Baybars' Successors

Ibn al-Fur?t on Qal?w?n and al-Ashraf

Translated by David Cook

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781032237565
• eBook ISBN: 9781000041071
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Medieval Literary Collections
• Index: History

Ibn al-Furat (d. 1405) is an understudied Mamluk historian, whose materials for the period of the later Crusades is unique. While sections of his history for the period prior to 1277 have been translated, later sections have not. His text provides both an overview and a critique of earlier historians, and supplies us with a large number of unique documents, treaties, and intimate discussions that are not to be found elsewhere. This translation provides a continuous narrative from 1277 until the assassination of al-Malik al-Ashraf in 1293, with selections from Ibn al-Furat's later entries concerning the Crusades until 1365.

TEXT

Baybars al-Bunduqdārī died July 1, 1277 in Damascus. His reign had been successful, as he had expanded the Mamluk empire considerably, but his death led to a period of instability, especially in Mamluk Syria.

Mention of the sultanate of al-Malik al-Sa`īd, son of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir [=Baybars], and his ruling independently in the Egyptian homelands, while he was the fifth of the Turkish kings in the Egyptian homelands

When the decree of death befell al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Ṣāliḥī his son, al-Malik al-Sa`īd Nāṣir al-Dīn Muḥammad Berke Khān, was in the Hill Citadel in protected Cairo. The emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār, the mamluk of his father, and his deputy sultan, the one who took care of his affairs, and administered his realm, was in full agreement with the emirs and the senior officials who were with him about concealing the death of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir. So they bore him to the [Damascus] Citadel, washed him, embalmed him, and then suspended him in his coffin, just as we previously explained.

Then the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār wrote a letter as to what had occurred, and sent it accompanied by the emir Badr al-Dīn al-Ḥamawī al-jūkandār to al-Malik al-Sa`īd in the Egyptian homelands. When this informative letter reached al-Malik al-Sa`īd and he understood what was in it, he demonstrated happiness, and bestowed a robe upon the one who brought the informative letter, but concealed the death of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir.

He made out that the informative letter was tidings of the Sultan’s return to the Egyptian homelands, so when it was the next day, which was Saturday, the emirs rode as was their wont, to the Horse Market, while they were demonstrating grief. This was what was happening in protected Cairo.

As for what [93] was happening with the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār, he departed from Damascus, him and the senior emirs, the troops and the armies. Among them was a litter being borne, with a number of mamluks in its procession. They made out that the Sultan al-Ẓāhir was inside of it, but he was weak. All of that was to guard the aura [of the Sultan].

It continued like this until they arrived at the Egyptian homelands, and their arrival was in Ṣafar [July 1277] of this year. The emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār entered the Hill Citadel under the Ẓāhirīd banners, while al-Malik al-Sa`īd sat in the hall of the Hill Citadel. The emir Badr al-Dīn handed over to him the treasures and the armies, and gave the investitures to him. The former waited before the latter, and continued to give him good counsel and to obey him just as he had his father (Baybars). The armies swore to him (al-Sa`īd), and the officials finished off what they had been doing.

It was said that when al-Malik al-Sa`īd sat in the hall, the rumor of his father al-Malik al-Ẓāhir’s death spread, and the chamberlains cried out “O emirs! Have mercy on the Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir! And pray for your Sultan al-Malik al-Sa`īd!” The uproar grew louder and the weeping, while all of them went forward and kissed the ground before al-Malik al-Sa`īd, as was usual.

They renewed their oaths to him, and the rest of the army, judges, instructors and the rest of the people swore. The emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār was the one who swore the people, and the judges with him.

When the rule was securely in the hands of al-Malik al-Sa`īd, he continued the emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār as the deputy, while the chief Bahā’ al-Dīn `Alī b. Muḥammad, known as Ibn Ḥannā, was minister. Then he bestowed robes upon them, and upon the emirs, the commanders, the judges and correspondence secretaries.

The preachers in all the mosques in the Egyptian homelands delivered sermons on behalf of al-Malik al-Sa`īd on Friday 27 Ṣafar [July 30, 1277] of this year, and al-Malik al-Sa`īd prayed the prayer of the absent person¹ for his father. The post-couriers departed to Damascus with the news of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir’s death, and their arrival in Damascus was on Saturday 12 Rabī` al-Awwal [August 13, 1277] of this year.

After that two emirs headed with the post to swear the emirs, army, and people in Damascus just they had sworn those in the Hill Citadel. So they were sworn, and God knows best.

Mention some of the reports about the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār

The emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār son of `Abdallāh, known popularly as al-khāzindār, was a mamluk of Sultan al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, his deputy sultan, and the administrator of his realm.

He was a great emir, awe-inspiring, righteous, modest, pure of tongue, never speaking unless it was good, disliking evil people, and keeping them distant from his door, and loving good people, keeping them close, and giving charity. He had large iqṭā` fiefs in the Egyptian homelands and the Syrian lands, and he owned Qal`at al-Ṣubayba,² Bāniyās, and al-Shughr.

1 Part of the standard prayer for the dead, e.g., al-Tirmidhī, Sunan al-Tirmidhī (Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1983), ii, p. 144 (no. 1029) (bāb al-janā’iz, 37).

2 Now Nimrod’s Castle, above Baniyas.

When al-Malik al-Ẓāhir died the emir Badr al-Dīn managed affairs deftly, and did in Syria what we have previously explained, until when he arrived in the Egyptian homelands, [94] giving command over to al-Malik al-Sa`īd.

Historians have differed as to the reason for his death. Some of them have said that when the emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk arrived in Egypt, he became sick shortly after his arrival, and his sickness did not last long, but he died almost immediately. It is said that he was assassinated out of envy for his position. It is said that the chief Bahā’ al-Dīn Ibn Ḥannā whispered to the Sultan al-Malik al-Sa`īd that the emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār desired the rule for himself, so he was believed because of his status, and because of the army’s loyalty to him.

So when he passed him giving the peace greeting as usual, and sat behind a curtain, bringing out to him a hunāb (drink)³ in which there was sugar and poisoned lemon, so he took the hunāb and drank from it, departed, lasted two days, and then died.

It is said that he drank two droughts from it, and because of their constant harassing of him because of drink, he imagine things (takhayyala), and threw the hunāb from his hand, headed towards his house, then became unwell throughout his body, the sickness became worse, and he got colic (qūlanj).

His doctor was `Imād al-Dīn al-Nāblusī; it is said that 3000 dinars came to him. But it is also said that this was by way of favors, on the condition that he stay quiet, and not say anything. It is said that he took the gold, and goofed off until Badr al-Dīn had died after a few days.

He died in the Hill Citadel on 6 Rabī` al-Awwal [August 7, 1277] of this year, and so there was only the space of a month and nine days between him and his master [Baybars]. The judge Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn `Abd al-Ẓāhir, author of Life of al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, and the judge Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāfi` b. `Alī, grandson of Ibn `Abd al-Ẓāhir, say the following approximately:

The first part of the bad administration was that the mamluks of al-Malik al-Sa`īd caused him to imagine wrongly about the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār, his father’s deputy, and this suspicion spread to al-Malik al-Sa`īd’s mother as well. It is said that al-Malik al-Sa`īd and his mother gave Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār to drink, so then he died, may God have mercy upon him, after his arrival in the Egyptian homelands by a period of days.

There were less than two months between him and his master, and God knows best which of these it was. He had a remarkable funeral procession, and was buried in his mausoleum in al-Qarāfa al-Ṣughrā (the Lesser). His death split hearts and caused eyes to weep. The people were grieved and saddened to lose him, and the mourning over him lasted three days and three nights.

3 Unidentified: al-Qalqashandī, Ṣubḥ al-a`shā fī ṣinā`at al-inshā’ (ed. Muḥammad Ḥusayn Shams al-Dīn, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-`Ilmiyya, 2012), iv, p. 63 “It was usual that every emir, senior or junior, had a color specific to him, between hunāb, to inky, to linen color, to French (faransīsa) …” However, al-Nuwayrī, xxx, p. 237 says “a hunāb with a drink in it was brought out for him,” which sounds more like a cup. Perhaps one could posit a composite word such as Arabic inā’ + Farsi āb, meaning “water-contianer,” but why it would add a ha’ is a mystery.

When he died, the position of al-Malik al-Sa`īd became unsteady, and signs of collapse in the Ẓāhirī dynasty began to appear,⁴ just as we will mention if God wishes.

Mention of the emir Sayf al-Dīn Kūndak being appointed as deputy sultan in the Egyptian homelands

When the emir Badr al-Dīn Bīlīk al-khāzindār died just as we previously explained, al-Malik al-Sa`īd appointed the emir Sayf al-Dīn Kūndak in his place as deputy sultan in the Egyptian homelands, in spite of his being a youth. Then al-Malik al-Sa`īd rode [95] leading the (army) groups, just as his father did, on Wednesday 16 Rabī` al-Awwal [August 17, 1277].

He was among the emirs, the commanders, and the notables, while there were robes upon them, going to under the Red Mountain (al-jabal al-aḥmar), which was the first of his ridings after the arrival of the army, and their swearing, but he did not transverse the city. This was a day to remember, and the people were very happy to see him. His age at that time was 19 years.

It was said that al-Malik al-Sa`īd [appointed]⁵ the emir Shams al-Dīn Aqsunqur al-Fāriqānī al-Ẓāhirī, majordomo, to be the deputy sultan after the death of the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār. He was resolute, so when the talk established him as the deputy, he bound groups to himself who al-Malik al-Ẓāhir had compelled to swear an oath of personal allegiance.

Among these was Shams al-Dīn Aqūsh, Quṭlījā al-Rūmī, Sayf al-Dīn Qilīj al-Baghdādī, Sayf al-Dīn Bījū⁶ al-Baghdādī, `Izz al-Dīn Mughān amīr shikār (in charge of bird-hunting), Sayf al-Dīn Baktimur al-silaḥdār and their like.

Then the Khāṣakiyya and the mamluks of the emir Badr al-Dīn al-khāzindār, because of their dislike of the emir Shams al-Dīn al-Fāriqānī, conspired to detain him, and they made this look good to al-Malik al-Sa`īd. They sought aid from the emir Sayf al-Dīn Kūndak al-sāqī (cup-bearer) against him, as al-Malik al-Sa`īd had promoted him and magnified him, because he would be with him in the office, so they detained the emir Shams al-Dīn al-Fāriqānī while he was sitting at the Summit Gate (bāb al-qulla), and dragged him inside {the Citadel}.

4 Although it is not marked this is Ibn al-Furāt’s opinion, not that of the Ibn `Abd al-Ẓāhir family.

5 Added from the margins.

6 Vocalized as Bījaq in al-`Aynī, `Iqd al-jumān fī tā’rīkh ahl al-zamān (ed. Muḥammad Muḥammad Amīn, Cairo: al-Ha’ya al-Miṣriyya, 1988), ii, p. 186.

They went overboard in beating him, harming him, and plucked out his beard. He was imprisoned in the Citadel, but did not last more than a few days. He then died and was given to his retainers so that they would bury him.

Al-Malik al-Sa`īd appointed Shams al-Dīn Sunqur al-Alfī al-Muẓaffarī as deputy sultan. He had a close companion (khushdāsh) named `Alam al-Dīn Sanjar al-Ḥamawī, who was known as Abū Khurṣ, and he appointed him to the Safedan districts, which he augmented from the Sultan’s private lands (al-khāṣṣ al-sulṭānī) over his iqṭā` fief.

The Khāṣakiyya, however, were not happy with him because he was not from the Ẓāhiriyya [regiment] so they whispered to al-Malik al-Sa`īd against him, claiming that he intended to establish the Muẓaffariyya [regiment]. He did not feel safe from his machinations, so he removed him shortly thereafter.

The emir Sayf al-Dīn Kūndak al-sāqī was appointed to be the deputy sultan, so the emir Sayf al-Dīn Qalāwūn al-Alfī tended to his side. At that time there was a personality from the Khāṣakiyya sultanic mamluks called Lājīn al-Zaynī who came to dominate al-Malik al-Sa`īd in the rest of his circumstances, so most of the Khāṣakiyya joined together with him, and he took their [96] iqṭā` fiefs, contracting to them the revenues (ṣilāt). Every time an iqṭā` fief came free at the Army Chancellery, he would seize it for the one chosen, and have the deputy contend for it.

Hearts became angered between the two of them, and scorpions of evil crawled among them, as each of them planned mischief against his fellow. The emir Kūnd...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of maps
• Acknowledgements
• Maps
• Introduction
• Text
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index