Al-Adil Kitbugha
Encyclopedia
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
from December 1294 to November 1296.
Background
First Battle of Homs
The first Battle of Homs was fought on December 10, 1260, between the armies of the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia and the forces of Egypt, in Syria....
in 1260. He was purchased by Qalawun
Qalawun
Saif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...
and became one of his Mamluks then later Qalawun manumitted him and granted him the rank of Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
.
During the reign of Qalawun's son Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil he was arrested and released. In 1293, after the assassination of Al-Ashraf Khalil, Kitbugha became the vice-Sultan and regent of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad b. Cairo 1285, d...
and with Emir Sanjar al-Shuja'i he was the actual ruler of Egypt as Al-Nasir Muhammad was only 9 years old. But Kitbugha had rivaly and bad relation with al-Shuja'i who was an Al-Nasir's Vizier
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
. al-Shujai with support of the Burji Mamluks planned to arrest Kitbugha and assassinate his Emirs, but Kitbugha was informed about al-Shuja'i's plan by a Tatar named Qunghar. Kitbugha sieged the Citadel with support of Mongols and Shahrzuri Kurds. but he was defeated by the Burji Mamluks and had to flee to Bilbays where he stayed until he returned to Cairo and sieged the Citadel again after his Emirs defeated the Burjis. Kitbugha Sieged the Citadel for seven days with daily bloody clashes with the Sultani Mamluks and al-Shuja'i supporters. Many of al-Shuja'i's Emirs walked over to Kitbugha. The Emirs of Kitbugha informed the mother of Sultan Al-Nassir Muhammed that the dispute is between them and al-Shuja'i and not with her son so she locked the gates of the Citadel and thus al-Shuja'i became trapped in his house outside the Citadel and more of his Emirs deserted him and walked over to the side of Kitbugha. al-Shuja'i, who was not popular among the Egyptians, was killed while he was on his way to the citadel to talk about the dispute. When the gate of the Citadel was unlocked Kitbugha and his Emirs went in. Kitbugha's followers who were imprisoned by al-Shuja'i were freed and many Burji Mamluks who supported al-Shuja'i were either arrested or removed from the Citadel. al-Shuja'i's properties in the Levant were seized and his deputies there were arrested.
The Burji Mamluks, about 300, who were removed from the Citadel by Kitbugha rebelled and went on rampage in Cairo. These Mamluks, named al-Mamalik al-Ashrafiyah Khalil ( Mamluks of al-Ashraf Khalil ) were enraged because Hossam ad-Dain Lajin
Lajin
Lachin royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri (Arabic: الملك المنصور حسام الدين لاجين المنصورى (d....
who was involved in the murder of their benefactor Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil showed up in Cairo but he was not arrested and punished. But the Ahrafiyah Khalil were defeated and many of them were killed and executed.
Rise to power
Kitbugha was a regent and the actual ruler of Egypt. Al-Nasir Muhammad, being a child, was merely a nominal Sultan. After the murder of Vizier al-Shuja'i, Kitbugha became more powerful and was convinced by Lajin - who knew that the Mamluks of Khalil and later Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammed himself will revenge the Killing of Sultan Khalil - to depose the Al-Nassir and take the power over. After the defeat of the Burjis who rebelled, Kitbugha assembled the Emirs at his office and told them : " The system of the Kingdom has been undermined. There can not be respect while Sultan Al-Nasir is young ". The Emirs agreed and they decided to replace Al-Nasir Muhammed with Kitbugha. Al-Nasir Muhammed was dethroned and removed with his mother to another section of the palace and later to Al KarakAl Karak
Karak is a city in Jordan that is known for the famous crusader castle Kerak. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria...
. Kitbugha was installed as Sultan, he took the royal name Al-Adil. He made Lajin his vice-Sultan.
The Oirats
Oirats
Oirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal...
, Mongols refugees who were led by Turghai, the son-in-law of Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
. They fled to the Levant from Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan...
. While a part of the Oirat group was received warmly in Cairo by Kitbugha and was resided at the Cairene district of al-Hisiniyah, another part was sheltered at the coastal towns of the Levant. The Oirats were not Muslims but after they married to Egyptian Emirs and later to Egyptian commons they converted to Islam and merged with the Egyptian society. However, as Kitbugha was himself of Mongol origin, his extraordinary generosity towards the Oirats made many Emirs suspicious about his motives, and was one of the factors that led to his downfall later.
Dethroning
During the reign of Kitbugha, Egypt and the Levant were struck by shortages in water and food in addition to epidemic that caused the death of many people in Egypt. Kitbugha was not popular among the Egyptians who regarded him as an ill-omen Sultan Also, the Egyptian were not pleased with Kitbugha's generosity towards the OiratsOirats
Oirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal...
who were not Muslims while they, the Egyptians, were suffering from high prices of food and economical hardship.
While Kitbugha was in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
the Emirs decided to get rid of him. The Emirs went to Kitbugha and met him while he was on his way to Egypt. Kitbugha was angry of Bisari who was a prominent Emir and accused him of corresponding with the Mongols. Fearing that Kitbugha would arrest Bisari, the Emirs, among them Lajin
Lajin
Lachin royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri (Arabic: الملك المنصور حسام الدين لاجين المنصورى (d....
, carried arms and went to the Dihliz of Kitbugha and clashed with his Mamluks. A few Mamluks of Kitbugha were killed and injured. Kitbugha left the Dihliz from the back passage and fled to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
on a horse, accompanied by five of his Mamluks. The Emirs were not able to catch him. Lajin was throned as the new Sultan of Egypt.
Kitbugha took refuge inside the citadel of Damascus but at last he resigned and recognized Lajin as the new Sultan saying: "al-Sultan al-Malik al-Mansour ( Lajin ) is one of my Khushdashiya. I serve him and I obey him. I will stay inside the Citadel until the Sultan decide(s) what to do with me". Kitbugha left Damascus to Sarkhad
Salkhad
Salkhad a Syrian city in the As Suwayda governorate, southern Syria.It is the capital of Salkhad District, one of the governorate's three districts. It has a population of 15,000 inhabitants....
. He ruled two years and 17 days.
In 1299 while Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad b. Cairo 1285, d...
was on his way to Syria with the Egyptian Army to encounter the invasion of Mahmud Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan
Mahmud Ghazan was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan...
, some Oirats conspired with some Mamluks of the Sultan to kill the vice-Sultan Salar and the Ostadar Baibars al-Jashnakir
Baibars II
Not to be confused with his more famous namesake, Baibars al-BunduqdariBaibars al-Jashnakir or Baibars II. Royal name: al-Malik al-Muzaffar Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Jashnakir al-Mansuri, ....
who were the actual rulers of Egypt in order to bring Kitbugha back to power, but the attempt failed and the conspiring Oirats were severely punished (see Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad b. Cairo 1285, d...
). After the defeat of Al-Nasir Muhammad's army at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar
Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar
The Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar, also known as the Third Battle of Homs, was a Mongol victory over the Mamluks in 1299.-Background:In 1260, Hulagu Khan had invaded the Middle East all the way to Palestine. Before he could follow up with an invasion of Egypt, he was called back to Mongolia. He left...
, Kitbugha fled to Egypt and served Salar. After Ghazan left Syria Kitbugha became the deputy of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad in Hama
Hama
Hama is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria north of Damascus. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. Hama is the fourth-largest city in Syria—behind Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs—with a population of 696,863...
, where he died in 1297. He was described as short, brown-skinned man with short beard.
Coins of Al-Adil Kitbugha
During the reign of Sultan Kitbugha, in 1295 and for the first time in Egypt, it was decided that coins must be weighted before being exchanged for goods or services. Thus the value of the coins was based on its weight and not on its quantity.The names and titles of Al-Adil Kitbugha on his coins were : al-malik al-Adil, al-Sultan al-Malik al-Adil, al-Sultan al-malik al-Adil Nasir al-Umah al-Muhamadiyah Zein al-Donya wa al-Din (al-Sultan al-Malik al-Adil the Promoter of the Muhammadan Nation adorner of temporal world and faith ) and al-Sultan al-Malik al-Adil Zein al-Donya wa al-Din al-Mansuri Qasim Amir al-mu'minin ( The sultan king al-Adil adorner of temporal world and faith the Mansuri sharer of the Emir of the faithful ). al Mansuri means related to Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun. The Emir of the faithful was the title of the Abbasid Caliph.
See also
- List of rulers of Egypt
- Bahri dynastyBahri dynastyThe Bahri dynasty or Bahriyya Mamluks was a Mamluk dynasty of mostly Kipchak Turkic origin that ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1382 when they were succeeded by the Burji dynasty, another group of Mamluks...
- Al-Ashraf Khalil
- LajinLajinLachin royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri Lachin (Arabic: لاجين) royal name: al-Malik al-Mansour Hossam ad-Din Lachin al-Mansuri (Arabic: الملك المنصور حسام الدين لاجين المنصورى (d....
- OiratsOiratsOirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal...
- QalawunQalawunSaif ad-Dīn Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī was the seventh Mamluk sultan of Egypt...