Part 38

The infant Fa'iz, who had been permanently incapacitated by the scenes of violence which accompanied his accession, died in 1160. Tala'i' chose to succeed him a grandson of Zafir, who was nine years of age, and received the title _al-'Adid lidin allah_. Tala'i', who had complete control of affairs, introduced the practice of farming the taxes for periods of six months instead of a year, which led to great misery, as the taxes were demanded twice. His death was brought on by the rigour with which he treated the princesses, one of whom, with or without the connivance of the caliph, organized a plot for his assassination, and he died in September 1160. His son Ruzzik inherited his post and maintained himself in it for more than a year, when another prefect of Upper Egypt, Shawar b. Mujir, brought a force to Cairo, before which Ruzzik fled, to be shortly afterwards captured and beheaded. Shawar's entry into Cairo was at the beginning of 1163; after nine months he was compelled to flee before another adventurer, an officer in the army named Dirgham. Shawar's flight was directed to Damascus, where he was favourably received by the prince Nureddin, who sent with him to Cairo a force of Kurds under Asad al-din Shirguh. At the same time Egypt was invaded by the Franks, who raided and did much damage on the coast. Dirgham was defeated and killed, but a dispute then arose between Shawar and his Syrian allies for the possession of Egypt. Shawar, being unable to cope with the Syrians, demanded help of the Frankish king of Jerusalem Amalric (Amauri) I., who hastened to his aid with a large force, which united with Shawar's and besieged Shirguh in Bilbeis for three months; at the end of this time, owing to the successes of Nureddin in Syria, the Franks granted Shirguh a free passage with his troops back to Syria, on condition of Egypt being evacuated (October 1164). Rather more than two years later Shirguh persuaded Nureddin to put him at the head of another expedition to Egypt, which left Syria in January 1167, and, entering Egypt by the land route, crossed the Nile at Itfih (Atfih), and encamped at Giza; a Frankish army hastened to Shawar's aid. At the battle of Babain (April 11th, 1167) the allies were defeated by the forces commanded by Shirguh and his nephew Saladin, who was presently made prefect of Alexandria, which surrendered to Shirguh without a struggle. Saladin was soon besieged by the allies in Alexandria; but after seventy-five days the siege was raised, Shirguh having made a threatening movement on Cairo, where a Frankish garrison had been admitted by Shawar. Terms were then made by which both Syrians and Franks were to quit Egypt, though the garrison of Cairo remained; the hostile attitude of the Moslem population to this garrison led to another invasion at the beginning of 1168 by King Amalric, who after taking Bilbeis advanced to Cairo. The caliph, who up to this time appears to have left the administration to the viziers, now sent for Shirguh, whose speedy arrival in Egypt caused the Franks to withdraw. Reaching Cairo on the 6th of January 1169, he was soon able to get possession of Shawar's person, and after the prefect's execution, which happened some ten days later, he was appointed vizier by the caliph. After two months Shirguh died of indigestion (23rd of March 1169), and the caliph appointed Saladin as successor to Shirguh; the new vizier professed to hold office as a deputy of Nureddin, whose name was mentioned in public worship after that of the caliph. By appropriating the fiefs of the Egyptian officers and giving them to his Kurdish followers he stirred up much ill-feeling, which resulted in a conspiracy, of which the object was to recall the Franks with the view of overthrowing the new régime; but this conspiracy was revealed by a traitor and crushed. Nureddin loyally aided his deputy in dealing with Frankish invasions of Egypt, but the anomaly by which he, being a Sunnite, was made in Egypt to recognize a Fatimite caliph could not long continue, and he ordered Saladin to weaken the Fatimite by every available means, and then substitute the name of the Abbasid for his in public worship. Saladin and his ministers were at first afraid lest this step might give rise to disturbances among the people; but a stranger undertook to risk it on the 17th of September 1171, and the following Friday it was repeated by official order; the caliph himself died during the interval, and it is uncertain whether he ever heard of his deposition. The last of the Fatimite caliphs was not quite twenty-one years old at the time of his death.

(5) _Ayyubite Period._--Saladin by the advice of his chief Nureddin cashiered the Fatimite judges and took steps to encourage the study of orthodox theology and jurisprudence in Egypt by the foundation of colleges and chairs. On the death of the ex-caliph he was confirmed in the prefecture of Egypt as deputy of Nureddin; and on the decease of the latter in 1174 (12th of April) he took the title sultan, so that with this year the Ayyubite period of Egyptian history properly begins. During the whole of it Damascus rather more than Cairo counted as the metropolis of the empire. The Egyptian army, which was motley in character, was disbanded by the new sultan, whose troops were Kurds. Though he did not build a new metropolis he fortified Cairo with the addition of a citadel, and had plans made for a new wall to enclose both it and the double city; this latter plan was never completed, but the former was executed after his death, and from this time till the French occupation of Egypt the citadel of Cairo was the political centre of the country. It was in 1183 that Saladin's rule over Egypt and North Syria was consolidated. Much of Saladin's time was spent in Syria, and his famous wars with the Franks belong to the history of the Crusades and to his personal biography. Egypt was largely governed by his favourite Karakush, who lives in popular legend as the "unjust judge," though he does not appear to have deserved that title.

Saladin at his death divided his dominions between his sons, of whom 'Othman succeeded to Egypt with the title _Malik al-Aziz 'Imal al-ain_. The division was not satisfactory to the heirs, and after three years (beginning of 1196) the Egyptian sultan conspired with his uncle Malik al-'Adil to deprive Saladin's son al-Afdal of Damascus, which had fallen to his lot. The war between the brothers was continued with intervals of peace, during which al-'Adil repeatedly changed sides: eventually he with al-'Aziz besieged and took Damascus, and sent al-Afdal to Sarkhad, while al-'Adil remained in possession of Damascus. On the death of al-'Aziz on the 29th of November 1198 in consequence of a hunting accident, his infant son Mahommed was raised to the throne with the title _Malik al-Mansur Nasir al-din_, and his uncle al-Afdal sent for from Sarkhad to take the post of regent or Atabeg. So soon as al-Afdal had got possession of his nephew's person, he started on an expedition for the recovery of Damascus: al-'Adil not only frustrated this, but drove him back to Egypt, where on the 25th of January 1200 a battle was fought between the armies of the two at Bilbeis, resulting in the defeat of al-Afdal, who was sent back to Sarkhad, while al-'Adil assumed the regency, for which after a few months he substituted the sovereignty, causing his nephew to be deposed. He reigned under the title _Malik al-'Adil Saif al-din_. His name was Abu Bakr.

Though the early years of his reign were marked by numerous disasters, famine, pestilence and earthquake, of which the second seems to have been exceedingly serious, he reunited under his sway the whole of the empire which had belonged to his brother, and his generals conquered for him parts of Mesopotamia and Armenia, and in 1215 he got possession of Yemen. He followed the plan of dividing his empire between his sons, the eldest Mahommed, called _Malik al-Kamil_, being his viceroy in Egypt, while al-Mu'azzam 'Isa governed Syria, al-Ashraf Musa his eastern and al-Malik al-Auhad Ayyub his northern possessions. His attitude towards the Franks was at the first peaceful, but later in his reign he was compelled to adopt more strenuous measures. His death occurred at Alikin (1218), a village near Damascus, while the Franks were besieging Damietta--the first operation of the Fifth Crusade--which was defended by al-Kamil, to whom his father kept sending reinforcements. The efforts of al-Kamil after his accession to the independent sovereignty were seriously hindered by the endeavour of an amir named Ahmed b. Mashtub to depose him and appoint in his place a brother called al-Fa'iz Sabiq al-din Ibrahim: this attempt was frustrated by the timely interposition of al-Mu'azzam 'Isa, who came to Egypt to aid his brother in February 1219, and compelled al-Fa'iz to depart for Mosul. After a siege of sixteen and a half months Damietta was taken by the Franks on Tuesday the 6th of November 1219; al-Kamil thereupon proclaimed the Jihad, and was joined at his fortified camp, afterwards the site of Mansura, by troops from various parts of Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia, including the forces of his brothers 'Isa and Musa. With these allies, and availing himself of the advantages offered by the inundation of the Nile, al-Kamil was able to cut off both the advance and the retreat of the invaders, and on the 31st of August 1221 a peace was concluded, by which the Franks evacuated Egypt.

For some years the dominions of al-'Adil remained divided between his sons: when the affairs of Egypt were settled, al-Kamil determined to reunite them as before, and to that end brought on the Sixth Crusade. Various cities in Palestine and Syria were yielded to Frederick II. as the price of his help against the son of Mu'azzam 'Isa, who reigned at Damascus with the title of Malik al-Nasir. About 1231-32 Kamil led a confederacy of Ayyubite princes against the Seljuk Kaikobad into Asia Minor, but his allies mistrusted him and victory rested with Kaikobad (see SELJUKS). Before Kamil's death he was mentioned in public prayer at Mecca as lord of Mecca (Hejaz), Yemen, Zabid, Upper and Lower Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia.

At his death (May 8th, 1238) at Damascus, his son Abu Bakr was appointed to succeed with the title _Malik al-'Adil Saif al-din_; but his elder brother Malik al-Salih Najm al-din Ayyub, having got possession of Damascus, immediately started for Egypt, with the view of adding that country to his dominions: meanwhile his uncle Isma'il, prince of Hamath, with the prince of Homs, seized Damascus, upon hearing which the troops of Najm al-din deserted him at Nablus, when he fell into the hands of Malik al-Nasir, prince of Kerak, who carried him off to that city and kept him a prisoner there for a time; after which he was released and allowed to return to Nablus. On the 31st of May 1240 the new sultan was arrested at Bilbeis by his own amirs, who sent for Najm al-din to succeed him; and on the 19th of June of the same year Najm al-din entered Cairo as sultan, and imprisoned his brother in the citadel, where he died in 1248. Meanwhile in 1244 Jerusalem had been finally wrested from the Franks. The administration of Najm al-din is highly praised by Ibn Khallikan, who lived under it. He made large purchases of slaves (Mamelukes) for his army, and when the inhabitants of Cairo complained of their lawlessness, he built barracks for them on the island of Roda (Rauda), whence they were called Bahri or Nile Mamelukes, which became the name of the first dynasty that originated from them. Much of his time was spent in campaigns in Syria, where the other Ayyubites allied themselves against him with the Crusaders, whereas he accepted the services of the Khwarizmians: eventually he succeeded in recovering most of the Syrian cities. His name is commemorated by the town of Salihia, which he built in the year 1246 as a resting-place for his armies on their marches through the desert from Egypt to Palestine. In 1249 he was recalled from the siege of Homs by the news of the invasion of Egypt by Louis IX. (the Seventh Crusade), and in spite of illness he hastened to Ushmum Tanna, in the neighbourhood of Damietta, which he provisioned for a siege. Damietta was taken on the 6th of June 1249, owing to the desertion of his post by the commander Fakhr ud-din, and the Banu Kinanah, to whom the defence of the place had been entrusted: fifty-four of their chieftains were afterwards executed by the sultan for this proceeding. On the 22nd of November the sultan died of disease at Mansura, but his death was carefully concealed by the amirs Lajin and Aktai, acting in concert with the Queen Shajar al-durr, till the arrival from Syria of the heir to the throne, _Turanshah_, who was proclaimed some four months later. At the battle of Fariskur, 6th of April 1250, the invaders were utterly routed and the French king fell into the hands of the Egyptian sultan. The Egyptian authorities now resolved to raze Damietta, which, however, was rebuilt shortly after. The sultan, who himself had had no share in the victory, advanced after it from Mansura to Fariskur, where his conduct became menacing to the amirs who had raised him to the throne, and to Shajar al-durr; she in revenge organized an attack upon him which was successful, fire, water, and steel contributing to his end.

(6) _Period of Bahri Mamelukes._--The dynasties that succeeded the Ayyubites till the conquest of Egypt by the Ottomans bore the title Dynasties of the Turks, but are more often called Mameluke dynasties, because the sultans were drawn from the enfranchised slaves who constituted the court, and officered the army. The family of the fourth of these sovereigns, Ka'a'un (Qala'un), reigned for 110 years, but otherwise no sultan was able to found a durable dynasty: after the death of a sultan he was usually succeeded by an infant son, who after a short time was dethroned by a new usurper.

After the death of the Sultan Turanshah, his step-mother at first was raised to the vacant throne, when she committed the administration of affairs to the captain of the retainers, Aibek; but the rule of a queen caused scandal to the Moslem world, and Shajar al-durr gave way to this sentiment by marrying Aibek and allowing the title sultan to be conferred on him instead of herself. For policy's sake, however, Aibek nominally associated with himself on the throne a scion of the Ayyubite house, Malik al-Ashraf Musa, who died in prison (1252 or 1254). Aibek meanwhile immediately became involved in war with the Ayyubite Malik al-Nasir, who was in possession of Syria, with whom the caliph induced him after some indecisive actions to make peace: he then successfully quelled a mutiny of Mamelukes, whom he compelled to take refuge with the last Abbasid caliph Mostasim in Bagdad and elsewhere. On the 10th of April 1257 Aibek was murdered by his wife Shajar al-durr, who was indignant at his asking for the hand of another queen: but Aibek's followers immediately avenged his death, placing on the throne his infant son _Malik al-Mansur_, who, however, was almost immediately displaced by his guardian _Kotuz_, on the plea that the Mongol danger necessitated the presence of a grown man at the head of affairs. In 1260 the Syrian kingdom of al-Nasir was destroyed by Hulaku (Hulagu), the great Mongol chief, founder of the Ilkhan Dynasty (see MONGOLS), who, having finally overthrown the caliph of Bagdad (see CALIPHATE, sect. c. § 37), also despatched a threatening letter to Kotuz; but later in the same year Syria was invaded by Kotuz, who defeated Hulagu's lieutenant at the battle of 'Ain Jalut (3rd of September 1260), in consequence of which event the Syrian cities all rose against the Mongols, and the Egyptian sultan became master of the country with the exception of such places as were still held by the Crusaders.

Rule of Bibars.

Abbasid caliphate revived.

Before Kotuz had reigned a year he was murdered at Salihia by his lieutenant Bibars (October 23rd, 1260), who was piqued, it is said, at the governorship of Aleppo being withheld from him. The sovereignty was seized by this person with the title of _Malik al-Qahir_, presently altered to _al-Zahir_. He had originally been a slave of Malik al-Salih, had distinguished himself at the battle after which Louis IX. was captured, and had helped to murder Turanshah. Sultan Bibars, who proved to be one of the most competent of the Bahri Mamelukes, made Egypt the centre of the Moslem world by re-establishing in theory the Abbasid caliphate, which had lapsed through the taking of Bagdad by Hulagu, followed by the execution of the caliph. Bibars recognized the claim of a certain Abu'l-Qasim Ahmed to be the son of Zahir, the 35th Abbasid caliph, and installed him as Commander of the Faithful at Cairo with the title _al-Mostansir billah_. Mostansir then proceeded to confer on Bibars the title sultan, and to address to him a homily, explaining his duties. This document is preserved in the MS. life of Bibars, and translated by G. Weil. The sultan appears to have contemplated restoring the new caliph to the throne of Bagdad: the force, however, which he sent with him for the purpose of reconquering Irak was quite insufficient for the purpose, and Mostansir was defeated and slain. This did not prevent Bibars from maintaining his policy of appointing an Abbasid for the purpose of conferring legitimacy on himself; but he encouraged no further attempts at re-establishing the Abbasids at Bagdad, and his principle, adopted by successive sultans, was that the caliph should not leave Cairo except when accompanying the sultan on an expedition.

The reign of Bibars was spent largely in successful wars against the Crusaders, from whom he took many cities, notably Safad, Caesarea and Antioch; the Armenians, whose territory he repeatedly invaded, burning their capital Sis; and the Seljukids of Asia Minor. He further reduced the Isma'ilians or Assassins, whose existence as a community lasted on in Syria after it had nearly come to an end in Persia. He made Nubia tributary, therein extending Moslem arms farther south than they had been extended by any previous sultan. His authority was before his death recognized all over Syria (with the exception of the few cities still in the power of the Franks), over Arabia, with the exception of Yemen, on the Euphrates from Birah to Kerkesia (Circesium) on the Chaboras (Khabur), whilst the amirs of north-western Africa were tributary to him. His successes were won not only by military and political ability, but also by the most absolute unscrupulousness, neither flagrant perjury nor the basest treachery being disdained. He was the first sultan who acknowledged the equal authority of the four schools of law, and appointed judges belonging to each in Egypt and Syria; he was thus able to get his measures approved by one school when condemned by another.

Kala'un.

On the 1st of July 1277 Bibars died, and the events that followed set an example repeatedly followed during the period of the Mamelukes. The sultan's son _Malik al-Sa'id_ ascended the throne; but within little more than two years he was compelled to abdicate in favour of his father-in-law _Kala'un_, a Mameluke who had risen high in the former sovereign's service. The accession of Kala'un was also marked by an attempt on the part of the governor of Damascus to form Syria into an independent kingdom, an attempt frequently imitated on similar occasions. The Syrian forces were defeated at the battle of Jazurah (April 26th, 1280) and Kala'un resumed possession of the country; but the disaffected Syrians entered into relations with the Mongols, who proceeded to invade Syria, but were finally defeated by Kala'un on the 30th of October 1281 under the walls of Homs (Emesa).

The conversion to Islam of Nikudar Ahmad, the third of the Ilkhan rulers of Persia, and the consequent troubles in the western Mongol empire, let to a suspension of hostilities between Egypt and the Ilkhans (see PERSIA: _History_, § B), though the latter did not cease to agitate in Europe for a renewal of the Crusades, with little result. Kala'un, without pursuing any career of active conquest, did much to consolidate his dominions, and especially to extend Egyptian commerce, for which purpose he started passports enabling merchants to travel with safety through Egypt and Syria as far as India. After the danger from the Mongols had ceased, however, Kala'un directed his energies towards capturing the last places that remained in the hands of the Franks, and proceeded to take Markab, Latakia, and Tripoli (April 26th, 1289). In 1290 he planned an attack on Acre, but died (November 10th) in the middle of all his preparations. Under Kala'un we first hear of the Burjite Mamelukes, who owe their name to the citadel (Burj) of Cairo, where 3700 of the whole number of 12,000 Mamelukes maintained by this sovereign were quartered. He also set an example, frequently followed, of the practice of dismissing all non-Moslems from government posts: this was often done by his successors with the view of conciliating the Moslems, but it was speedily found that the services of the Jewish and Christian clerks were again required. He further founded a hospital for clinical research on a scale formerly unknown.

Malik al-Nasir.

Mongol Wars.

Decline of the Bahri power.