Baybars

In his native Turkic language, Baybars' name means "great panther"{{cite book |author= Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh |title= The image of an Ottoman city: imperial architecture and urban experience in Aleppo in the 16th and 17th centuries |page=198 |publisher= Brill |year=2004 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=utQo4ek-7BIC&pg=PA198 |isbn=90-04-12454-3}} or "lord panther"{{cite book |author= Caroline Williams |title= Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide; New Revised Edition |page=185 |publisher= The American University in Cairo Press |year=2008 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Cmc4HSC5XWgC&pg=PA185 |isbn= 9789774162053}} (see also Wiktionary: bay "rich person, noble" + pars "leopard, panther").

File:BaibarsBridge22.JPG, with an inscription from 1273 glorifying the sultan and depicting his emblem, the lion/panther{{Cite book |last=Petry |first=Carl F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RIdoEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=The Mamluk Sultanate |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-108-47104-6 |pages=13 |language=en}}]]

Possibly based on the Turkic meaning of his name, Baybars used the panther as his heraldic blazon, and placed it on both coins and buildings. The lion/panther used on the bridge built by Baybars near al-Ludd (today's Lod) plays with a rat, which may be interpreted to represent Baybars' Crusader enemies.{{cite book |author= Niall Christie |title= Muslims and Crusaders: Christianity's Wars in the Middle East, 1095–1382, from the Islamic Sources |page=121, Plate 8 |publisher= Routledge |edition=first |year=2014 |series= Seminar Studies |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Pd_pAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 |isbn=9781138022744}}

Baybars was described as a tall man with olive skin and blue eyes. He had broad shoulders, slim legs, and a powerful voice.{{cite book |last1=Bartlett |first1=W. B. |title=The Fall of Christendom: The Road to Acre 1291 |year=2021 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-8418-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvtZEAAAQBAJ&dq=baybars+swarthy&pg=PT48 |language=en}} "He was described as being a tall man with a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes.{{cite web |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three – Brill |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/alpha/b?s.rows=20&s.start=220&lang=de |website=referenceworks.brillonline.com |language=en}} "Baybars is described as a tall man with broad chest and shoulders, slim legs, a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes." It was observed that he had cataract in one eye.{{cite book |last1=Thorau |first1=Peter |title=Sultan Baybars der Erste von Ägypten |date=1992 |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-582-06823-0 |page=28 |language=en}}

Baybars was a Kipchak thought to be born in the steppe region north of the Black Sea, or Dasht-i Kipchak at the time.{{Cite book |last=Holt |first=P. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqasAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 |title=The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517 |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-317-87152-1 |page=90 |language=en |quote=By origin he was a Kipchak Turk from the territory lying to the north of the Black Sea. When the Mongols conquered this region in about 1241, Baybars' people fled across the Black Sea and sought refuge with a Turcoman chieftain in Anatolia, who proved treacherous, and turned on the fugitives with fire and sword. Baybars was among the captives. He was then about fourteen years of age, and his journey southwards can be traced through the slave-markets of Sivas, Aleppo, Damascus and Hamah. |orig-date=1986}}{{Cite book |last=Thorau |first=Peter |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/baybars-i-al-malik-al-zahir-rukn-al-din-COM_23709 |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=Baybars I, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn |quote=Baybars is described as a tall man with broad chest and shoulders, slim legs, a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes. He was probably born about 625/1227–8 in the southern Russian steppes as a member of a Qipçāq-Turkish group. At the age of fourteen he became a slave. The amīr Aydakīn al-Bunduqdār bought him in Ḥamāt (Hama) a short while later. |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}{{Cite book |last=Fry |first=C. George |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC&pg=PA124 |title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-57958-041-4 |editor-last=Magill |editor-first=Frank Northen |pages=124 |language=en |chapter=Baybars I |quote=Baybars I, al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn ak-Din Baybars al-Salihi, was born around the year 1223 in what is now southern Russia. A member of the tribe of Kipchak Turks living on the north shores of the Black Sea, Barbars was a victim of the Mongol invasion of his native region in the late 1230's. By the time he was fourteen, Baybars had become a prisoner of war; he was sold in the slave market in Sivas, Anatolia. |editor-last2=Aves |editor-first2=Alison}}{{Cite book |last=Amitai |first=Reuven |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA101 |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-96690-0 |editor-last=Meri |editor-first=Josef W. |page=101 |language=en |chapter=Baybars I, Mamluk Sultan |quote=Baybars was born around 1220 CE among the Qipchaq Turks, who lived in the steppe region north of the Black Sea. Fleeing from the Mongol invasions in the area in 1241–1242, Baybars and his family moved to Anatolia. There, Baybars was captured and ended up in the slave market of Damascus.}}{{Cite web |last=Rabie |first=Hassanein Muhammad |title=Baybars I {{!}} Mamlūk Sultan of Egypt & Syria |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Baybars-I |access-date=16 June 2023 |website=Britannica |language=en}} There is a discrepancy in Ibn Taghrībirdī's dating of his birth, since he says it took place in 625 AH (12 December 1227 – 29 November 1228) and also that Baybars was about 24 years old in 1247, which would put his birth closer to 1223. He belonged to the Barli tribe. According to a fellow Cuman and eyewitness, Badr al-Din Baysari, the Barli fled the armies of the Mongols, intending to settle in the Second Bulgarian Empire (named in the sources Wallachia). They crossed the Black Sea from either Crimea or Alania, where they had arrived in Bulgaria in about 1242. In the meantime, the Mongols invaded Bulgaria, including the regions where the Cuman refugees had recently settled.{{cite book |author=Ranulph Fiennes |title=The Elite: The Story of Special Forces – From Ancient Sparta to the War on Terror |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2019 |page=64 |isbn=978-1-4711-5664-9 }} Both Baybars, who witnessed his parents being massacred, and Baysari were among the captives during the invasion and were sold into slavery in the Sultanate of Rum at the slave market in Sivas. Afterwards, he was sold in Hama to {{ill|'Alā' al-Dīn Īdīkīn al-Bunduqārī|de|Ala' ad-Din Aydekin}}, an Egyptian of high rank, who brought him to Cairo. In 1247, al-Bunduqārī was arrested and the sultan of Egypt, As-Salih Ayyub, confiscated his slaves, including Baybars.{{citation |author=Dimitri Korobeinikov |chapter=A Broken Mirror: The Kıpçak World in the Thirteenth Century |pages=379–412 |title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans |editor1=Florin Curta |editor2=Roman Kovalev |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=2008}}.

Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565) counted him among Ibn 'Arabi's students.{{cite book |author=Nader Jamil Jum'a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpzODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85 |title=محيي الدين بن عربي وآراؤه الفقهية في الفتوحات المكية |date=2020 |publisher=Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya |isbn=9782745192783 |edition=1st |location=Lebanon |page=86 |language=Arabic |trans-title=Muhyi al-Din ibn 'Arabi and his jurisprudential opinions in al-Futuhāt al-Makkiyya |quote=الظاهر بيبرس: ركن الدين أبو الفتوح بيبرس التركي البندقداري ثم الصالحي صاحب مصر والشام ولد في حدود العشرين وستمائة كان رجلاً شجاعاً فارساً مقداماً مجاهداً عظيم الهيبة يضرب بشجاعته المثل، وله في الإسلام أيام بيض وفتوحات مشهورة. أجازه الشيخ محيي الدين ابن عربي برواية جميع مؤلفاته توفي 676 هـ، ذكره الشعراني ضمن تلاميذ ابن عربي. |via=Google Books}}

File:EdwardICrusadeMap.jpg.]]

In 1250, he supported the defeat of the Seventh Crusade of Louis IX of France in two major battles. The first was the Battle of Al Mansurah, where he employed an ingenious strategy in ordering the opening of a gate to let the crusader knights enter the town; the crusaders rushed into the town that they thought was deserted to find themselves trapped inside. They were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town population, and suffered heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house,Lord of Joinville, 110, part II.Asly, p. 49.
Skip Knox, Egyptian Counter-attack, The Seventh Crusade. and William Longespée the Younger were both killed, along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive.According to Matthew Paris, only 2 Templars, 1 Hospitaller and one 'contemptible person' escaped. Matthew Paris, Louis IX's Crusade, p. 14/ Vol. 5. The second was the Battle of Fariskur which essentially ended the Seventh Crusade and led to the capture of Louis IX. Egyptian forces in that battle were led by Sultan Turanshah, the young son of recently deceased as-Salih Ayyub. Shortly after the victory over the Crusaders, Baybars and a group of Mamluk soldiers assassinated Turanshah, leading to as-Salih Ayyub's widow Shajar al-Durr being named sultana.Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, Volume Three:  The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades, Cambridge University Press, London, 1951, pp. 272–273

In 1254, a power shift occurred in Egypt, as Aybak killed Faris ad-Din Aktai, the leader of the Bahri Mamluks. Some of his Mamluks, among them Baybars and Qalawun al-Alfi, fled to an-Nasir Yusuf in Syria,{{sfn|Humphreys|1977|p=326}} persuading him to break the accord{{Clarify|reason=Which accord?|date=September 2023}} and invade Egypt. Aybak wrote to an-Nassir Yusuf warning him of the danger of these Mamluks who took refuge in Syria, and agreed to grant him their territorial domains on the coast, but an-Nasir Yusuf refused to expel them and instead returned to them the domains which Aybak had granted. In 1255, an-Nasir Yusuf sent new forces to the Egyptian border, this time with many of Aktai's Mamluks, among them Baybars, and Qalawun al-Alfi, but he was defeated again. In 1257, Baybars and other Bahri Mamluks left Damascus to Jerusalem, where they deposed its governor Kütük and plundered its markets, then they did the same in Gaza. Later on, they fought against the forces of an-Nasir Yusuf at Nablus, then fled to join the forces of {{ill|al-Mughith Umar|de|al-Mughīth ʿUmar}} in Kerak.{{sfn|Humphreys|1977|p=331}} The combined forces tried in vain to invade Egypt during the reign of Aybak.{{sfn|Humphreys|1977|p=332}}

Baybars then sent 'Ala al-Din Taybars al-Waziri to discuss with Qutuz his return to Egypt, which was eagerly accepted.{{sfn|Humphreys|1977|p=348}} He was still a commander under sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when he decisively defeated the Mongols. After the battle, Sultan Qutuz (aka Koetoez) was assassinated while on a hunting expedition. It was said that Baybars was involved in the assassination because he expected to be rewarded with the governorship of Aleppo for his military success, but Qutuz, fearing his ambition, refused to give him the post.The story of the involvement of Baybars in the assassination was told by different historians in different ways. In one account the assassins killed Qutuz while he was giving a hand to Baybars (Al-Maqrizi and Ibn-Taghri). In another, from an Ayyubid source, Qutuz was giving a hand to someone when Baybars struck his back with a sword (Abu-Al-Fida). A third account mentioned that Baybars tried to help Qutuz against the assassins (O. Hassan). According to Al-Maqrizi, the Emirs who struck Qutuz were Badr ad-Din Baktut, Emir Ons, and Emir Bahadir al-Mu'izzi. (Al-Maqrizi, p.519/vol.1) Baybars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt.MacHenry, Robert. The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 1993. [https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia07ency Baybars]

Soon after Baybars had ascended to the Sultanate, his authority was confirmed without any serious resistance, except from Alam al-Din Sinjar al-Halabi, another Mamluk amir who was popular and powerful enough to claim Damascus. Also, the threat from the Mongols was still serious enough to be considered as a threat to Baybars' authority. However, Baybars first chose to deal with Sinjar,{{cite book |last1=al-Madidi |first1=Khasd |last2=Abdul Muhammad |first2=Sawadi |last3=Abdul Qadir an-Nuri |first3=Duraid |title=History of the Arab world and the Crusades |publisher=Mosul University Press 1981 |url=https://app.aqsalibrary.org/records/index/1/35668 |access-date=27 September 2021}}{{cite book|last= Maqrīzī (al-)|first= Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn 'Alī| title= Kitāb al-Sulūk li-Ma'rifat Duwal al-Mulūk|editor-last= Ziada (al-Ziyādah)|editor-first= Muḥammad Muṣṭafā|volume=2|place= Cairo|publisher= Lajnat al-Ta'līf|year=1956|language=ar}}{{cite book |last1=. ʿAlī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Shāhanshāh b. Ayyūb b. Shādī b. Marwān |first1=Ismāʿīl Abulfeda |title=Concise History of Humanity(المختصر في أخبار Tarikh al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar) |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikisource/ar/4/4b/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%B1_%D9%81%D9%8A_%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%B11.pdf |access-date=27 September 2021}} and marched on Damascus. At the same time the princes of Hama and Homs proved able to defeat the Mongols in the First Battle of Homs, which lifted the Mongol threat for a while. On 17 January 1261, Baybars's forces were able to rout the troops of Sinjar outside Damascus, and pursued the attack to the city, where the citizens were loyal to Sinjar and resisted Baybars, although their resistance was soon crushed.

There was also a brief rebellion in Cairo led by a leading figure of the Shiite named al-Kurani. Al-Kurani is said originated from Nishapur. Al-Kurani and his follower are recorded to have attacked the weapon stores and stables of Cairo during a night raid. Baybars, however, manage to suppress the rebellion quickly as he surrounded and arrested them all. Al- Kurani and another rebel leaders were executed (crucified) in Bab Zuweila

After suppressing the revolt of Sinjar, Baybars then managed to deal with the Ayyubids, while quietly eliminating the prince of Kerak. Ayyubids such as Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs and the Ayyubid Emir Dynasty of Hama Al-Mansur Muhammad II, who had earlier staved off the Mongol threat, were permitted to continue their rule in exchange for their recognizing Baybars' authority as Sultan.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrw8AAAAIAAJ&q=baibars+homs&pg=PA315 | last = Runciman | first = Steven | year=1987 |title = A History of the Crusades: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades quoting Magrisi Sultans, I, i, p. 116; Abu al Fida pp. 145–50; Bar Hebraeus p. 439 |page = 316 | publisher = CUP Archive | isbn = 9780521347723 }}

After the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq was overthrown by the Mongols in 1258 when they conquered and sacked Baghdad, the Muslim world lacked a caliph, a theoretically supreme leader who had sometimes used his office to endow distant Muslim rulers with legitimacy by sending them writs of investiture. Thus, when the Abbasid refugee Abu al-Qasim Ahmad, the uncle of the last Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim, arrived in Cairo in 1261, Baybars had him proclaimed caliph as al-Mustansir II and duly received investiture as sultan from him. Unfortunately, al-Mustansir II was killed by the Mongols during an ill-advised expedition to recapture Baghdad from the Mongols later in the same year. In 1262, another Abbasid, allegedly the great-great-great-grandson of the Caliph al-Mustarshid, Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad, who had survived from the defeated expedition, was proclaimed caliph as al-Hakim I, inaugurating the line of Abbasid caliphs of Cairo that continued as long as the Mamluk sultanate, until 1517. Like his unfortunate predecessor, al-Hakim I also received the formal oath of allegiance of Baybars and provided him with legitimation. While most of the Muslim world did not take these caliphs seriously, as they were mere instruments of the sultans, they still lent a certain legitimation as well as a decorative element to their rule.

{{Further| Siege of Antioch (1268)}}

File:Dinar LACMA M.2006.143.10 (1 of 2).jpg

As sultan, Baybars engaged in a lifelong struggle against the Crusader kingdoms in Syria, in part because the Christians had aided the Mongols. He started with the Principality of Antioch, which had become a vassal state of the Mongols and had participated in attacks against Islamic targets in Damascus and Syria. In 1263, Baybars laid siege to Acre, the capital of the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, although the siege was abandoned when he sacked Nazareth instead.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taJZ433OqJIC&pg=PA7|title=In Xanadu|first=William|last=Dalrymple|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)|date= 1989|publisher=Penguin Books India|access-date=3 April 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9780143031079}} He used siege engines to defeat the Crusaders in battles such as the Fall of Arsuf from 21 March to 30 April. After breaking into the town he offered free passage to the defending Knights Hospitallers if they surrendered their formidable citadel. The Knights accepted Baybars' offer but were enslaved anyway.Rodney Stark, 'God's Battalions', 2009, p. 230 Baybars razed the castle to the ground.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sH0YqXERz1wC&dq=baibars+arsuf&pg=PT96|title=The Routledge Companion to the Crusades|first=Peter|last=Lock|date= 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135131449 |via=Google Books}} He next attacked Atlit and Haifa, where he captured both towns after destroying the crusaders' resistance, and razed the citadels.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATo9AAAAIAAJ&dq=baibars+athlith&pg=PA338|title=The Crusaders in the East|date=1907|publisher=CUP Archive|via=Google Books}}

In the same year, Baybars laid siege to the fortress of Safed, held by the Templar knights, which had been conquered by Saladin in 1188 but returned to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1240. Baybars promised the knights safe passage to the Christian town of Acre if they surrendered their fortress. Badly outnumbered, the knights agreed. On capturing Safed, Baybars did not raze the fortress to the ground but fortified and repaired it instead, as it was strategically situated and well constructed. He installed a new governor in Safed, with the rank of Wali.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NBBMJJTEoKMC&q=baibars+safed&pg=PA165|title=The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society|first1=Michael|last1=Winter|first2=Amalia|last2=Levanoni|date=2018|publisher=Brill|access-date=3 April 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=978-9004132863}}

Later, in 1266, Baybars invaded the Christian country of Cilician Armenia which, under King Hethum I, had submitted to the Mongol Empire. After defeating the forces of Hethum I in the Battle of Mari, Baybars managed to ravage the three great cities of Mamistra, Adana and Tarsus, so that when Hetoum arrived with Mongol troops, the country was already devastated. Hetoum had to negotiate the return of his son Leo by giving control of Armenia's border fortresses to the Mamluks. In 1269, Hetoum abdicated in favour of his son and became a monk, but he died a year later.Claude Mutafian, p. 60 Leo was left in the awkward situation of keeping Cilicia as a subject of the Mongol Empire, while at the same time paying tribute to the Mamluks.Bournotian, A Concise History of the Armenian People, p. 101

This isolated Antioch and Tripoli, led by Hethum's son-in-law, Prince Bohemond VI. After successfully conquering Cilicila, Baybars in 1267 settled his unfinished business with Acre, and continued the extermination of remaining crusader garrisons in the following years. In 1268, he besieged Antioch, capturing the city on 18 May. Baybars had promised to spare the lives of the inhabitants, but he broke his promise and had the city razed, killing or enslaving much of the population after the surrender.{{Cite web|url=http://www.americanoutlook.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=article_detail&id=1474|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060129230411/http://www.americanoutlook.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=article_detail&id=1474|url-status=dead|title=Hudson Institute > American Outlook > American Outlook Article Detail|archivedate=29 January 2006}} prompting the fall of the Principality of Antioch. The massacre of men, women, and children at Antioch "was the single greatest massacre of the entire crusading era."Thomas F. Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades (3rd ed. 2014), p. 168 Priests had their throats slit inside their churches, and women were sold into slavery.Madden, supra at 168.

Then he continued to Jaffa, which belonged to Guy, the son of John of Ibelin. Jaffa fell to Baybars on 7 March after twelve hours of fighting; most of Jaffa's citizens were slain, but Baybars allowed the garrison to go unharmed.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2dsycrclykIC&q=Jaffa+baibars&pg=PA577 |title = The Later Crusades, 1189–1311|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|year=1969|isbn= 9780299048440|page = 557 }} After this he conquered Ashkalon and Caesarea.

Baybars actively pursued a close relationship with Berke, the Khan of Golden Horde.{{cite book |author1=Thomas Walker Arnold |author-link= Thomas Walker Arnold |title=The Preaching of Islam A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith |date=1896 |publisher=A. Constable and Company; Harvard University |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxsVAAAAYAAJ |access-date=26 November 2023 |language=En |chapter=8 |page=192 |quote=A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith Sir Thomas Walker Arnold. men , observing the growing enmity between ... Baybars , who persuaded them to embrace Islam.1 Baybars himself was at war with Hūlāgū , whom he had recently ...}} He particularly was recorded to receive the first two hundred soldiers from Golden Horde to visit warmly, where Baybars persuade them to convert to Islam while also observing the growing enmity between the Golden Horde Khan with Hulagu. Baybars, who at that time has just defeated Hulagu, immediately sent envoy to Berke to inform the latter about this. Then, As soon as Berke converted to Islam, he sent envoy to Egypt to give news about this matter, and later, Baybars brought more peoples from Golden Horde to be sent into Egypt, where they also converted to Islam.

In some time around October to November 1267, or about 666 Safar of Hijra year, Baybars wrote condolences and congratulations to the new Khan of the Golden Horde, Mengu-Timur, to urge him to fight Abaqa. Baybars continued to conduct warm correspondence with the Golden Horde, particularly with Mengu Timur's general Noqai, who unlike Mengu Timur was very cooperative with Baybars. It is theorized that this intimacy was not only due to the religious connection (as Noqai was a Muslim, unlike his Khan), but also because Noqai was not really fond of Mengu-Timur. However, Baybars was pragmatic in his approach and did not want to become involved in complicated intrigue inside the Golden Horde, so instead he stayed close to both Mengu Timur and Noqai.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxOcXC85tnQC&q=baybars+golden+horde&pg=PA59 | last = F. Broadbridge | first = Anne | year= 2008 |title = Kingship and Ideology in the Islamic and Mongol Worlds Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization |page = 59 | publisher = Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521852654}}

{{Further| Fall of Krak des Chevaliers}}

On 30 March 1271, after Baybars captured the smaller castles in the area, including Chastel Blanc, he besieged the Krak des Chevaliers, held by the Hospitallers. Peasants who lived in the area had fled to the castle for safety and were kept in the outer ward. As soon as Baybars arrived, he began erecting mangonels, powerful siege weapons which he would turn on the castle. According to Ibn Shaddad, two days later the first line of defences was captured by the besiegers; he was probably referring to a walled suburb outside the castle's entrance.{{harvnb|King|1949|pp=88–92}} After a lull of ten days, the besiegers conveyed a letter to the garrison, supposedly from the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Tripoli, Hugues de Revel, which granted permission for them to surrender. The garrison capitulated and the Sultan spared their lives. The new owners of the castle undertook repairs, focused mainly on the outer ward.{{harvnb|King|1949|p=91}} The Hospitaller chapel was converted to a mosque and two mihrabs were added to the interior.{{harvnb|Folda|French|Coupel|1982|p=179}}

Baybars then turned his attention to Tripoli, but he interrupted his siege there to call a truce in May 1271. The fall of Antioch had led to the brief Ninth Crusade, led by Prince Edward of England, who arrived in Acre in May 1271 and attempted to ally himself with the Mongols against Baybars. So Baybars declared a truce with Tripoli, as well as with Edward, who was never able to capture any territory from Baybars anyway. According to some reports, Baybars tried to have Edward assassinated with poison, but Edward survived the attempt and returned home in 1272 following the failure of the crusade.

{{Further|Makuria#Decline (12th century–1365)}}

File:King David of Makuria (cropped).jpg on a wallpainting from Old Dongola]]

In 1265 a Mamluk army allegedly raided Makuria as far south as Dongola{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=117, note 16}} while also expanding southwards along the African Red Sea coast, thus threatening the Nubians.{{sfn|Gazda|2005|p=93}} In 1272 king David marched east and attacked the port town of Aidhab,{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=118}} located on an important pilgrimage route to Mecca. The Nubian army destroyed the town, causing “a blow to the very heart of Islam”.{{sfn|Gazda|2005|p=95}} This initiated several decades of intervention by the Mamluks in Nubian affairs.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V7qpKqM2Ji8C&q=baybars&pg=PA37 | last = Howard| first = Jonathan | year= 2011|title =The Crusades: A History of One of the Most Epic Military Campaigns of All Time | publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 9780521209816}} A punitive Mamluk expedition was sent in response, but did not pass beyond the second cataract.{{sfn|Seignobos|2016|p=554}} Three years later the Makurians attacked and destroyed Aswan,{{sfn|Werner|2013|p=118}} but this time, Baybars responded with a well-equipped army setting off from Cairo in early 1276,{{sfn|Gazda|2005|p=95}} accompanied by a cousin of king David named Mashkouda{{sfn|Seignobos|2016|p=554, note 2}} or Shekanda.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=244}} The Mamluks defeated the Nubians in three battles at Gebel Adda, Meinarti and finally at the Battle of Dongola. David fled upstream the Nile, eventually entering al-Abwab in the south,{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=120–122}} which, previously being Alodia's northernmost province, had by this period become a kingdom of its own.{{sfn|Welsby|2002|p=254}} The king of al-Abwab, however, handed David over to Baybars, who had him executed.{{sfn|Werner|2013|pp=122–123}}

Baybars then completed his conquest of Nubia, including the Medieval lower Nubia which was ruled by Banu Kanz. Under the terms of the settlement, the Nubians were now subjected to paying jizya tribute, and in return they were allowed to keep their religion, being protected under Islamic law as 'People of the Book'; they were also allowed to continue being governed by a king from the native royal family, although this king was chosen personally by Baybars, namely a Makurian noble named Shakanda.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVYT4Kraym0C&q=baibars+makuria&pg=PA300 | editor1-last = El Hareir|editor2-last=M'Baye | editor1-first = Idris |editor2-first=Ravane | year=2011 |series=Different Aspects Of Islamic Culture|title = The Spread of Islam Throughout the World |page = 300 | publisher = UNESCO | isbn = 9789231041532 }} In practice this was reducing Makuria to a vassal kingdom,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4q3AwAAQBAJ&q=Baybars+makuria&pg=PA205|title=Kenana Handbook of Sudan|last=Hopkins.Peter|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|access-date=3 April 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9781136775260}} effectively ending Makuria's status as an independent kingdom.

In 1277, Baybars invaded the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm, then controlled by the Ilkhanate Mongols. He defeated a Ilkhanate army at the Battle of Elbistan{{sfn|Kastritsis|2013|p=26}} and captured the city of Kayseri. Baybars himself went with a few troops to deal with the Mongol right flank that was pounding his left wing.Ibn Taghri, Al-Zahir Baibars Baybars ordered a force from the army from Hama to reinforce his left. The large Mamluk numbers were able to overwhelm the Mongol force, who instead of retreating dismounted from their horses. Some Mongols were able to escape and took up positions on the hills. Once they became surrounded they once again dismounted, and fought to the death.Al-Maqrizi, p. 99/vol.2 During the celebration of victory, Baybars said that "How can I be happy? Before I had thought that I and my servants would defeat the Mongols, but my left wing was beaten by them. Only Allah helped us".Reuven Amitai Press, Mamluk Ilkhanid war 1260–1281

The possibility of a new Mongol army convinced Baybars to return to Syria, since he was far away from his bases and supply line. As the Mamluk army returned to Syria the commander of the Mamluk vanguard, Izz al-Din Aybeg al-Shaykhi, deserted to the Mongols. Pervâne sent a letter to Baybars asking him to delay his departure. Baybars chastised him for not aiding him during the Battle of Elbistan. Baybars told him he was leaving for Sivas to mislead Pervâne and the Mongols as to his true destination. Baybars also sent Taybars al-Waziri with a force to raid the Armenian town of al-Rummana, whose inhabitants had hidden the Mongols earlier.{{sfn|Amitai-Preiss|2004|p=175}}

File:Ancient City of Damascus-107601 (retouched).jpg in Damascus]]

Baybars died in Damascus on 1 July 1277, when he was 53 years old. His demise has been the subject of some academic speculation. Many sources agree that he died from drinking poisoned kumis that was intended for someone else. Other accounts suggest that he may have died from a wound while campaigning, or from illness.{{cite book

| last = Young

| first = Robyn

| title = Crusade

| url = https://archive.org/details/crusadeyoun00youn

| url-access = registration

| page = [https://archive.org/details/crusadeyoun00youn/page/484 484]

| author-link = Robyn Young

| publisher = Dutton

| year = 2007| isbn = 9780525950165

}} He was buried in the Az-Zahiriyah Library in Damascus.{{Cite web|url=http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=2777|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108224216/http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=2777|url-status=dead|title=Zahiriyya Madrasa and Mausoleum of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars|archivedate=8 January 2009}}

Sultan Baybars married a noble lady from Tripoli (modern-day Lebanon) named Aisha al Bushnatiya, a prominent Arab family. Aisha was a warrior who fought the Crusaders along with her brother lieutenant Hassan. She met Sultan Baybars after he camped in Tripoli during his siege.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} They had a short relationship and after that they got married. There are conflicting stories of whether Aisha returned with Baybars to Egypt or was martyred in Tripoli.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

One of Baibar's wives was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Nogay at-Tatari.{{cite journal | last=Akkuş Yiğit | first=Fatma | title=Memlûk Sarayında Tek Eşlilik ve Çok Eşlilik Üzerine Bir İnceleme | journal=Journal of International Social Research | publisher=The Journal of International Social Research | volume=9 | issue=43 | date=20 April 2016 | url = https://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/articles/a-study-on-monogamy-and-polygamy-in-mamluk-palace.pdf | issn=1307-9581 | doi=10.17719/jisr.20164317631 | page=557}} Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Giray at-Tatari. Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Tammaji. Another wife was Iltutmish Khatun.{{cite web | last=Karam | first=Amina | title=Women, Architecture and Representation in Mamluk Cairo | website=AUC DAR Home | date=22 May 2019 | url=http://dar.aucegypt.edu/handle/10526/5732 | access-date=22 December 2021 | pages=20, 21 | archive-date=18 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218152406/http://dar.aucegypt.edu/handle/10526/5732 | url-status=dead }} She was the daughter of Barka Khan a former Khwarazmian amir. She was the mother of his son Al-Said Barakah.{{cite book | last1=Winter | first1=M. | last2=Levanoni | first2=A. | title=The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society | publisher=Brill | series=The medieval Mediterranean peoples, economies and cultures, 400–1500 | year=2004 | isbn=978-90-04-13286-3 | page=391}} She died in 1284–85. Another wife was the daughter Karmun Agha, a Mongol Amir.{{cite book | last1=Clifford | first1=W.W. | last2=Conermann | first2=S. | title=State formation and the structure of politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E. | publisher=V&R Unipress | series=Mamluk Studies | year=2013 | isbn=978-3-8470-0091-4 | page=105}} He had three sons al-Said Barakah, Solamish and Khizir. He had seven daughters; one of them was named Tidhkarbay Khatun.{{cite book | last=Papas | first=A. | title=Sufi Institutions | publisher=Brill | series=Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East | year=2020 | isbn=978-90-04-39260-1 | page=33}}

{{Further|Seventh Crusade|Ninth Crusade|Battle of Ain Jalut}}

File:تمثال للسلطان الظاهر بيبرس.JPG]]

As the first Sultan of the Bahri Mamluk dynasty, Baybars made the meritocratic ascent up the ranks of Mamluk society, where he commanded Mamluk forces in the decisive Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, repelling Mongol forces from Syria.100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present. Paul K. Davis, p. 141 Although in the Muslim world he has been considered a national hero for centuries, and in the Near East and Kazakhstan is still regarded as such, Baybars was reviled in the Christian world of the time for his successful campaigns against the Crusader States.

Baybars also played an important role in bringing the Mongols to Islam. He developed strong ties with the Mongols of the Golden Horde and took steps for the Golden Horde Mongols to travel to Egypt. The arrival of the Mongol's Golden Horde to Egypt resulted in a significant number of Mongols accepting Islam.The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith, By Thomas Walker Arnold, p. 192

Baybars was a popular ruler in the Muslim world who had defeated the crusaders in three campaigns, and the Mongols in the Battle of Ain Jalut which many scholars deem of great macro-historical importance. In order to support his military campaigns, Baybars commissioned arsenals, warships and cargo vessels. He was also arguably the first to employ explosive hand cannons in war, at the Battle of Ain Jalut.Ahmad Y Hassan, [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises In Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226105129/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%202.htm |date=26 February 2008 }}{{citation|title=Ancient Discoveries, Episode 12: Machines of the East|publisher=History Channel|year=2007}} ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGfw1YW9Js Part 4] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R3ZbzhRp_k Part 5]) However this claim of hand cannons usage is disputed by other historians who claim hand cannons did not appear in the Middle East until the 14th century.Hammer, Paul E. J. "Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450–1660" Routledge, 2017, p. 505.Iqtidar, Alam "Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India Journal of Asian History" Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 3. His military campaign also extended into Libya and Nubia.

{{Further|Islam and cats}}

He was also an efficient administrator who took interest in building various infrastructure projects, such as a mounted message relay system capable of delivery from Cairo to Damascus in four days. He built bridges, irrigation and shipping canals, improved the harbours, and built mosques. He was a patron of Islamic science, such as his support for the medical research of his Arab physician, Ibn al-Nafis.Albert Z. Iskandar, "Ibn al-Nafis", in Helaine Selin (1997), Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Kluwer Academic Publishers, {{ISBN|0-7923-4066-3}}. As a testament of a special relationship between Islam and cats, Baybars left a cat garden in Cairo as a waqf, providing the cats of Cairo with food and shelter.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|last=Campo|first=Juan Eduardo|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1438126968}}

His memoirs were recorded in Sirat al-Zahir Baibars ("Life of al-Zahir Baibars"), a popular Arabic romance recording his battles and achievements. He has a heroic status in Kazakhstan, as well as in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

Al-Madrassa al-Zahiriyya is the school built adjacent to his Mausoleum in Damascus.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} The Az-Zahiriyah Library has a wealth of manuscripts in various branches of knowledge to this day.

• Ablaq
• Bahri dynasty
• Cumania
• Cuman people
• Kipchak people
• Mosque of al-Zahir Baybars
• Sirat al-Zahir Baibars
• Sayyidah Zainab District

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{citation |last=Amitai-Preiss |first=Reuven |title=Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780521522908 }}
• {{citation|last=King |first=D. J. Cathcart |title=The Taking of Le Krak des Chevaliers in 1271 |volume=23 |number=90 |year=1949 |pages=83–92 |journal=Antiquity |url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/023/Ant0230083.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121223032437/http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/023/Ant0230083.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 December 2012 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X0002007X |s2cid=164061795 |url-access=subscription }}
• {{cite journal |last=Gazda |first=M |year=2005 |title=Mameluke invasions on Nubia in the 13th Century. Some Thoughts on Political Interrelations in the Middle East |journal=Gdansk African Reports |volume=3 |publisher=Gdansk Archaeological MuseumGdansk Archaeological Museum |issn=1731-6146}}
• {{citation |last=Howarth |first=Stephen |title=Knights Templar |publisher=Marboro Books |location=New York |year=1982 }}
• {{citation |last=Humphreys |first=R. Stephen |title=From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfXl5kvabhoC |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1977 |place=Albany, New York |isbn=0-87395-263-4 }}
• {{citation |last1=Folda |first1=Jaroslav |author-link1=Jaroslav Folda |last2=French |first2=Pamela |last3=Coupel |first3=Pierre |title=Crusader Frescoes at Crac des Chevaliers and Marqab Castle |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University |volume=36 |year=1982 |pages=177–210 |jstor=1291467|doi=10.2307/1291467 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Seignobos |first=Robin |title=La frontière entre le bilād al-islām et le bilād al-Nūba : enjeux et ambiguïtés d'une frontière immobile (VIIe–XIIe siècle) |language=fr |year=2010 |journal=Afriques |volume=02 |doi=10.4000/afriques.800 |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book |last=Seignobos |first=Robin |language=fr |chapter=La liste des conquêtes nubiennes de Baybars selon Ibn Šadd ād (1217–1285) |year=2016 |title=Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday |pages=553–577 |editor=A. Łajtar |editor2=A. Obłuski |editor3=I. Zych |publisher=Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology |chapter-url=https://f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/4313/files/2018/03/Aegyptus-et-Nubia-christiana-Seignobos-Offprint.pdf |isbn=9788394228835}}
• {{cite book |title=Writing History at the Ottoman Court: Editing the Past, Fashioning the Future |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2013 |chapter=The Historical Epic "Ahval-i Sultan Mehemmed" (The Tales of Sultan Mehmed) in the Context of Early Ottoman Historiography |first=Dimitris |last=Kastritsis }}
• {{cite book |last=Werner |first=Roland |year=2013 |title=Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche |publisher=Lit}}
• {{cite book |last=Welsby |first=Derek |year=2002 |title=The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile.|publisher=The British Museum. |isbn=0714119474}}

• [http://i-cias.com/e.o/baybars1.htm Baibars article] from Encyclopedia of the Orient
• [http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article?eu=382088 Baibars] in Concise Britannica online
• [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=2777 Al-Madrassa al-Zahiriyya and Baybars Mausoleum]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040422185420/http://www.bartleby.com/65/ba/Baybars1.html Brief article] in Columbia Encyclopedia
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040225192811/http://www.islam-online.net/Arabic/history/1422/01/article31.SHTML Extensive Arabic Article on Baybars]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040406230315/http://jeru.huji.ac.il/eg31.htm Brief biography]
• {{Citation |title=The History of Islam in Africa|editor1-link=Nehemia Levtzion|editor-first=Nehemia |editor-last=Levtzion |editor-first2=Randall |editor-last2=Pouwels |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2000|isbn=0821444611|ref=none}}
• {{cite journal | author = Creswell, K.A.C.| author-link=K. A. C. Creswell| title =The works of Sultan Bibars al-Bunduqdârî in Egypt [avec 31 planches]| journal = BIFAO | volume = 26| pages =129–193| url = http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/026/07/ | year = 1926| doi=10.3406/bifao.1926.1832| s2cid=267765212}}

{{S-start}}

{{s-hou|Bahri dynasty||19 July 1223||1 July 1277|Mamluk Sultanate}}

{{s-reg}}

{{succession box|title=Sultan of Egypt and Syria|before=Saif ad-Din Qutuz|after=Al-Said Barakah|years=24 October 1260 – 1 July 1277}}

{{s-end}}

{{Mamluk Sultans of Egypt}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baybars}}

Category:Muslims of the Seventh Crusade

Category:Muslims of Lord Edward's crusade

Category:Medieval history of Palestine

Category:1220s births

Category:1277 deaths

Category:Generals of the medieval Islamic world

Category:Bahri sultans

Category:Cumans

Category:13th-century Mamluk sultans

Category:One Thousand and One Nights characters

Category:13th-century Kipchaks

Category:Supporters of Ibn Arabi

Category:13th-century slaves