Baybars I

Mamlūk sultan of Egypt and Syria (r. 1260-1277)

• Born: c. 1223
• Birthplace: Northern shore of the Black Sea
• Died: July 1, 1277
• Place of death: Damascus (now in Syria)

Through military prowess, administrative skill, courage, and practical good sense, Baybars rose from slavery to become the virtual founder and most eminent representative of the Mamlūk Dynasty in medieval Egypt.

Early Life

Baybars I (BAY-bahrz) was born in what is now southern Russia. A member of the tribe of Kipchak Turks living on the north shores of the Black Sea, Baybars was a victim of the Mongol invasion of his native region in the late 1230'. By the time he was fourteen, Baybars had become a prisoner of war; he was sold in the slave market in Sivas, Anatolia. Syrian merchants took Baybars deep into the Arab world, where he eventually became the property ofSŃāliḥ Najm al-Dīn Ayyūb, sultan of the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt.

This was a time of political fragmentation in the Arab world, following the breakup of the ՙAbbāsid Empire (750-1258) and the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols. Various local regimes, or principalities, had arisen in the void created by the collapse of the ՙAbbāsid state. The Ayyubids in Egypt, like other territorial princes, began to rely heavily on imported Turkish slave troops for their defense. It was for this purpose that Baybars was either sold or given to the sultan.

Sultan al-Salih sent Baybars off to an island in the Nile for military training. The adolescent Turk did well and, following graduation from a military academy and emancipation, was enrolled in the sultan's prestigious Bahriyya regiment. Baybars had found his place in life, and the events had been set in motion that would make him “the Napoleon of medieval Egypt.”

A double danger faced the Ayyubids in Egypt in the mid-thirteenth century. One threat was from the west, the other from the east. Both perils were military in nature. By sea, across the Mediterranean, came the French Crusaders. By land, across the steppes of Asia, came the Mongols. Both intruders had to be repelled if Muslim Egypt was to develop in security. As Napoleon Bonaparte later made his reputation by defending the French Revolution, so Baybars secured his fame by protecting Egypt from these two dangers.

Baybars's initial assignment was to repel a French invasion of Egypt. Since 1096, Crusaders from Western Europe had attempted to regain control of the Holy Land. While many European nations participated in the Crusades, the French kingdom often took the leadership. This was the case with the last of the two “traditional” Crusades, the Seventh and the Eighth. Both were undertaken by Louis IX of France (r. 1226-1270), a Catholic celebrated for his piety; they were occasioned by the loss of the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem to the Mongols in 1244. Louis was persuaded that the best way to liberate Jerusalem was not by means of a direct or frontal attack but by diversionary measures in Arab North Africa. These would distract Muslim attention from Jerusalem. Louis, as a matter of fact, would die in the second of these invasions of North Africa (at Tunis in 1270). His initial adventure in Arab Africa was almost equally fatal. Louis invaded the Ayyubid sultanate, taking Dumyat (Damietta) in the Nile Delta. At this juncture, the sultan turned to Baybars for help. The elite forces of the Ayyubid army, the Bahriyya, led by Baybars, defeated the French at Al-Manṣūrah in February, 1250. Louis was captured and was held by the Ayyubids for ransom. As a result, the reputation of Baybars was established, and the Ayyubid Dynasty was relieved of the danger of invasion.

Before Baybars could direct his attention toward the other danger, the Mongols, there was an internal crisis within the Ayyubid regime. Conscious of their own power, the mamlūk, or Turkish slave soldiers, with Baybars's cooperation, rose in revolt against the new Ayyubid sultan, Tūrān Shāh. Tūrān Shāh was murdered, and a period of confusion followed that was resolved when the first Mamlūk sultan, Aybak, came to power. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Baybars offended the first Mamlūk sultan and, like the Old Testament soldier David who offended his commander-king, Saul, he had to go into exile in 1254. For six years, Baybars was a “soldier of fortune” in Syria.

Baybars, however, was much too valuable a person for the Mamlūks not to employ. A new sultan, QutŃuz (d. 1260), invited him to return to Egypt in 1260. Baybars was restored to his rank in the Mamlūk army and was given a suitable income. Now he was assigned to the task of delivering Egypt from the Mongol threat. Baybars took his forces to the Holy Land, where he defeated a Mongol army at the Battle of Aīn Jalūt in 1260. Apparently, Baybars was disappointed when, following this victory, he was denied a suitable reward (it is thought that he wanted the city of Aleppo). During a quarrel that may have been occasioned by a Mongol slave girl, Baybars joined other officers in a palace coup; QutŃuz was assassinated. Thus, for the second time, Baybars had been involved in the murder of his master. The ambitious officer now became Baybars I, the fourth Mamlūk sultan. For all practical purposes, Baybars was the true founder of the Dawlat al-atrak (the dynasty of the Turks). Perhaps he had set a dangerous precedent in obtaining power by assassination. Other Turkish tribes, such as the Ottomans, however, used a similar procedure, the “law of strangulation,” whereby the most powerful of the sultan's sons ascended the throne after murdering his brothers. Baybars, however, proved able to maintain himself on the throne of Egypt.

Baybars ruled effectively because of his outstanding personal qualities. Known as a strict Muslim, Baybars, like the Prophet, was a man given to victory in battle and generosity in peace. Celebrated for his athletic ability, Baybars enjoyed hunting, polo, jousting, and archery. A man of courage, he inspired enormous loyalty among his followers and was capable of commanding great sacrifice from his soldiers. Though he came to power by assassination, Baybars ruled securely and retained the respect and obedience of his subordinates. Baybars came to be celebrated in the popular imagination as a “fair and able ruler.” He came to be known as the subject of a body of folk literature, the Sirat Baybars (thirteenth century; Life of Baybars, 1956). Thus, not only was Baybars a legend in his own lifetime but he also became an archetypal symbol of the just king for later generations.

Life's Work

Baybars was to be the greatest of the Mamlūk sultans. For seventeen years (1260-1277), he devoted himself to carrying out three great roles: warrior, ruler, and reformer.

Baybars's reign was dominated by war. One of the great military commanders of the Middle Ages, Baybars conducted thirty-eight campaigns in Syria, fought nine battles with the Mongols, and was involved in five major engagements with the Armenians. It is reported that Baybars took personal command of the army in fifteen battles. Because of the military requirements of his reign, Baybars was outside his capital city, Cairo, for almost half the time he was sultan. On twenty-six occasions, Baybars left Cairo, traveling more than sixty-six thousand miles.

The assignment Baybars faced as sultan was the same that he had received as a staff officer: to secure the safety of Egypt from both the Crusaders and the Mongols. He began by taking up the campaign against the Crusaders. From 1265 to 1271, Baybars conducted a war against the Crusaders in Palestine. As a result, Baybars forced the Knights Hospitallers to surrender Arsuf in 1265, and within a year Safad, which had been in the control of the Knights Templars, fell. Jaffa and Antioch were occupied by May, 1268, and within another three years the ultimate doom of the Crusaders was sealed. Their eventual expulsion from the Middle East had been assured.

Having secured his realm from French invasion, Baybars turned his attention eastward. While the Mongols were his main enemy, there were also other threats in Asia. From their bases in Iran, the Mongols had felt free to invade Syria. Baybars prevented this by refortifying Syria, attacking the Armenians (who had been allies of the Mongols), and waging unrelenting war on the Mongols. As a result, Syria was pacified, secured, and united to Egypt. Baybars also destroyed the power of a militantly anarchist Muslim sect, the Assassins of Syria, and was able to invade Anatolia, taking the city of Caesarea (now Kayseri) from the Seljuk Turks in 1276. Concurrently, campaigns were undertaken in Africa to guarantee the safety of Egypt. Expeditions southward to Nubia and westward into Libya both proved successful.

Many scholars have tried to explain the military success of Baybars. Eight factors are usually offered as reasons for his brilliance as a warrior. First, he had a very fine model: Baybars consciously chose to imitate Saladin. The founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt, Saladin (1138-1193) is regarded by many as the greatest Muslim military hero of all time. Baybars attempted to live up to the high standards of courage, courtesy, and character embodied by this great warrior. Second, Baybars had outstanding personal qualities and mental attitudes; he was an energetic man “who dominated events with an imperturbable optimism.” Third, he was committed to careful planning. Attention to detail meant that he left nothing to chance. To the extent that preparation made it possible, Baybars was in control of the situation.

Fourth, under his leadership Egypt was remilitarized and turned into an adequate base of operations. Fortifications were rebuilt; arsenals, warships, and merchant vessels were constructed. Fifth, Baybars's foresight, his sense of a world perspective, and his understanding of regional military realities enabled him to capitalize on Egypt's geographic location at the crossroads of the Middle East.

Sixth, Baybars relied on an excellent communications system. News came to him from all parts of his empire at least twice a week; more urgent matters were brought to the sultan's attention by means of carrier pigeons. Seventh, Baybars established a brilliant espionage system so that he was able to know in advance of his enemies’ moves. Eighth, perhaps the keystone in this entire arch of military brilliance was Baybars's talent as a field commander. He was able to make quick decisions, to command the unflinching loyalty of his troops, to furnish an example of personal courage and vitality, and to evoke love and respect from his supporters at home.

As a ruler, Baybars was known for achievement in several major areas. He maintained the strength of the military, for he realized that his power was based on the army. It was his decision to continue the already established pattern of recruiting Turkish slaves. An alliance with the Mongols of the Golden Horde in southern Russia made this possible.

Moreover, Baybars expanded the influence of Egypt. The annexation of Syria was one expression of this goal; the establishing of diplomatic relations with the various Mediterranean powers was another. Baybars's envoys were favorably received by Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in the Byzantine Empire, securing the grain trade and once more opening the Bosporus and the Black Sea to Egyptian navigation. Ambassadors were also sent to various courts, including those of Manfred of Sicily, Charles of Anjou (later king of Naples and Sicily), James I the Conqueror of Aragon, and Alfonso X of León and Castile. Such an aggressive foreign policy, coupled with Baybars's military brilliance, reestablished Egypt as the key state in the Arab world.

Baybars was clearly successful in legitimizing his regime. Here again, a comparison with Napoleon Bonaparte is helpful. As Napoleon invited the pope, the representative of a world faith, to attend his coronation, so Baybars won the endorsement of the caliphate for his government. In 1261, Baybars invited the exiled heir of the ՙAbbāsid caliphate to take up residence in Cairo. While the caliph lacked political power, he had enormous popular prestige and spiritual influence. Offering sanctuary to the spiritual leader of Islam was an act of absolute brilliance. It cost Baybars nothing, but it gained respectability for his government throughout the orthodox (Sunni) Muslim world. This prestige would endure until Egypt's defeat by the Ottoman Turks in 1515 and the concomitant removal of the caliphate from Cairo to Istanbul.

Baybars was a reformer. As a devout Muslim, he was persuaded that the very center of a society must be religious faith. Accordingly, the restoration of religion was a major aim of his regime. Among his many building projects was the great mosque complex in Cairo that was named in his honor. Baybars recognized all four schools of orthodox Islamic law Hanifite, Hanbalite, Shafite, and Malikite and appointed judges from each of these traditions to serve in his courts. A strict moralist, he prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol, commanded the giving of alms, facilitated the pilgrimage to Mecca, enforced the fast, and richly endowed Muslim schools and mosques. Baybars could not reform the principles of his religion, for he regarded them as ultimate and eternal, but he could promote the ardent practice of the faith. It is in that sense that Baybars was a genuine reformer.

One can only speculate as to the further extent of his accomplishments had Baybars not died prematurely on July 1, 1277, in Damascus; a poisoned cup intended for another had come to his hand. His body was buried at the al-Zahiriyah (national library) in Damascus, but his spirit lived on in the imagination of the Arab people.

Significance

In a time of fragmentation and confusion throughout the Muslim world, Baybars I was able to create a strong Arab state at the very heart of the Middle East. The real founder of the Mamlūk Dynasty, which survived not only his death but also the Turkish conquest in 1515, perishing finally with the arrival of Napoleon in Egypt in 1798, he brought stability and order to Egypt. A military genius, Baybars defended the Mideast against major adversaries from both the west and the east: the Crusaders and the Mongols. Had he not come to power, Egypt might have been carved up into Crusader kingdoms, as had been the case along the Levantine coast, or, worse still, the Mongols might have devastated not only Palestine and Syria but also the North African coast. It can be said, then, that Baybars was not simply the Napoleon of the Arab Middle Ages and the real founder of the Mamlūk Dynasty but a genuine savior of Egypt as a nation and as a culture.

Mamlūk Sultans, Baḥrī Line

Reign

• Ruler

1252-1257

• Aybak al-Turkumānī

1257-1259

• ՙAlī I

1259-1260

• Qutuz al-Muՙizzī

1260-1277

• Baybars I (defeats Mongols 1260)

1277-1279

• Baraka (Berke) Khān

1279

• Salāmish (Süleymish)

1279-1290

• Qalāwūn al-Alfī

1290-1293

• Khalīl

1291

• Fall of Acre

1293

• Baydarā (?)

1293-1294

• Muḥammad I

1294-1296

• Kitbughā

1296-1299

• Lāchīn(Lājīn) al-Ashqar

1299-1309

• Muḥammad I

1303

• Earthquake destroys Pharos lighthouse

1309-1310

• Baybars II al-Jāshnakīr (Burjī)

1310-1341

• Muḥammad I

1341

• Abū Bakr

1341-1342

• Kūjūk (Küchük)

1342

• Aḥmad I

1342-1345

• Ismāՙīl

1345-1346

• Shaՙbān I

1346-1347

• Ḥājjī I

1347-1351

• al-Ḥasan

1351-1354

• Ṣāliḥ

1354-1361

• al-Ḥasan

1361-1363

• Muḥammad II

1363-1377

• Shaՙbān II

1377-1382

• ՙAlī II

1382

• Ḥājjī II

1389-1390

• Ḥājjī II

Bibliography

Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. Mongols and Mamlūks: The Mamlūk-Ilkhanid War, 1260-1281. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. A detailed account and analysis of the conflict between the Mamlūk sultanate of Egypt and the Mongol state in Persia. Also explores the Battle of Aīn Jalūt and other military battles of the time. Maps, bibliography, index.

Ayalon, David. Studies on the Mamlūks of Egypt, 1250-1517. London: Variorum, 1977. A useful introduction to the slave dynasty in medieval Egypt. The volume is made up of addresses, essays, and lectures by the author. Bibliography, index.

Hitti, Philip K. History of the Arabs. 10th ed. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1974. This is still the standard text for the entire spectrum of Arab history. Includes illustrations, genealogical tables, maps, and bibliographical references.

Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974. A masterful history of the Muslim world, this work skillfully combines narrative and interpretation. Hodgson’s study begins with Islam’s classical age and ends with modern times. Bibliography, index.

Holt, P. M. Early Mamlūk Diplomacy, 1260-1290: Treaties of Baybars and Qalawun with Christian Rulers. New York: E. J. Brill, 1995. Presents a historical survey through source examples of the “diplomatic” relations between Baybars and Muslim Egypt with Christian rulers of Europe. Maps, bibliography, index.

Holt, Peter Malcolm, Ann K. S. Lambton, and Bernard Lewis, eds. The Cambridge History of Islam. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1977. This valuable survey of the history of Islam places the time of Baybars in context. Illustrations, maps, bibliographies.

Lane-Poole, Stanley. A History of Egypt in the Middle Ages. 1901. Reprint. New York: Haskell House, 1969. This classic work remains a comprehensive and valuable study. Part of the History of Egypt series. Illustrations, map, bibliography.

Lev, Yaacov, ed. The Medieval Mediterranean: Peoples, Economies and Cultures, 400-1453. Vol. 9 in War and Society in the Eastern Mediterranean, Seventh-Fifteenth Centuries. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill, 1997. Explores the world of the Crusades and other military encounters in the Middle East and the greater Mediterranean area, including Muslim Egypt up to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Topics include armaments and supplies, regional administration, and the impact of the Crusaders on rural populations. Good for a broad overview of a thousand-year history of military conflict between Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other peoples.

Muir, William. The Mameluke: Or, Slave Dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517 A.D. New York: AMS Press, 1973. With the work of Lane-Poole above, this book remains a standard survey of the Mamlūk era. Originally published in London in 1896. Includes illustrations.

Runciman, Steven. The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Vol. 2 in A History of the Crusades. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1951-1958. The definitive study of the Crusades by a respected British scholar. Illustrations, maps, and a genealogical table.

Von Grunebaum, Gustav Edmund. Classical Islam: A History, 600-1258. Translated by Katherine Watson. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1996. This excellent survey, first published in 1970, provides useful background on the Umayyad and ՙAbbāsid caliphates that set the stage for the “age of principalities,” in which Baybars was crucial.