Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي; c. 1416/1418 – 7 August 1496) ruled the Mamluk Sultanate from 1468 to 1496 (872–901 AH in the Islamic calendar).
Born~Died 1416 ~ Aug 8, 1496Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 3:24 PM
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay1 (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي; c. 1416/1418 – 7 August 1496) ruled the Mamluk Sultanate from 1468 to 1496 (872–901 AH in the Islamic calendar).
Qaitbay was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by sultan Barsbay (1422–1438) before being freed by Barsbay's successor Jaqmaq (1438–1453).
A veteran of sixteen campaigns, Qaitbay was also a great patron of architecture. He commissioned building projects in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and in every quarter of Cairo and endowed the religious works with waqfs. He was also known for his piety.2
Biography
Early life
Qaitbay was born between 1416 and 1418 in Circassia in the Caucasus. Skilled in archery and horsemanship, he was enslaved (see Black Sea slave trade) and taken to Cairo around 1440. He was quickly purchased by the reigning sultan Barsbay and assigned to the palace guard.
Barsbay's successor Jaqmaq emancipated Qaitbay after learning that he was a descendant of the Ayyubid Emir of Damascus (d. 1237). Jaqmaq then appointed the freed Qaitmat third executive secretary.
This page is based on “Qaitbay” from English Wikipedia, (r1364913408) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
Under the sultans Sayf ad-Din Inal, Khushqadam and Yilbay, Qaitbay was further promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy. He eventually achieved the rank taqaddimat alf, commander of 1,000 Mamluks. Under the Sultan Timurbugha, finally, Qaitbay was appointed atabak, or field marshal, of the entire Mamluk army.3 Qaitbay amassed a considerable personal fortune which as sultan he would use for charitable endowments.4
Accession
The reign of Timurbugha lasted less than two months; he was deposed in a palace coup on 30 January 1468.5 Qaitbay was proposed as a compromise candidate to replace Timurbugha, who would be acceptable to the various court factions. He was made Sultan on 31 January.
Qaitbay insisted that Timurburgha be granted an honorable retirement instead of the enforced exile usually imposed on the deposed. He did exile the leaders of the coup that had removed Timurburgha, and he created a new ruling council made up of his own supporters as well as experienced advisors who had fallen out of favor.6Yashbak 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. Qaitbay would typically appoint rivals to posts of equivalent authority, thus preventing any single subordinate from acquiring too much power while he held the authority to settle any disputes himself.7
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. The first expedition against the upstart was soundly defeated, and Suwar threatened to invade Syria. A second Mamluk army under Azbak, was likewise defeated in 1469. 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.8
Qaitbay's reign was also marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities. Excavations in the late 1800s and early 1900s at over fourteen sites in the vicinity of Borama in modern-day northwestern Somalia unearthed, among other things, coins identified as having been derived from Qaitbay.9 Most of these finds are associated with the medieval Sultanate of Adal,10 and were sent to the British Museum in London for preservation shortly after their discovery.9
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.11
In 1480 Yashbak led an army against the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia, but was soundly defeated while attacking Urfa, taken prisoner, and executed.12 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 surprising 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. As the concomitant Ottoman expansion in the western Mediterranean represented an increased threat to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon made a temporary alliance with the Mamluks against the Ottomans from 1488 until 1491, shipping wheat and offering a fleet of 50 caravels against the Ottomans.13
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.14
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 8 August 1496 and was interred in the spectacular mausoleum attached to his mosque in Cairo's Northern Cemetery, which he had built during his lifetime. He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Muhammad (not to be confused with the famed 14th-century sultan of the same name).15
Family
One of his wives was the daughter of Sultan Sayf ad-Din Inal.16 Another consort was Khawand Aṣalbāy, a Circassian,17 who was his slave concubine rather than his wife,18 and sister of Sultan Abu Sa'id Qansuh. She was the mother of his son, Sultan Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad. After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultan Al-Ashraf Janbalat.16 Another wife was Khawand Fatima, the daughter of Ala al-Din Ali bin Ali bin Al-Khassbak.17 She was the mother of Ahmed (1462–1468) and Sitt al-Jarakisa (1464–1468).1920 After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultans Tuman bay I16 and Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri.21 She died on 6 June 1504.17 Another wife was Khawand Zaynab.22
Legacy
Qaitbay's reign has traditionally been seen as the "happy culmination" of the Burji Mamluk dynasty.23 It was a period of unparalleled political stability, military success, and prosperity, and Qaitbay's contemporaries admired him as a defender of traditional Mamluk values. At the same time, he may be criticized for his conservatism, and for his failure to innovate in the face of new challenges.24 Following Qaitbay's death, the Mamluk state descended into a prolonged succession crisis lasting for five years until the accession of Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri.25
Architectural patronage
Qaitbay is perhaps best known for his wide-ranging architectural patronage, which was second only to al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun.26 At least 230 monuments, either surviving or mentioned in contemporary sources, are associated with his reign. In Egypt, Qaitbay's buildings are found throughout Cairo, as well as in Alexandria and Rosetta; in Syria he sponsored projects in Aleppo and Damascus; in addition, he was responsible for the construction of madrasas and fountains in Jerusalem and Gaza, which still stand – most notably the Fountain (sabil) of Qayt Bay and al-Ashrafiyya Madrasa. On the Arabian peninsula, Qaitbay sponsored the restoration of mosques and the construction of madrasas, fountains and hostels n Mecca and Medina – most notably the Madrasa of Qaitbay and its minaret in Mecca built in 1477–80.27 After a serious fire struck the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina in 1481, the building, including the Tomb of the Prophet, was extensively renewed through Qaitbay's patronage.28
Qaitbay is mentioned in Ethiopic sources30 as አሽሪፍ (Ashrif) and እልአሽሪፍ (El-Ashrif) a cruel ruler who destroyed the famous church of Dayr al-Magtas (ደብረ ምጥማቅ). Hearing the news of the church's destruction the Ethiopian ruler Zara Yaqob built another church in Ethiopia to console the sorrow of the Egyptian bishop Michael who served in the church before he was sent to Ethiopia by the Coptic Patriarchate. The Ethiopic source accurately describes the political instability of Qaitbay's rule in the final days.31
Sources
Stefano Carboni, Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 (New Haven, 2007).
J.-C. Garcin, "The regime of the Circassian Mamluks," in C.F. Petry, ed., The Cambridge History of Egypt I: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 (Cambridge, 1998), 290–317.
A. W. Newhall, The patronage of the Mamluk Sultan Qā’it Bay, 872–901/1468–1496 (Diss. Harvard, 1987).
Petry, C. F. (1993). Twilight of Majesty: the reigns of the Mamlūk Sultans al-Ashrāf Qāytbāy and Qānṣūh al-Ghawrī in Egypt. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 36–43. ISBN 9780295973074.
Keddie, N. R.; Baron, B. (2008). Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender. Yale University Press. p. 134, 141 n. 41. ISBN 978-0-300-15746-8. ↩↩2↩3
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. 279. ISBN 978-90-04-13286-3. ↩
Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 43, 60, 75, 106, 206, 247. ISBN 9789774168550. ↩
Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay1 (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي; c. 1416/1418 – 7 August 1496) ruled the Mamluk Sultanate from 1468 to 1496 (872–901 AH in the Islamic calendar).
Qaitbay was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by sultan Barsbay (1422–1438) before being freed by Barsbay's successor Jaqmaq (1438–1453).
A veteran of sixteen campaigns, Qaitbay was also a great patron of architecture. He commissioned building projects in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and in every quarter of Cairo and endowed the religious works with waqfs. He was also known for his piety.2
Biography
Early life
Qaitbay was born between 1416 and 1418 in Circassia in the Caucasus. Skilled in archery and horsemanship, he was enslaved (see Black Sea slave trade) and taken to Cairo around 1440. He was quickly purchased by the reigning sultan Barsbay and assigned to the palace guard.
Barsbay's successor Jaqmaq emancipated Qaitbay after learning that he was a descendant of the Ayyubid Emir of Damascus Al-Ashraf Musa (d. 1237). Jaqmaq then appointed the freed Qaitmat third executive secretary.
Under the sultans Sayf ad-Din Inal, Khushqadam and Yilbay, Qaitbay was further promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy. He eventually achieved the rank taqaddimat alf, commander of 1,000 Mamluks. Under the Sultan Timurbugha, finally, Qaitbay was appointed atabak, or field marshal, of the entire Mamluk army.3 Qaitbay amassed a considerable personal fortune which as sultan he would use for charitable endowments.4
Accession
The reign of Timurbugha lasted less than two months; he was deposed in a palace coup on 30 January 1468.5 Qaitbay was proposed as a compromise candidate to replace Timurbugha, who would be acceptable to the various court factions. He was made Sultan on 31 January.
Qaitbay insisted that Timurburgha be granted an honorable retirement instead of the enforced exile usually imposed on the deposed. He did exile the leaders of the coup that had removed Timurburgha, and he created a new ruling council made up of his own supporters as well as experienced advisors who had fallen out of favor.6Yashbak 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. Qaitbay would typically appoint rivals to posts of equivalent authority, thus preventing any single subordinate from acquiring too much power while he held the authority to settle any disputes himself.7
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. The first expedition against the upstart was soundly defeated, and Suwar threatened to invade Syria. A second Mamluk army under Azbak, was likewise defeated in 1469. 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.8
Qaitbay's reign was also marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities. Excavations in the late 1800s and early 1900s at over fourteen sites in the vicinity of Borama in modern-day northwestern Somalia unearthed, among other things, coins identified as having been derived from Qaitbay.9 Most of these finds are associated with the medieval Sultanate of Adal,10 and were sent to the British Museum in London for preservation shortly after their discovery.9
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.11
In 1480 Yashbak led an army against the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty in Northern Mesopotamia, but was soundly defeated while attacking Urfa, taken prisoner, and executed.12 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 surprising 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. As the concomitant Ottoman expansion in the western Mediterranean represented an increased threat to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon made a temporary alliance with the Mamluks against the Ottomans from 1488 until 1491, shipping wheat and offering a fleet of 50 caravels against the Ottomans.13
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.14
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 8 August 1496 and was interred in the spectacular mausoleum attached to his mosque in Cairo's Northern Cemetery, which he had built during his lifetime. He was succeeded by his son, an-Nasir Muhammad (not to be confused with the famed 14th-century sultan of the same name).15
Family
One of his wives was the daughter of Sultan Sayf ad-Din Inal.16 Another consort was Khawand Aṣalbāy, a Circassian,17 who was his slave concubine rather than his wife,18 and sister of Sultan Abu Sa'id Qansuh. She was the mother of his son, Sultan Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad. After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultan Al-Ashraf Janbalat.16 Another wife was Khawand Fatima, the daughter of Ala al-Din Ali bin Ali bin Al-Khassbak.17 She was the mother of Ahmed (1462–1468) and Sitt al-Jarakisa (1464–1468).1920 After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultans Tuman bay I16 and Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri.21 She died on 6 June 1504.17 Another wife was Khawand Zaynab.22
Legacy
Qaitbay's reign has traditionally been seen as the "happy culmination" of the Burji Mamluk dynasty.23 It was a period of unparalleled political stability, military success, and prosperity, and Qaitbay's contemporaries admired him as a defender of traditional Mamluk values. At the same time, he may be criticized for his conservatism, and for his failure to innovate in the face of new challenges.24 Following Qaitbay's death, the Mamluk state descended into a prolonged succession crisis lasting for five years until the accession of Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri.25
Architectural patronage
Qaitbay is perhaps best known for his wide-ranging architectural patronage, which was second only to al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun.26 At least 230 monuments, either surviving or mentioned in contemporary sources, are associated with his reign. In Egypt, Qaitbay's buildings are found throughout Cairo, as well as in Alexandria and Rosetta; in Syria he sponsored projects in Aleppo and Damascus; in addition, he was responsible for the construction of madrasas and fountains in Jerusalem and Gaza, which still stand – most notably the Fountain (sabil) of Qayt Bay and al-Ashrafiyya Madrasa. On the Arabian peninsula, Qaitbay sponsored the restoration of mosques and the construction of madrasas, fountains and hostels n Mecca and Medina – most notably the Madrasa of Qaitbay and its minaret in Mecca built in 1477–80.27 After a serious fire struck the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina in 1481, the building, including the Tomb of the Prophet, was extensively renewed through Qaitbay's patronage.28
Qaitbay is mentioned in Ethiopic sources30 as አሽሪፍ (Ashrif) and እልአሽሪፍ (El-Ashrif) a cruel ruler who destroyed the famous church of Dayr al-Magtas (ደብረ ምጥማቅ). Hearing the news of the church's destruction the Ethiopian ruler Zara Yaqob built another church in Ethiopia to console the sorrow of the Egyptian bishop Michael who served in the church before he was sent to Ethiopia by the Coptic Patriarchate. The Ethiopic source accurately describes the political instability of Qaitbay's rule in the final days.31
Sources
Stefano Carboni, Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797 (New Haven, 2007).
J.-C. Garcin, "The regime of the Circassian Mamluks," in C.F. Petry, ed., The Cambridge History of Egypt I: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517 (Cambridge, 1998), 290–317.
A. W. Newhall, The patronage of the Mamluk Sultan Qā’it Bay, 872–901/1468–1496 (Diss. Harvard, 1987).
Petry, C. F. (1993). Twilight of Majesty: the reigns of the Mamlūk Sultans al-Ashrāf Qāytbāy and Qānṣūh al-Ghawrī in Egypt. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 36–43. ISBN 9780295973074.
Keddie, N. R.; Baron, B. (2008). Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender. Yale University Press. p. 134, 141 n. 41. ISBN 978-0-300-15746-8. ↩↩2↩3
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. 279. ISBN 978-90-04-13286-3. ↩
Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 43, 60, 75, 106, 206, 247. ISBN 9789774168550. ↩