Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (; 1416/14187 August 1496) was the eighteenth Burji

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 Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally ...

from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–1496 C.E.). He was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan

Barsbay Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Dīn Barsbāy () was the ninth Burji dynasty, Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438. He was Circassians, Circassian by birth and a former slave of the first Burji Sultan, Barquq. Early career A former slave of the i ...

(1422 to 1438 C.E.) before being freed by the eleventh Sultan

Jaqmaq Sayf al-Din Jaqmaq (; 1373 – 13 February 1453) was the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 9 September 1438 to 1 February 1453. Early life and career Jaqmaq was of Circassians, Circassian descent. He was brought to Egypt by ...

(1438 to 1453 C.E.). A pious Sultan, he stabilized the Mamluk state and economy, consolidated the northern boundaries of the Sultanate with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, engaged in trade with other contemporaneous polities. Founding numerous religious buildings and endowing them with hundreds of

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

s, Qaitbay emerged as a great patron of art and architecture. In fact, although Qaitbay fought sixteen military campaigns, he is best remembered for the spectacular building projects that he sponsored, leaving his mark as an architectural patron on

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 ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

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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 ...

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Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, and every quarter 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 ...

Biography

Early life

Qaitbay was born between 1416 and 1418 in

Circassia Circassia ( ), also known as Zichia, was a country and a historical region in . It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus, along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea. Circassia was conquered by the Russian Empire during ...

, located in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. His skill in archery and horsemanship attracted the attention of a slave merchant who purchased him (

Black Sea slave trade The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of t ...

) and brought him to Cairo when he was already over twenty years of age. He was quickly purchased by the reigning sultan

and became a member of the palace guard. He was freed by Barsbay's successor, Jaqmaq, after learning that Qaitbay was a descendant of the Ayyubid Emir of Damascus Al-Ashraf Musa (d. 1237), and appointed the third executive secretary; under the reigns 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– ...

, Khushqadam and Yilbay, he was further promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy, eventually becoming ''taqaddimat alf'', commander of a thousand Mamluks. Under the Sultan

Timurbugha Al-Malik al-Zahir Timurbugha al-Rumi (died 1475) was the seventeenth Burji Sultan of Mamluk Egypt, briefly ruling from late 1467 to early 1468 when he was deposed. He used the title of ''al-Malik al-Zāhir''. Biography Timurbugha was of Greek o ...

, finally, Qaitbay was appointed '' atabak'', or field marshal of the entire Mamluk army. During this period, Qaitbay amassed a considerable personal fortune which would enable him to exercise substantial acts of beneficence as sultan without draining the royal treasury.

Accession

The reign of Timurbugha lasted less than two months, as he was dethroned in a palace coup on 30 January 1468. Qaitbay was proposed as a compromise candidate acceptable to the various court factions. Despite some apparent reluctance, he was enthroned on 31 January. Qaitbay insisted that Timurburgha be granted an honorable retirement, instead of the enforced exile usually imposed on dethroned sovereigns. He did, however, exile the leaders of the coup, and created a new ruling council composed of his own followers and more veteran courtiers who had fallen into disgrace under his predecessors. Yashbak min Mahdi was appointed ''

dawadar () or (), also and , was a senior court office in medieval Islamic states. Meaning 'the keeper of the inkpot', it was created during the Seljuk Empire. It denoted the head of the chancery, and derived its name from the royal inkpot, symbol of of ...

'', or executive secretary, and Azbak min Tutkh was named ''atabak''; the two men would remain Qaitbay's closest advisors until the ends of their careers, despite their profound dislike for each other. In general Qaitbay seems to have pursued a policy of appointing rivals to posts of equal authority, thus preventing any single subordinate from acquiring too much power and maintaining the ability to settle all disputes via his own autocratic authority.

Early reign

Qaitbay's first major challenge was the insurrection of Shah Suwar, leader of a small Turkmen dynasty, the Dhu'l-Qadrids, in eastern Anatolia. A first expedition against the upstart was soundly defeated, and Suwar threatened to invade Syria. A second Mamluk army was sent in 1469 under the leadership of Azbak, but was likewise defeated. Not until 1471 did a third expedition, this time commanded by Yashbak, succeed in routing Suwar's army. In 1473, Suwar was captured and led back to Cairo, together with his brothers; the prisoners were drawn and quartered and their remains were hung from Bab Zuwayla. Qaitbay's reign was also marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities. Excavations in the late 1800s and early 1900s at over fourteen sites in the vicinity of

Borama Borama (, ) is the largest city of the northwestern Awdal region of Somaliland. The commercial seat of the province, it is situated near the border with Ethiopia. During the Middle Ages, Borama was ruled by the Adal Sultanate. It later formed a ...

in modern-day northwestern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

unearthed, among other things, coins identified as having been derived from Qaitbay.Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain), ''The Geographical Journal'', Volume 87, (Royal Geographical Society: 1936), p.301. Most of these finds are associated with the medieval

Sultanate of Adal The Adal Sultanate, also known as the Adal Empire or Barr Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate'', ''Adal Sultanate'') (), was a medieval Sunni Muslim empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din III on th ...

,Bernard Samuel Myers, ed., ''Encyclopedia of World Art'', Volume 13, (McGraw-Hill: 1959), p.xcii. and were sent to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for preservation shortly after their discovery.

Consolidation of power

Following the defeat of Suwar, Qaitbay set about purging his court of the remaining factions and installing his own purchased Mamluks in all positions of power. He frequently went on excursions, ostentatiously leaving the

Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

with limited guards to display his trust of his subordinates and of the populace. He traveled throughout his reign, visiting

, and

, among other cities, and personally inspecting his many building projects. In 1472 he performed 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 ...

. He was struck by the poverty of the citizens of

and devoted a substantial portion of his private fortune to the alleviation of their plight. Through such measures Qaitbay gained a reputation for piety, charity, and royal self-confidence.

Ottoman-Mamluk war

In 1480 Yashbak led an army against the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia, but was soundly defeated while attacking

Urfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic period, Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain abo ...

, taken prisoner, and executed. These events foreshadowed a longer military engagement with the far more powerful

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 ...

. In 1485 Ottoman armies began to campaign on the Mamluk frontier, and an expedition was dispatched from

to confront them. These Mamluk troops won a surprising victory in 1486 near

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

. A temporary truce ensued, but in 1487 the Ottomans reoccupied Adana, only to be defeated once more by a massive Mamluk army. As the concomitant Ottoman expansion in the western Mediterranean represented an increased threat to the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

of Spain,

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...

made a temporary alliance with the Mamluks against the Ottomans from 1488 until 1491, shipping wheat and offering a fleet of 50 caravels against the Ottomans. In 1491 a final truce was signed that would last through the remaining reigns of Qaitbay and the Ottoman Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...

. Qaitbay's ability to enforce a peace with the greatest military power in the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

further enhanced his prestige at home and abroad.

Final years

The end of Qaitbay's reign was marred by increasing unrest among his troops and a decline in his personal health, including a riding accident that left him comatose for days. Many of his most trusted officials died, and were replaced by far less scrupulous upstarts; a long period of palace intrigue ensued. In 1492 the plague returned to Cairo, and was reported to have claimed 200,000 lives. Qaitbay's health became markedly poor in 1494, and his court, now lacking a figure of central authority, was wracked by infighting, factionalism, and purges. He died on 8 August 1496 and was interred in the spectacular

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

attached to his mosque in Cairo's Northern Cemetery which he had built during his lifetime. He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Muhammad (not to be confused with the famed 14th-century sultan of the same name.)

Family

One of his wives was the daughter of Sultan

. Another consort was Khawand

Aṣalbāy {{Infobox royalty , consort = yes , name = Aṣalbāy , image = , caption = , succession = Mother of Mamluk Sultan , reign = 7 August 1496 – 31 October 1498 , predecessor = , successor = , succes ...

, a Circassian, who was his slave

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

rather than his wife,Albrecht Fuess, “How to marry right: Searching for a royal spouse at the Mamluk court of Cairo in the fifteenth century”, DYNTRAN Working Papers, n° 21, online edition, February 2017, available at: http://dyntran.hypotheses.org/1761 and sister of Sultan

Abu Sa'id Qansuh Abu Sa'id Qansuh, also Qansuh Al-Ashrafi, Qansuh I or Al-Zahir Qansuh, was the twenty third Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from the Burji dynasty. He ruled the Mamluk Sultanate between 1498–1500. Biography Abu Sa'id Qansuh was originally a young Circa ...

. She was the mother of his son, Sultan Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad. After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultan Al-Ashraf Janbalat. Another wife was Khawand Fatima, the daughter of Ala al-Din Ali bin Ali bin Al-Khassbak. She was the mother of Ahmed (1462 – 1468) and Sitt al-Jarakisa (1464 – 1468). After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultans Tuman bay I and

Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri () or Qansuh II al-Ghawri (c. 1441/1446 – 24 August 1516) was the second-to-last of the Mamluk Sultans. One of the last and most powerful of the Burji dynasty, he reigned from 1501 to 1516. Early life Qansuh, born b ...

. She died on 6 June 1504. Another wife was Khawand Zaynab.

Legacy

ISR-2015-Jerusalem-Temple Mount-Fountain of Qayt Bay

Qaitbay's reign has traditionally been seen as the "happy culmination" of the Burji Mamluk dynasty. It was a period of unparalleled political stability, military success, and prosperity, and Qaitbay's contemporaries admired him as a defender of traditional Mamluk values. At the same time, he may be criticized for his conservatism, and for his failure to innovate in the face of new challenges. Following Qaitbay's death, the Mamluk state descended into a prolonged succession crisis lasting for five years until the accession of

Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri () or Qansuh II al-Ghawri (c. 1441/1446 – 24 August 1516) was the second-to-last of the Mamluk Sultans. One of the last and most powerful of the Burji dynasty, he reigned from 1501 to 1516. Early life Qansuh, born b ...

Architectural patronage

Today Qaitbay is perhaps best known for his wide-ranging architectural patronage, which was second only to al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun. At least 230 monuments, either surviving or mentioned in contemporary sources, are associated with his reign. In Egypt, Qaitbay's buildings are found throughout

, as well as in

and

Rosetta Rosetta ( ) or Rashid (, ; ) is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799. Founded around the 9th century on the site of the ancient town of Bolbitine, R ...

; in Syria he sponsored projects in

and

; in addition, he was responsible for the construction of madrasas and fountains in

and Gaza, which still stand – most notably the Fountain (sabil) of Qayt Bay and al-Ashrafiyya Madrasa. On the Arabian peninsula, Qaitbay sponsored the restoration of mosques and the construction of madrasas, fountains and hostels in

and

. After a serious fire struck the

Mosque of the Prophet The Prophet's Mosque () is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after the Quba Mosque, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of t ...

in Medina in 1481, the building, including the Tomb of the Prophet, was extensively renewed through Qaitbay's patronage. One of Qaytbay's largest building projects in Cairo was his funerary complex in the Northern Cemetery, which included his mausoleum, a mosque/madrasa, a ''maq'ad'' (reception hall), and various auxiliary structures and functions attached to it. It is considered a masterpiece of late

Mamluk architecture Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk su ...

and is featured today on Egypt's 1 pound note. His other contributions in Cairo include a Wikala at Bab al-Nasr, a Wikala-Sabil-Kuttab near al-Azhar Mosque, a Sabil-Kuttab on

Saliba street Saliba Street, () is one of the old main streets in Islamic Cairo, Egypt. It runs from the Cairo Citadel in the north to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in the south. The street is the site of many old buildings, including schools, mosques, hospitals, an ...

, a madrasa-mosque at Qal'at al-Kabsh, a mosque on

Rhoda Island Roda Island (or Rawdah Island, , ) is an island neighbourhood in the Nile in central Cairo, alternatively or partially known as Manial al-Roda, or al-Manial, in reference to the main village that existed on the island before it was urban ...

, and a palace that is now incorporated into the Bayt Al-Razzaz palace. Other amirs and patrons also built notable projects under his reign, such as the Mosque of Amir Qijmas al-Ishaqi, which feature the same refined architectural style of his time. In Alexandria he notably built a fortress on the site of the ruined Pharos, now known as the Citadel (or Fort) of Qaitbay.

Qaitbay In Ethiopic Sources

Qaitbay is mentioned i
Ethiopic sources
as አሽሪፍ (Ashrif) and እልአሽሪፍ (El-Ashrif) a cruel ruler who destroyed the famous church of Dayr al-Magtas (ደብረ ምጥማቅ). Hearing the news of the church's destruction the Ethiopian ruler

Zara Yaqob Zara Yaqob (; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Qostantinos I (; "Constantine"). He is known for the Geʽez literature that flourished during his reign, th ...

built another church in Ethiopia to console the sorrow of the Egyptian bishop Michael who served in the church before he was sent to Ethiopia by the Coptic Patriarchate. The Ethiopic source accurately describes the political instability of Qaitbay's rule in the final days.

Notes

References

Sources

* Stefano Carboni, ''Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797'' (New Haven, 2007). * J.-C. Garcin, "The regime of the Circassian Mamluks," in C.F. Petry, ed., ''The Cambridge History of Egypt I: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517'' (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, 1998), 290–317. * * A. W. Newhall, ''The patronage of the Mamluk Sultan Qā’it Bay, 872–901/1468–1496'' (Diss. Harvard, 1987). * C.F. Petry, ''Twilight of majesty: the reigns of the Mamlūk Sultans al-Ashrāf Qāytbāy and Qānṣūh al-Ghawrī in Egypt'' (Seattle, 1993). * {{Authority control 1496 deaths Egyptian people of Circassian descent 15th-century Mamluk sultans Burji sultans