Baybars

For other uses, see Baybars (disambiguation).

Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (Arabic: الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري;^[a] 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (أبو الفتوح, lit. 'Father of Conquests'), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Bahri dynasty, succeeding Qutuz. He was one of the commanders of the Egyptian forces that inflicted a defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. He also led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260,^[4] which marked the first substantial defeat of the Mongol army and is considered a turning point in history.^[5]

Baybars
Sultan Misr wa-Suria Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din
A probable near-contemporary depiction of Sultan Baybars:^[1] enthroned ruler and attendants in the Baptistère de Saint Louis (1320–1340).^[1]
Sultan of Egypt
Reign	24 October 1260 – 1 July 1277
Coronation	1260 at Salihiyah
Predecessor	Saif ad-Din Qutuz
Successor	Al-Said Barakah
Born	19 July 1223 or 1228 Dasht-i Kipchak^[2]^[3]
Died	1 July 1277 (aged 50/55) Damascus, Mamluk Sultanate
Spouse	Iltutmish Khatun
Issue	Al-Said Barakah Solamish Khizir Tidhkarbay Khatun
Names al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari Abu al-Futuh
House	Zahiri
Dynasty	Bahri
Religion	Islam

The reign of Baybars marked the start of an age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and solidified the durability of their military system. He managed to pave the way for the end of the Crusader presence in the Levant and reinforced the union of Egypt and Syria as the region's pre-eminent Muslim state, able to fend off threats from both Crusaders and Mongols, and even managed to subdue the kingdom of Makuria, which was famous for being unconquerable by previous Muslim empire invasion attempts. As sultan, Baybars also engaged in a combination of diplomacy and military action, allowing the Mamluks of Egypt to greatly expand their empire.

Name and appearance

In his native Turkic language, Baybars' name means "great panther"^[6] or "lord panther"^[7] (see also Wiktionary: bay "rich person, noble" + pars "leopard, panther").

 

Bridge built by Baybars near modern Lod, with an inscription from 1273 glorifying the sultan and depicting his emblem, the lion/panther^[8]

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.^[6] 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.^[9]

Baybars was described as a tall man with olive skin and blue eyes. He had broad shoulders, slim legs, and a powerful voice.^[10][11] It was observed that he had cataract in one eye.^[12]

Biography

Baybars was a Kipchak thought to be born in the steppe region north of the Black Sea, or Dasht-i Kipchak at the time.^{[13][14][15][16][17]} 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, arranging 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 to Bulgaria about 1242. In the meantime, the Mongols invaded Bulgaria, including the regions where the Cuman refugees recently settled.^[18] Both Baybars, who witnessed his parents being massacred,^[18] 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 'Alā' al-Dīn Īdīkīn al-Bunduqārī [de], 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.^[19]

Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565) counted him among Ibn 'Arabi's students.^[20]

Rise to power

 

The Mamluks under Baybars (yellow) fought off the Franks and the Mongols during the Ninth Crusade.

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,^[21][22] and William Longespée the Younger were both killed, along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive.^[23] 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.^[24]

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,^[25] persuading him to break the accord^{[clarification needed]} 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 al-Mughith Umar [de] in Kerak.^[26] The combined forces tried in vain to invade Egypt during the reign of Aybak.^[27]

Baybars then sent 'Ala al-Din Taybars al-Waziri to discuss with Qutuz his return to Egypt, which was eagerly accepted.^[28] 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.^[29] Baybars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt.^[30]

Becoming Sultan

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,^[31][32][33] 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.^[31] 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^[31]

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.^[34]

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.^[34]

Campaign against the Crusaders

Further information: Siege of Antioch (1268)

 

Gold coin minted under Baybars, with an Arabic inscription and an image of a panther or lion below it

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.^[35] 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.^[36] Baybars razed the castle to the ground.^[37] He next attacked Atlit and Haifa, where he captured both towns after destroying the crusaders' resistance, and razed the citadels.^[38]

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. Upon surrender, Baybars broke his promise and massacred the entire Templar garrison^{[citation needed]}. 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.^[39]

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.^[40] 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.^[41]

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.^[42] 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."^[43] Priests had their throats slit inside their churches, and women were sold into slavery.^[44]

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.^[45] After this he conquered Ashkalon and Caesarea.

Alliance with Golden Horde

Baybars actively pursued a close relationship with Berke, the Khan of Golden Horde.^[46] 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.^[46] 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 into Islam.^[46]

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.^[47]

Continued campaign against Crusaders

Further information: 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.^[48] 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.^[48] The new owners of the castle undertook repairs, focused mainly on the outer ward.^[49] The Hospitaller chapel was converted to a mosque and two mihrabs were added to the interior.^[50]

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.

Campaign against Makuria

Further information: Makuria § Decline (12th century–1365)

 

Possible depiction of king David of Makuria on a wallpainting from Old Dongola

In 1265 a Mamluk army allegedly raided Makuria as far south as Dongola^[51] while also expanding southwards along the African Red Sea coast, thus threatening the Nubians.^[52] In 1272 king David marched east and attacked the port town of Aidhab,^[53] located on an important pilgrimage route to Mecca. The Nubian army destroyed the town, causing “a blow to the very heart of Islam”.^[54] This initiated several decades of intervention by the Mamluks in Nubian affairs.^[55] A punitive Mamluk expedition was sent in response, but did not pass beyond the second cataract.^[56] Three years later the Makurians attacked and destroyed Aswan,^[53] but this time, Baybars responded with a well-equipped army setting off from Cairo in early 1276,^[54] accompanied by a cousin of king David named Mashkouda^[57] or Shekanda.^[58] 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,^[59] which, previously being Alodia's northernmost province, had by this period become a kingdom of its own.^[60] The king of al-Abwab, however, handed David over to Baybars, who had him executed.^[61]

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.^[62] In practice this was reducing Makuria to a vassal kingdom,^[63] effectively ending Makuria's status as an independent kingdom.

Further campaign against Ilkhanate

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^[64] 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.^[65] 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.^[65][66] 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".^[67]

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.^[68]

Death

 

Mausoleum chamber of sultan Baybars (1260-1277) in Al-Zahiriyah Library 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.^[69] He was buried in the Az-Zahiriyah Library in Damascus.^[70]

Family

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 Crusader oppression along with her brother lieutenant Hassan. She met Sultan Baybars after he camped in Tripoli during his siege.^{[citation needed]} 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. Her tomb was an important religious and historical spot in Tripoli until it was destroyed by the French colonizers in the 20th century.^{[citation needed]}

One of Baibar's wives was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Nogay at-Tatari.^[71] Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Giray at-Tatari.^[71] Another wife was the daughter of Amir Sayf ad-Din Tammaji.^[71] Another wife was Iltutmish Khatun.^[72] She was the daughter of Barka Khan a former Khwarazmian amir. She was the mother of his son Al-Said Barakah.^[73] She died in 1284–85.^[72] Another wife was the daughter Karmun Agha, a Mongol Amir.^[74] He had three sons al-Said Barakah, Solamish and Khizir.^[71] He had seven daughters;^[71] one of them was named Tidhkarbay Khatun.^[75]

Legacy

Further information: Seventh Crusade, Ninth Crusade, and Battle of Ain Jalut

 

Bronze bust of Sultan Baibars in Cairo, at the Egyptian National Military Museum

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.^[76] 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. A Templar knight who fought in the Seventh Crusade lamented:

Rage and sorrow are seated in my heart...so firmly that I scarce dare to stay alive. It seems that God wishes to support the Turks to our loss...ah, lord God...alas, the realm of the East has lost so much that it will never be able to rise up again. They will make a Mosque of Holy Mary's convent, and since the theft pleases her Son, who should weep at this, we are forced to comply as well...Anyone who wishes to fight the Turks is mad, for Jesus Christ does not fight them any more. They have conquered, they will conquer. For every day they drive us down, knowing that God, who was awake, sleeps now, and Muhammad waxes powerful.

— ^[77]

Baybars also played an important role in bringing the Mongols to Islam.^[46] 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.^[78]

Military legacy

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.^[79][80] His military campaign also extended into Libya and Nubia.

Culture and science

Further information: 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.^[81] 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.^[82]

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]} The Az-Zahiriyah Library has a wealth of manuscripts in various branches of knowledge to this day.

See also

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

Notes

1. al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī

References

1. Fuess, Albrecht (2018). "Sultans with Horns: The Political Significance of Headgear in the Mamluk Empire (MSR XII.2, 2008)" (PDF). Mamlūk Studies Review. 12 (2): 76, 84, Fig. 5. doi:10.6082/M100007Z.
2. Adventuring in the Englishes: Language and Literature in a Postcolonial Globalized World, Ikram Ahmed Elsherif, Piers Michael Smith. 2014. Part I; Chapter 2, pg 18.
3. "Baybars I". Britannica. 15 February 2024.
4. The New Encyclopædia Britannica, Macropædia, H.H. Berton Publisher, 1973–1974, p.773/vol.2
5. The history of the Mongol conquests, By J. J. Saunders, pg. 115
6. Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh (2004). The image of an Ottoman city: imperial architecture and urban experience in Aleppo in the 16th and 17th centuries. Brill. p. 198. ISBN 90-04-12454-3.
7. Caroline Williams (2008). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide; New Revised Edition. The American University in Cairo Press. p. 185. ISBN 9789774162053.
8. Petry, Carl F. (2022). The Mamluk Sultanate. Cambridge University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-108-47104-6.
9. Niall Christie (2014). Muslims and Crusaders: Christianity's Wars in the Middle East, 1095–1382, from the Islamic Sources. Seminar Studies (first ed.). Routledge. p. 121, Plate 8. ISBN 9781138022744.
10. Bartlett, W. B. (15 October 2021). The Fall of Christendom: The Road to Acre 1291. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-8418-5. "He was described as being a tall man with a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes.
11. "Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE — Brill". referenceworks.brillonline.com. "Baybars is described as a tall man with broad chest and shoulders, slim legs, a powerful voice, swarthy skin, and blue eyes."
12. Thorau, Peter (1992). Sultan Baybars der Erste von Ägypten. Longman. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-582-06823-0.
13. Holt, P. M. (2014) [1986]. The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517. Routledge. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-317-87152-1. By origin he was a Kipchak Turk from the territory lying to the north of the Black Sea. When the Mongols conquered this region about 1241, Baybars's 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.
14. Thorau, Peter (2010). "Baybars I, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three. Brill. ISBN 9789004161658. 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.
15. Fry, C. George (1998). "Baybars I". In Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (eds.). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-57958-041-4. 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.
16. Amitai, Reuven (2006). "Baybars I, Mamluk Sultan". In Meri, Josef W. (ed.). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-415-96690-0. 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.
17. Rabie, Hassanein Muhammad. "Baybars I | Mamlūk Sultan of Egypt & Syria". Britannica. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
18. Ranulph Fiennes (2019). The Elite: The Story of Special Forces – From Ancient Sparta to the War on Terror. Simon and Schuster. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-4711-5664-9.
19. Dimitri Korobeinikov (2008), "A Broken Mirror: The Kıpçak World in the Thirteenth Century", in Florin Curta; Roman Kovalev (eds.), The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans, Leiden: Brill, pp. 379–412.
20. Nader Jamil Jum'a (2020). محيي الدين بن عربي وآراؤه الفقهية في الفتوحات المكية [Muhyi al-Din ibn 'Arabi and his jurisprudential opinions in al-Futuhāt al-Makkiyya] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya. p. 86. ISBN 9782745192783 – via Google Books. 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.
21. Lord of Joinville, 110, part II.
22. Asly, p. 49.
    Skip Knox, Egyptian Counter-attack, The Seventh Crusade.
23. According to Matthew Paris, only 2 Templars, 1 Hospitaller and one 'contemptible person' escaped. Matthew Paris, Louis IX's Crusade, p. 14/ Vol. 5.
24. 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
25. Humphreys 1977, p. 326.
26. Humphreys 1977, p. 331.
27. Humphreys 1977, p. 332.
28. Humphreys 1977, p. 348.
29. 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)
30. MacHenry, Robert. The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 1993. Baybars
31. al-Madidi, Khasd; Abdul Muhammad, Sawadi; Abdul Qadir an-Nuri, Duraid. History of the Arab world and the Crusades. Mosul University Press 1981. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
32. Maqrīzī (al-), Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn 'Alī (1956). Ziada (al-Ziyādah), Muḥammad Muṣṭafā (ed.). Kitāb al-Sulūk li-Ma'rifat Duwal al-Mulūk (in Arabic). Vol. 2. Cairo: Lajnat al-Ta'līf.
33. . ʿAlī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Shāhanshāh b. Ayyūb b. Shādī b. Marwān, Ismāʿīl Abulfeda. Concise History of Humanity(المختصر في أخبار Tarikh al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar al-Bashar) (PDF). Retrieved 27 September 2021.
34. Runciman, Steven (1987). 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. CUP Archive. p. 316. ISBN 9780521347723.
35. Dalrymple, William (3 April 1989). In Xanadu. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143031079. Retrieved 3 April 2018 – via Google Books.
36. Rodney Stark, 'God's Battalions', 2009, p. 230
37. Lock, Peter (15 April 2013). The Routledge Companion to the Crusades. Routledge. ISBN 9781135131449 – via Google Books.
38. "The Crusaders in the East". CUP Archive. 11 November 1907 – via Google Books.
39. Winter, Michael; Levanoni, Amalia (3 April 2018). The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004132863. Retrieved 3 April 2018 – via Google Books.
40. Claude Mutafian, p.60
41. Bournotian, A Concise History of the Armenian People, p. 101
42. . Archived from the original on 29 January 2006.
43. Thomas F. Madden, The Concise History of the Crusades (3rd ed. 2014), p. 168
44. Madden, supra at 168.
45. The Later Crusades, 1189–1311. Univ of Wisconsin Press. 1969. p. 557. ISBN 9780299048440.
46. Thomas Walker Arnold (1896). "8". The Preaching of Islam A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith. A. Constable and Company; Harvard University. p. 192. Retrieved 26 November 2023. 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 ...
47. F. Broadbridge, Anne (2008). Kingship and Ideology in the Islamic and Mongol Worlds Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780521852654.
48. King 1949, pp. 88–92
49. King 1949, p. 91
50. Folda, French & Coupel 1982, p. 179
51. Werner 2013, p. 117, note 16.
52. Gazda 2005, p. 93.
53. Werner 2013, p. 118.
54. Gazda 2005, p. 95.
55. Howard, Jonathan (2011). The Crusades: A History of One of the Most Epic Military Campaigns of All Time. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521209816.
56. Seignobos 2016, p. 554.
57. Seignobos 2016, p. 554, note 2.
58. Welsby 2002, p. 244.
59. Werner 2013, pp. 120–122.
60. Welsby 2002, p. 254.
61. Werner 2013, pp. 122–123.
62. El Hareir, Mbaye, Idris, Ravane (2011). The Spread of Islam Throughout the World. UNESCO. p. 300. ISBN 9789231041532.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
63. Hopkins.Peter (3 June 2014). Kenana Handbook of Sudan. Routledge. ISBN 9781136775260. Retrieved 3 April 2018 – via Google Books.
64. Kastritsis 2013, p. 26.
65. Ibn Taghri, Al-Zahir Baibars
66. Al-Maqrizi, p. 99/vol.2
67. Reuven Amitai Press, Mamluk Ilkhanid war 1260–1281
68. Amitai-Preiss 2004, p. 175.
69. Young, Robyn (2007). Crusade. Dutton. p. 484. ISBN 9780525950165.
70. . Archived from the original on 8 January 2009.
71. Akkuş Yiğit, Fatma (20 April 2016). "Memlûk Sarayında Tek Eşlilik ve Çok Eşlilik Üzerine Bir İnceleme" (PDF). Journal of International Social Research. 9 (43). The Journal of International Social Research: 557. doi:10.17719/jisr.20164317631. ISSN 1307-9581.
72. Karam, Amina (22 May 2019). . AUC DAR Home. pp. 20, 21. Archived from the original on 18 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
73. Winter, M.; Levanoni, A. (2004). The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society. The medieval Mediterranean peoples, economies and cultures, 400–1500. Brill. p. 391. ISBN 978-90-04-13286-3.
74. Clifford, W.W.; Conermann, S. (2013). State formation and the structure of politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E. Mamluk Studies. V&R Unipress. p. 105. ISBN 978-3-8470-0091-4.
75. Papas, A. (2020). Sufi Institutions. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East. Brill. p. 33. ISBN 978-90-04-39260-1.
76. 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present. Paul K. Davis, pg. 141
77. Howarth 1982, p. 223.
78. The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith, By Thomas Walker Arnold, p. 192
79. Ahmad Y Hassan, Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treatises In Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 26 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
80. Ancient Discoveries, Episode 12: Machines of the East, History Channel, 2007 (Part 4 and Part 5)
81. 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.
82. Campo, Juan Eduardo (2009). Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-1438126968.

Sources

• Amitai-Preiss, Reuven (2004), Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260–1281, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521522908
• King, D. J. Cathcart (1949), "The Taking of Le Krak des Chevaliers in 1271", Antiquity, 23 (90): 83–92, doi:10.1017/S0003598X0002007X, S2CID 164061795, archived from the original on 23 December 2012
• Gazda, M (2005). "Mameluke invasions on Nubia in the 13th Century. Some Thoughts on Political Interrelations in the Middle East". Gdansk African Reports. 3. Gdansk Archaeological MuseumGdansk Archaeological Museum. ISSN 1731-6146.
• Howarth, Stephen (1982), Knights Templar, New York: Marboro Books
• Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977), From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, ISBN 0-87395-263-4
• Folda, Jaroslav; French, Pamela; Coupel, Pierre (1982), "Crusader Frescoes at Crac des Chevaliers and Marqab Castle", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 36, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University: 177–210, doi:10.2307/1291467, JSTOR 1291467
• Seignobos, Robin (2010). "La frontière entre le bilād al-islām et le bilād al-Nūba : enjeux et ambiguïtés d'une frontière immobile (VIIe-XIIe siècle)". Afriques (in French). doi:10.4000/afriques.800.
• Seignobos, Robin (2016). "La liste des conquêtes nubiennes de Baybars selon Ibn Šadd ād (1217 – 1285)" (PDF). In A. Łajtar; A. Obłuski; I. Zych (eds.). Aegyptus et Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70 th Birthday (in French). Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. pp. 553–577. ISBN 9788394228835.
• Kastritsis, Dimitris (2013). "The Historical Epic "Ahval-i Sultan Mehemmed" (The Tales of Sultan Mehmed) in the Context of Early Ottoman Historiography". Writing History at the Ottoman Court: Editing the Past, Fashioning the Future. Indiana University Press.
• Werner, Roland (2013). Das Christentum in Nubien. Geschichte und Gestalt einer afrikanischen Kirche. Lit.
• Welsby, Derek (2002). The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. The British Museum. ISBN 0714119474.

External links

• Baibars article from Encyclopedia of the Orient
• Baibars in Concise Britannica online
• Al-Madrassa al-Zahiriyya and Baybars Mausoleum
• in Columbia Encyclopedia
• Levtzion, Nehemia; Pouwels, Randall, eds. (2000), The History of Islam in Africa, Ohio University Press, ISBN 0821444611
• Creswell, K.A.C. (1926). "The works of Sultan Bibars al-Bunduqdârî in Egypt [avec 31 planches]". BIFAO. 26: 129–193. doi:10.3406/bifao.1926.1832. S2CID 267765212.

Baybars Bahri dynasty Cadet branch of the Mamluk Sultanate Born: 19 July 1223 Died: 1 July 1277
Regnal titles
Preceded by Saif ad-Din Qutuz	Sultan of Egypt and Syria 24 October 1260 – 1 July 1277	Succeeded by Al-Said Barakah