Faris al-Din Aktay al-Jamdar ( ar, فارس الدين أقطاى الجمدار) (d. 1254,

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 ...

) was a Turkic- Kipchak

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

(prince) and the leader of the

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 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 ...

Biography

When the Ayyobid Sultan

as-Salih Ayyub Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (5 November 1205 – 22 November 1249), nickname: Abu al-Futuh ( ar, أبو الفتوح), also known as al-Malik al-Salih, was the Ayyubid Kurdish ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249. Early life In 1221, as-S ...

died Aktay was sent to

Hasankeyf Hasankeyf ( ar, حصن كيفا, translit=Ḥiṣn Kayfa‘, ku, Heskîf, hy, Հասանքեյֆ, translit=, el, Κιφας, translit=Kifas, lat, Cepha, syr, ܚܣܢܐ ܕܟܐܦܐ, Ḥesno d-Kifo) is a town and district located along the Ti ...

to recall Turanshah, the son and heir of the dead sultan, to Egypt. During the Battle of al-Mansurah he was one of the Mamluk commanders who defeated the Frankish forces led by the French king

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

. Aktay was one of the Mamluks who collaborated in the murdering of Turanshah after the battle of al-Mansurah. During the era of Sultan

Aybak Izz al-Din AybakThe name Aybeg or Aibak or Aybak is a combination of two Turkic words, "Ay" = Moon and "Beg" or variant "Bak" = Emir in Arabic. -(Al-Maqrizi, Note p.463/vol.1 ) ( ar, عز الدين أيبك) (''epithet:'' al-Malik al-Mu'izz Iz ...

, he led the Egyptian forces that defeated the army of the Ayyubid ruler of Syria

an-Nasir Yusuf An-Nasir Yusuf ( ar, الناصر يوسف; AD 1228–1260), fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy (), was the Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236� ...

at Gaza in October 1250 and, as a general, he played a crucial role in the final defeat of an-Nasir Yusuf in the . In 1251 he conquered parts of Syria and in 1252 the port city of

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, Alexandria ...

in northern Egypt became his own domain. He was known for his devotion to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and harsh treatment towards the

Copts Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are C ...

, the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

minority. In 1252, together with Faris al-Din Aktay al-Musta'rib, he suppressed a major rebellion led by al-Sharif Hisn al-Din Tha'lab in Middle and Upper Egypt. Feeling that Aktay and his Mamluks were defying his authority and almost installed a state within his state, Aybak decided to kill him. In a conspiracy involving Aybak,

Qutuz Saif ad-Din Qutuz ( ar, سيف الدين قطز; died 24 October 1260), also romanization of Arabic, romanized as Kutuz or Kotuz and fully al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Sayf ad-Dīn Quṭuz (), was a military leader and the third or fourth of t ...

and some other Mamluks, Aktay was murdered in the sultan's fort and his Mamluks, including his friend Baybars al-Bunduqdari, fled to Syria and

al-Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Faris Din Aktay 1254 deaths Bahri dynasty Egyptian nobility Mamluk emirs Muslims of the Seventh Crusade 13th-century Kipchacks Turkic rulers Year of birth unknown