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–1496 C.E.). He was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan Barsbay ( ...
, when his mother became ill in 1479. He later returned to Alexandria and lived there until his death on 28 January 1488.
His only known wife was the daughter of Süleyman Bey, ruler of the
Dulkadirid. She had been previously married to Sultan
Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq
Sayf al-Din Jaqmaq (; 1373 – 13 February 1453) was the Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 9 September 1438 to 1 February 1453.
Early life and career
Jaqmaq was of Circassian descent. He was brought to Egypt by his older brother and sold to ''atabe ...
. She died on 27 April 1460.
References
Sources
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Burji sultans
15th-century Mamluk sultans
1430 births
1488 deaths
{{Egypt-bio-stub