Qaitbay

Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay (Arabic: قايتباي) (ca. 1416/18 - 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 872-901 A.H. (AD 1468-1496). He was Circassian by birth, and was bought for fifty dinars by the ninth sultan Barsbay (AD 1422 to 1438) before being freed by the eleventh sultan Jaqmaq (AD 1438 to 1453). He went on to become the greatest patron of art and architecture in the Circassian Mamluk period. Other transliterations of his name include Qaytbay and Kait Bey.

The half century immediately preceding his becoming the sultan was a period of political, economic, and artistic decline. He re-established the authority of the sultanate, stabilized the economy, and oversaw a revival of the arts. He fought sixteen military campaigns, but is best remembered for the spectacular buildings he left. His buildings graced Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, and every quarter of Cairo.

Biography

Early life

Qaitbay was born in the Circassian region of the Caucasus between 1416 and 1418. His skill in archery and horsemanship attracted the attention of a slave merchant who purchased him and brought him to Cairo when he was already over twenty years of age. He was quickly purchased by the reigning sultan Barsbay and became a member of the palace guard. He was freed by Barsbay's successor, Jaqmaq, and appointed third executive secretary; under the reigns of Inal, Khushqadam, and Yilbay he was further promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy, eventually becoming taqaddimat alf, commander of a thousand Mamluks. Under the Sultan Timurbugha, finally, Qaitbay was appointed atabak, or field marshal of the entire Mamluk army. During this period Qaitbay amassed a considerable personal fortune which would enable him to exercise substantial acts of beneficence as sultan without draining the royal treasury.

Accession

The reign of Timubugha lasted less than two months, as he was dethroned in a palace coup on January 30, 1468. Qaitbay was proposed as a compromise candidate acceptable to the various court factions, and despite some apparent reluctance was enthroned on January 31. He insisted that Timurburgha be granted an honorable retirement, instead of the enforced exile usually imposed on dethroned sovereigns. He did, however, exile the leaders of the coup, and created a new ruling council composed of his own followers and more veteran courtiers who had fallen into disgrace under his predecessors. Yashbak min Mahdi was appointed dawadar, or executive secretary, and Azbak min Tutkh was named atabak; the two men would remain Qaitbay's closest advisors until the ends of their careers, despite their profound dislike for each other. In general Qaitbay seems to have pursued a policy of appointing rivals to posts of equal authority, thus preventing any single subordinate from acquiring too much power and maintaining the ability to settle all disputes via his own autocratic authority.

Early reign

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

Consolidation of power

Following the defeat of Suwar, Qaitbay set about purging his court of the remaining factions and installing his own purchased Mamluks in all positions of power. He frequently went on excursions, ostentatiously leaving the Citadel with limited guards to display his trust of his subordinates and of the populace. He traveled throughout his reign, visiting Alexandria, Damascus, and Aleppo, among other cities, and personally inspecting his many building projects. In 1472 he performed the Hajj to Mecca. He was struck by the poverty of the citizens of Medina and devoted a substantial portion of his private fortune to the alleviation of their plight. Through such measures Qaitbay gained a reputation for piety, charity, and royal self-confidence.

In 1480 Yashbak led an army against the Ak Koyunlu dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia, but was soundly defeated while attacking Urfa, taken prisoner, and executed. These events foreshadowed a longer military engagement with the far more powerful Ottoman Empire in Anatolia. In 1485 Ottoman armies began to campaign on the Mamluk frontier, and an expedition was dispatched from Cairo to confront them. These Mamluk troops won a suprising victory in 1486 near Adana. A temporary truce ensued, but in 1487 the Ottomans reoccupied Adana, only to be defeated once more by a massive Mamluk army. In 1491 a final truce was signed that would last through the remaining reigns of Qaitbay and the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II. Qaitbay's ability to enforce a peace with the greatest military power in the Muslim world further enhanced his prestige at home and abroad.

Final years

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

Sources

• Philip K. Hitti. History of the Arabs. Rev. 10th ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
• C.F. Petry, Twilight of majesty: the reigns of the Mamlūk Sultans al-Ashrāf Qāytbāy and Qānṣūh al-Ghawrī in Egypt (Seattle, 1993).
• André Raymond. Cairo. 1993, English translation 2000 by Willard Wood.
• R.F. Tapsell. Monarchs, Rulers, Dynasties and Kingdoms of the World. London: Thames & Hudson, 1983.