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b. ʿAbd Allāh (c’est-à-dire de père inconnu) al-Asadī (Mamlūk d’Asad al-dīn S̲h̲īrkūh), al-Rūmī, al-Malikī al-Nāṣirī, fonctionnaire d’al-Malik al-Nāṣir Yūsuf (c’est-à-dire de Saladin); il était eunuque, obtint de S̲h̲īrkūh sa liberté, et fut nommé amīr. A la mort de S̲h̲īrkūh (564/1169), il jouait déjà un rôle influent: c’est à lui et au ḳāḍī ʿĪsā al-Ḥakkārī qu’on doit la nomination de Saladin comme vizir par le calife al-ʿĀḍid. Après la victoire remportée sur le soulèvement que l’eunuque Muʾtaman al-k̲h̲ilāfa, maréchal de la cour, suscita à la …

S̲h̲araf al-dawla Abū l-Makārim, de la tribu arabe des ʿUḳaylides [ q.v.], fut le souverain le plus considérable de la grande dynastie bédouine au Proche-Orient; sous son règne, la lutte entre les Fāṭimides et les ʿAbbāsides pour la prédominance en Syrie et dans la Ḏj̲azirā se décida en faveur de ces derniers. En 433/1042, Muslim, âgé alors de 20 ans, fut élu, à la mort de son père Ḳurays̲h̲ b. Badrān, chef de la tribu et lui succéda comme maître de Mawṣil. Comme la plupart des princes arabes des pays de l…

, écrivain égyptien (né vers 1242/1826-7, m. 1898). Fils d’un griffīer nommé Yūsuf al-Ḥusaynī, il apprit tout jeune l’anglais, le français et le turc à l’École des Langues ( Madrasat al-Alsun) et fut nommé, dès l’âge de seize ans au service officiel de traduction ( ḳalam al-tard̲j̲ama). Son protecteur, Clot Bey, le fit nommer au Conseil de la Médicine ( Mad̲j̲lis al-ṭibb) en 1273/1856-7; après une série de postes, il entra en 1280/1863-4 au ministère de la Guerre ( dīwān niẓārat ʿumūm al-d̲j̲ihādiyya) et, cinq ans plus tard, au ministère de l’Intérieur ( dīwān al-dāk̲h̲iliyya); quelquesu…

, al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Abū l-Naṣr Sayf al-dīn al-Maḥmūdī al-Ẓāhirī, sultan d’Egypte et de Syrie (873-901/1468-96). Acheté comme esclave par Barsbày [ q.v.], affranchi par le sultan Ḏj̲aḳmaḳ, il fut garde du corps, puis dawādār ṣag̲h̲īr, c’est-à-dire secrétaire dans le bureau du grand- dawādār [voir Dawādār], puis amīr de dix mamlūks sous Ināl, amīr de ṭablak̲h̲āna (c’est-à-dire amīr ayant le droit d’avoir une fanfare avec lui) sous le sultan Ḵh̲us̲h̲ḳadam [ q.v.], inspecteur de la chambre des boissons, et bientôt après, commandant de 1 000 ( muḳaddam alf). En 872/1467-8, il fut raʾs n…

, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Sayf al-dīn, sultan d’Égypte, fut enrôlé parmi les Mamlūks du sultan Barḳūḳ. Il avança petit à petit jusqu’à ce qu’il devînt, sous le sultan Barsbay, premier chambellan (président du tribunal administratif), premier écuyer et enfin atabeg (chef d’armée). Barsbay le nomma à sa mort, en 842/1438, régent de son fils mineur al-Malik al-ʿAzīz Yūsuf. Les différents corps mamlūks qui avaient été constitués comme gardes du corps des sultans Barḳūḳ, Nāṣir Farad̲j̲, Muʾayyad S̲h̲ayk̲h̲ et Barsbay, rivalisaient entre eux et…

, al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Abu ’l-Naṣr Sayf al-dīn al-Maḥmūdī al-Ẓāhirī , sultan of Egypt and Syria (872/1468-901/1496), was purchased by Barsbāy [ q.v.], manumitted by Sultan Ḏj̲aḳmaḳ, became a life-guard, then Dawādār Ṣag̲h̲īr , i.e., assistant dawādār in the office of the Grand Dawādār [see dawādār ], then amīr of 10 Mamlūks under Īnāl [ q.v.], Ṭablak̲h̲āna ( i.e., amīr with the right to have a band accompanying him), under Sultan K̲h̲us̲h̲ḳadam [ q.v.], inspector of houses of refreshment and shortly afterwards commander of a thousand ( Muḳaddam Alf ). In 872/1467-8 he became Raʾs nawbat…

, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn al-Ṣāliḥī, the fourth Sulṭān of the Baḥrī Mamlūks [see baḥrī], was born in Kipčak in 620 (1223), later sold into Damascus, and in 644 (1246) was taken to Egypt by Sulṭān al-Ṣāliḥ Aiyūb and appointed commander of a section of his bodyguard. He distinguished himself, even in the lifetime of Ṣāliḥ. After the death of the latter in 647 (1249) his son Tūrān S̲h̲āh aroused such discontent among the Mamlūks that they murdered him. Baibars took part in this conspiracy and was taken ove…

S̲h̲araf al-Dawla Abu ’l-Makārim of the Arab family of the ʿUḳailids [see ʿoḳailids] was the most important ruler of the last great Arab dynasty in the Nearer East; during his reign the struggle between Fāṭimids and ʿAbbāsids for supremacy in Syria and Mesopotamia was decided in favour of the latter. In the year 433 (1042) the 20 year old Muslim was chosen chief of the tribe after the death of his father Ḳurais̲h̲ b. Badrān and succeeded him as ruler of Mōṣul. Like most Arab rulers of the lands of the Euphr…

(Baʿlabekk; called “Heliopolis” by the Greeks) chief town of a district in the province of Damascus, seat of a Ḳāʾimmaḳām, situated in the Syrian plateau of Biḳāʿ, famous for the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter erected by the Emperor Antoninus (138—161) on a broad terrace, the courts and propylaea of which Caracalla added, as well as for its Temple of Bacchus. The etymology of the name Baalbek has not been explained, according to the Greek designation “Heliopolis” it was the site of the cult of a…

, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Saif al-Dīn, Sulṭān of Egypt, was in his youth enrolled among the Mamlūks of Sulṭān Barḳūḳ. He gradually rose, till under Sulṭān Barsbey he became Chief Chamberlain (President of the Administrative Council), Chief Master of the Horse, and finally Atābeg (Commander-in-Chief). On his deathbed in 842 (1438), Barsbey appointed him regent for his infant son al-Malik al-ʿAzīz Yūsuf. The various divisions of the Mamlūks, originating in the bodyguards of the Sulṭāns Barḳūḳ, Nāṣir Farad̲j…

(from ḥad̲j̲aba, to prevent any one entering) is the name of the office of doorkeeper e. g. Ḥad̲j̲abat al-Bait (the doorkeepers of the Kaʿba, see Lane’s Lexicon). It corresponds to the office of chamberlain in our time. We may here mention the theoretical explanation of Ibn Ḵh̲aldūn that the chamberlain should protect the ruler from troublesome visitors so that he may remain undisturbed in his important labours. In the western kingdoms (e. g. in Cordova) he frequently became representative of the Caliph and chief of the …

(Aleppo). a. A Turkish wilāyet in Northern Syria, bounded on the N. W. and N. by the wilīyets of Adana and Siwās, in the N. E. by the wilāyet of Maʿmārīyat al-ʿAzīz, in the K. by the sand̲j̲aḳ of Dēr al-Ẓôr, in the S. by the wilāyet of Damascus and in the W. by the wilāyet of Bairūt and the Mediterranean Sea. The district presents no marked geographical features; it is divided into three liwā’s or sand̲j̲aḳ’s, a. Aleppo, with 24,000 square miles, 672,500 inhabitants; b. Marʿas̲h̲ [q. v.] and c. Urfa [q. v.] the whole wilāyet has an area of 36,000 square miles, 995,800 inhabitants (79…

, a) Abū Ṭālib Amīn al-Dawla, al-Ḥasan, the S̲h̲iʿī Ḳāḍī of Tripolis, who seized the reins of government towards the middle of the fifth century a. h. after the death of the Fāṭimid governor Muk̲h̲tār al-Dawla b. Bazzāl and made himself independent of the Egyptian caliph. The town flourished under his rule and became the centre of the intellectual life of Syria. He founded a celebrated school and a library said to have contained over 100,000 volumes. After his death his nephew Ḏj̲alal al-Mulk Abu ’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥamma…

(pronounced Ḥömṣ) is situated in the great Orontes plain of Central Syria, about a mile from the Orontes (Nahr al-ʿĀṣī) on a canal connected with it. The town, which has 50,000 inhabitants (of whom 15,000 are orthodox Greeks), is the capital of a Liwāʾ under a kāʾimmaḳām and belongs to the wilāyet of Damascus. It is connected by railway with Tripolis, with Ḥamā and Aleppo, and with Damascus via Rayāḳ. Ḥimṣ (called ‘Emesa’ by the Greeks and Romans; on the various forms see the article ‘Emesa’ in Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencycl.) is not one of the towns founded by the Seleucids; the town …

(from faraḍa “to impose”, so pronounced in the Egyptian dialect, while in the middle ages farḍ and more usually farīḍa was used) is an extraordinary imposition usually levied for some special purpose. Lane in his Manners and Customs (see below) says that Muḥammad ʿAlī Pas̲h̲a [q. v.] in the first half of the xixth century levied a firḍe of one twelfth of the income of each subject, without distinction of religion, up to a maximum of 500 piastres to meet the expense of increasing the army and navy. When this expenditure diminished, the tax was abolished. A similar firḍe was at the same time l…

, al-Malik al-Amd̲j̲ad, son of Farruk̲h̲ S̲h̲āh, son of S̲h̲āhāns̲h̲āh, son of Aiyūb, great-nephew of Saladin, received Baalbek [q, v.] from the latter on the death of his father in 1182 (578) and retained it on the division of the inheritance on the death of Saladin in 1193 (589). In 1226 (626) the ruthless As̲h̲raf Mūsā, lord of Damascus, demanded Baalbek back from him. Bahrām declined to give up his property but after a year’s siege was forced to exchange it for the small town of Zebdānī (betwe…

, (a contraction of d̲j̲āmah-dār, keeper of the wardrobe, see Dozy, Supplément, wrongly written d̲j̲amʾadār in Vuller’s lexicon), denoted a body of Mamlūks of the Sulṭān’s guard, who were perhaps employed in personal service at the court. They were divided into seven troops ( nōba) (see Ḵh̲alīl al-Ẓahīrī, Zubda, ed. Ravaisse, p. 116), Ḏj̲amdār is also the title of one of the higher ranks in the army in Hindustān, Balōčistān and Masḳat. (M. Sobernheim) Bibliography De Sacy, Chrestomathie, i. 135 ii. 185-186 Quatremère in Maḳrīzī, Histoire des Sultans Mamlouis, ia, 11.

(in the popular dialect pronounced “Ayās”), Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, is the most important Arab chronicler of the period of the decline of the Mamlūks. Born in 852 (1448) he seems to have been nearly 80 when he died, for his history comes down to the year 928. His family was of Turkish origin. His paternal grandfather, Iyās al-Fak̲h̲rī, a Turkish slave, called ‘min Ḏj̲unaid’ after his owner, was sold to Sulṭān Zāhir Barḳūḳ [q. v.], enrolled among his Mamlūks and reached the rank of second Dawādār. His great grandfather (his father’s maternal grandfather) had rise…

(also Ḏj̲andār) (p.) composed of d̲j̲ān weapon and dār “holding”, bodyguard: plural Ḏj̲āndārīya or Ḏj̲anādira. (Cf. Dozy, Supplément, s. v.). The Nōbat al-Ḏj̲āndārīya was in the Mamlūk and Marīnid kingdoms the bodyguard of the Sulṭān in his palace and on his journeys; it was their duty to conduct Amīrs to the Sulṭān at audiences or paying of homage, and with the dawādars and private secretary they took the mails from the couriers; they had to carry out sentences of imprisonment, torture and death by special command o…

The Ḥamdānids took their name from Ḥamdān b. Ḥamdūn, a member of the great tribe of Tag̲h̲lib (cf. his genealogy in Wüstenfeld’s Tabellen, C. 32). We find him as early as 272 (885) a close ally of the Ḵh̲ārid̲j̲ī Hārūn and a few years later in possession of the fortress of Mārdīn. When in 281 (894) the Caliph al-Muʿtaḍid advanced against this town, he found Ḥamdān no longer there; he had escaped, leaving his son Ḥusain [q. v.] behind. The latter opened the gates of the fortress of Dair al-Zaʿfarān to the Caliph, who soon afterwards captured Ḥamdān also. Cf. Ibn al-Muʿtazz in Lang, Muʿtadid ah Prin…

al-Nāṣirī, Sulṭān of Egypt under the name al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Abu ’l-Naṣr, was one of the Grand Dawādār Yes̲h̲bek’s Mamlūks; he is therefore also known as Ḏj̲ānbalāt min Yes̲h̲bek. [The placing of min between two proper names always denotes the relation of Mamlūk (the first proper name) to owner (the second proper name) and is identical with the personal nisba; thus, for example, Ibn Iyās calls the Amīr Ḏj̲akam indifferently Ḏj̲akam al-ʿIwaḍī and Ḏj̲akam min ʿIwaḍ. The copyists of the manuscripts no longer fully understood this meaning and thus a mist…

(a) in Muslim countries means: 1. the ¶ act of bestowing land which is not private property in return for taxes or tithes; 2. the act of giving the produce of land in place of or as a guarantee of payment on the part of the state treasury. Iḳṭāʿ may consist of: 1. the granting of a whole province as a fief to a governor (e. g. the granting of Egypt to Ibn Ṭūlūn by the Caliph on payment of tribute), as well as the granting of a few fields in return for tithe ( ʿus̲h̲r) or taxes ( k̲h̲arād̲j̲) or rent ( k̲h̲arād̲j̲-ud̲j̲ra) or a poll tax afterwards converted into k̲h̲arād̲j̲ (k̲h̲arād̲j̲-d̲j̲izya); 2. the a…

Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī, son of Malik al-As̲h̲raf S̲h̲aʿbān (see the art. s̲h̲aʿbān) of the line of Sulṭān Kalāʾūn, succeeded to the sulṭānate on the death of his brother ʿAlī as a boy of 6 in 783 (1381). Some months later he ¶ was deposed on Ramaḍān 19, 784 (Nov. 26. 1382) by the Atābeg Barḳūḳ, as the kingdom required a man and not a boy on the throne. Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī was sent back to the harem and Barḳūḳ, as had been arranged before, was appointed Sulṭān (on the events down to the restoration and second deposition of Sulṭān Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī see the art. barḳūḳ). In 791 (1389) Ḥād̲j̲d̲j̲ī, who was now…

, an Arab dynasty in Syria. The Mirdāsids took their name from the leader of the Beduin tribe of the Kilābīs, Ṣāliḥ b. Mirdās. We know nothing of Mirdās himself. On Ṣāliḥ cf the art. and on his successor S̲h̲ibl al-Dawla, the art.; for the other members of the dynasty cf. ḥalab. In the beginning of the fifth (eleventh) century the Kilābīs migrated from the ʿIrāḳ to the region of Aleppo. In 414 (1023) their leader Ṣāliḥ took the town. The dynasty, at first so strong, gradually became so feeble that its last representative Ṣābiḳ exchanged the town …

, Tād̲j̲ al-Mulūk, prince of Damascus, fought bravely and devotedly from his early youth at his father Ṭog̲h̲tegīn’s side, against the Crusaders. He succeeded him in 522 = 1128. The Ismāʿīlī sect [q. v.] managed to make their influence strong in Damascus through the Vizier Ṭāhir al-Mazdag̲h̲ānī; their representative Abu ’l-Wafā became almost more powerful than Būrī himself. The Ismāʿīlīs made an agreement with Ṭāhir to hand over Damascus to the Franks by a stratagem and receive Tyre in exchange. W…

al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Saif al-Dīn al-Nāhẓīrī (so called from his first master), Sulṭān of Egypt and Syria, reigned from 865—872 (1461 —1467). He was the first Sulṭān to come from the Sultanate of Rūm (in Asia Minor) which however many also say of Baibars II [q.v.] and Sulṭān Lād̲j̲in (696—698=1296—1298). Purchased as a slave by Sulṭān S̲h̲aik̲h̲ [q. v.] he was enrolled in the corps of Ḏj̲āmdārs [q. v]. Under S̲h̲aik̲h̲’s son Aḥmad, who reigned only a few months, he became a member of the bodyguard ( k̲h̲āṣṣkī) and only in the reign of Sulṭān Čāḳmaḳ [q. v.] did he become an amīr of 10…

, al-Malik al-Nāṣir Nāṣir al-Dīn, was the son of Sulṭān Barḳūḳ [q. v., i. 662 et seq.]. In S̲h̲awwāl 801 = June 1399 Barḳūḳ on his death-bed had homage paid to his thirteen year old son Farad̲j̲, appointed the Emīr Itmis̲h̲ Atabek and guardian, and the Emir Tag̲h̲rībardī his adviser and the father of the celebrated historian Abu ’l-Maḥāsin Yūsuf [q. v.] the chief weaponbearer. Itmis̲h̲ lived with the Sulṭān in the citadel and thereby aroused the jealousy of the other great Emirs who incited Farad̲j̲ after a few…

was born in Egypt in 1829, the son of a judge in the Court of Appeal, named Yūsuf al-Ḥasanī. When a boy he learned English, French and Turkish at the school of languages ( Madrasat al-Alsun) and when only 16 was given an appointment in the government translation bureau. His patron, the engineer Clot Bey, had him appointed to the Conseil de Médecine. In 1863 he entered the War Ministry and five years later the Ministry of the Interior. In 1879 the Khedive Tewfīḳ Pas̲h̲a appointed him to his civil cabinet and several times took him…

, al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf (min Ḳānṣūh al-G̲h̲ūrī) was the last of the Mamlūk ¶ Sulṭāns. He reigned from 14th Ramaḍān 922 (17th October, 1516) to 21st Rabīʿ I 923 (15th September, 1517). He was bought as a slave by the emīr Ḳānṣūh, afterwards the Sulṭān Ḳanṣūh al-G̲h̲ūrī [q.v.] to whom he was related, and given to Sulṭān Ḳāʾitbey [q. v.]. The latter had him trained in the class of clerical Mamlūks ( al-kitābīya). He was manumitted by Sulṭān Muḥammad al-Nāṣir II probably in the beginning of the year 902 (1496) and promoted to be d̲j̲amdār [q.v.]; a little later he entered the Sulṭān’s bodygu…

(Dawādār, Dawidār, Duwaidār, composed of dawāt or dawā and dār = inkpot-bearer, called diudar in the journals of European pilgrims) was the title of an official in the Mamlūk kingdom, who with the Ḏj̲āndar [q.v.] and the private secretary received the mails destined for the Sulṭān from the couriers, had all the Sulṭān’s letters signed by him and dispatched. He supervised the remuneration of the Mamlūks and had therefore the deciding vote in the assessment and allotment of the fiefs. The office of Amīr Dawādār al-Kabīr (Grand Dawādār) was at first held by a Mamlūk, who being a fo…

Abū ʿAlī Asad al-Dawla — see his genealogy in his biography in Ibn Ḵh̲allikān, transl. by de Slane, Paris 1842, i. 631 — was one of the most important Beduin chiefs of the Nearer East in the fifth century a. h. His tribe was the Kilābī, who migrated under his leadership northwards from the ʿIrāḳ to Aleppo in the beginning of the fourth century and gained him this principality (see the art. ḥalab). We know little of his character and private life but he seems to have been a brave and resolute man. He is mentioned for the first time in 399 (1008) as the ally of the ot…

, Abu ’l-Misk al-Ik̲h̲s̲h̲īdī, also al-Lait̲h̲ī or al-Sūrī, called al-Lābī in a poem by al-Mutanabbī after a place in Nubia, ruler of Egypt and Syria in the fourth century of the Hid̲j̲ra. Kāfūr was born in Nubia or Abyssinia between the years 291 (904) and 308 (320) (so greatly do the statements of the chronicles vary). The fact that he began life as a horribly ugly slave and rose to be ruler of Egypt and Syria and the celebrated patron of scholars and friend of al-Mutanabbī [q. v.], the greatest poet o…

al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn, was the second son of Sulṭān Ḳalāʾūn; his oldest brother is said to have been poisoned by him. As he lay under this suspicion and was also of an immoral and irreligious life (he was accused of pederasty and of drinking wine in Ramaḍān), Ḳalāʾūn could not bring himself to sign Ḵh̲alīl’s appointment as heir-apparent. Nevertheless he was regarded as successor to the throne and acclaimed Sulṭān on Ḳalāʾūn’s death in 689 (1290). His first official act was to dismiss th…

, originally called Ḥiṣn al-Safḥ, ‘castle on the slope’, see van Berchem, Journ. Asiat., 1902, p. 446 sq., now often pleonastically called Ḳalʿat al-Ḥiṣn, is situated on the plateau of al-Buḳaiʿa, which is bounded on the south by Ḏj̲ebel ʿAkkār and Lebanon, on the north by the Nuṣairī hills. It is the official residence of a ḳāʿimmaḳām. It takes its name ‘castle of the Kurds’ from a Kurdish garrison established there by S̲h̲ibl al-Dawla Naṣr, king of Aleppo, in the first half of the fifth century a. h., who were granted the surrounding lands and forests in fief on condition that t…

is the name given to a dynasty which ruled independently in Damascus as Atābegs (governors of the Sald̲j̲uḳ Sulṭāns) from 503—549=1109—1154. Tog̲h̲tegīn, the founder of the dynasty, was Atābeg from 497—503 = 1103—1109 for Duḳāḳ the infant son of the Sald̲j̲uḳ prince and afterwards for Duḳāḳ’s brother Baktās̲h̲; the dynasty is called after Tog̲h̲tegīn’s son Būrī [q. v.]. Its last ruler was Būrī’s grandson Mud̲j̲īr al-Dīn Abaḳ (534—549 = 1139—1154), an incapable and suspicious tyrant; he had put …

was the name given to the Mamlūks purchased by the Aiyūbid Sulṭān Ṣāliḥ Aiyūb [q. v.], whom he kept in barracks on Rōḍa, an island in the Nile (Baḥr). His widow S̲h̲ad̲j̲ar al-durr married the Mamlūk Aibak, who ascended the throne as the first of the Baḥrīs in the year 1250 (648). Among the Baḥrīs the family of Ḳalāūn took the premier position; they ruled with short intervals from 1279—1382 (678—784) and were deposed by the Burd̲j̲ī Mamlūk Barḳūḳ. (M. Sobernheim)

Saif al-Dīn, S̲h̲aik̲h̲ al-Maḥmūdī (so-called after his first owner) al-Ḵh̲āṣṣkī (member of the bodyguard), a Circassian by birth, was brought as a slave to Cairo and purchased by the Atābeg Barḳūḳ. When the latter became Sulṭān in 784 (1382) he gave him his freedom, put him in the corps of pages ( d̲j̲amdār, q. v.), moved him to the corps of cup-bearers ( sāḳī, q. v.) and later appointed him to the bodyguard ( k̲h̲āṣṣkī, whence his nickname). Barḳūḳ’s son, Nāṣir Farad̲j̲ [q.v.], on his accession in 801 (1399) appointed him emīr of a thousand and in the following year…

al-Dawla Naṣr b. Ṣāliḥ b. Mirdās of the family of Mirdāsids (see the account of them in the article on the history of Aleppo [ḥalab, ii., p. 230] and also the article mirdās b. Ṣāliḥ), inherited the town of Aleppo after the death of his father Ṣāliḥ in the battle of Uḳk̲h̲uwāna on the Jordan in 420 (1029) while his brother T̲h̲imāl received the citadel. Naṣr has won a place in history by his victories over the Byzantines in the defence of the’ northern marches. After Ṣāliḥ’s death the Byzantine governor Spondīl (not Niketas as t…

was the name applied to the Mamlūk corps of Mongols and Circassians founded by Sulṭān Ḳalāūn and quartered in the towers of the citadel ( burd̲j̲) of Cairo. From the time of Sulṭān Barḳūḳ (784—801 = 1382—1398) the Sulṭāns were chosen from their ranks; Baibars II [q. v.] was the first Burd̲j̲ī Mamlūk to occupy the throne of Egypt. Their last ruler Tumān Bey was executed in 1517 (922) by the Ottoman Sulṭān Selīm. (M. Sobernheim) ¶

(also called Ḥamāt or Epiphania) is built on both sides of the Orontes (Nahr al-ʿĀṣī); the larger part of the town lies on the left bank (cf. Plan), which in places rises as high as 120 feet above the river. Three bridges connect the two sides. No traces remain of the mediaeval citadel and only a mound of ruins marks the site of the palace. Their stones are said to have been used to build the palace of the family of ʿAbd al-Ḳādir al-Gīlānī which immigrated from Bag̲h̲dād; In this palace and also in that of the palace of the ʿAdm family there are two fine ḳāʿa (rooms built for the hot season) ornamen…

, 1. A Mamlūk of Saif al-Dawla the ruler of Aleppo, vizier of his son Saʿd al-Dawla and his grandson Saʿīd al-Dawla. On the latter’s assassination, he became guardian of his sons and from 394—400 (1003 —1009) independent governor of Aleppo under Fāṭimid suzerainty; cf. the article hamdanids where the bibliography also is given. 2. A eunuch and the trusted adviser of the Sald̲j̲ūḳ Sulṭān Riḍwān of Aleppo; on the latter’s death in 507 (1113) he became Atābeg of his son Alp Arslān al-Ak̲h̲ras (lit. “the dumb”, so called on account of an impediment in …

, al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Saif al-Dīn, Sulṭān of Egypt, was enrolled among the Mamlūks of Sulṭān Barḳūḳ, under Muʾaiyad S̲h̲aik̲h̲ (1412—1421 = 815—824) Governor of Tripolis; on the latter’s death he was imprisoned, but was soon released by Sulṭān Ṭaṭar and appointed Dawādār and tutor to his son. Ṭaṭar died soon afterwards, having previously appointed Karsbey and Ḏj̲ānibey al-Ṣūfī, regents for his son who was still a minor. After disposing of Ḏj̲ānībey — he was thrown into prison in Alexandria — Barsbe…

al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf, a Mamlūk Sulṭān, was chosen Sulṭān on S̲h̲aʿbān 15, 764 (May 30,1363), through the influence of the all-powerful Atabeg Yelbog̲h̲ā al-ʿUmarī when only ten years old. His father Ḥusain was passed over because the ambitious Atabeg Yelbog̲h̲ā wished to rule himself and therefore preferred the ten-year-old son, the grandson of Muḥammad al-Nāṣir. His reign was marked by frequent attacks by Frankish fleets on Mamlūk seaports like Alexandria and Tripolis in Syria. For example at th…

b. Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn, born in 250 (864) was appointed by his father Aḥmad his deputy in Egypt as early as 269 (882). Before his death, while on a campaign in North Syria, Aḥmad at the request of his generals, designated Ḵh̲umārawaih as his successor and died shortly after in Ḏh̲u ’l-Ḳaʿda 270 (May 884). His older son ʿAbbas had previously rebelled against him and was regarded as cruel and untrustworthy. On his deathbed Aḥmad had shown an inclination to make peace with Muwaffaḳ, the all-powerful brothe…

(also called Bičmāḳdār or Bas̲h̲māḳdār) from the Turkish d̲j̲umāḳ, bičmāk and ¶ the Persian dār, “mace-bearer”, a court official who entered at the side of the Sulṭān on occasions of great ceremony and protected him with a mace held aloft. According to Ḵh̲alīl al-Ẓāhirī, Zubda (ed. Ravaisse), p. 116 there were 40 macebearers in all. (M. Sobernheim) Bibliography Quatremère in Maḳrīzī, Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks, ia. 138.

, al-Malik al-As̲h̲raf Saif al-Dīn al-ʿAlāʾī (so called from his first owner) al-hẓāhirī (after Sulṭān al-Malik al-Ẓāhir, Barḳūḳ, q. v.) al-Ad̲j̲rūd (the beardless), Sulṭān of Egypt and Syria, reigned from 857—865 = 1453—1460. Purchased as a slave by Sulṭān Barḳūḳ he entered his Mamlūk corps. His son Sulṭān al-Nāṣir Farad̲j̲ [q. v.] set him free and enrolled him in the corps of the Ḏj̲amdār [q. v.]. Under Sulṭān al-Muʾaiyad S̲h̲aik̲h̲ he became k̲h̲āṣṣikī (a member of the body guard) and on the latter’s death, amīr of 10 Mamlūks. He rose to higher offices under Sulṭ…

S̲h̲araf al-Dīn Īsā b. Malik al-ʿĀdil b. Aiyūb was born in 576 (1180). In 597 (1200) he became governor for his father al-Malik al-ʿĀdil [q.v.] in Damascus and next year was besieged by Saladin’s sons Ẓāhir and Afḍal in course of the dispute about the succession between them and ʿĀdil. ʿĀdil came as far as Nāblus with his army but could not relieve Damascus so that its fall was imminent. Then a quarrel broke out between the brothers as to who was to get Damascus. The majority of the emirs in the army m…

Nad̲j̲m al-Dīn Aiyūb, the eldest son of al-Malik al-Kāmil Muḥammad, son of al-Malik al-ʿĀdil Abū Bakr, son of Aiyūb, was born in 603 (1207). His father designated him successor in 625 (1228) and made him his representative in Egypt, while he was away on his campaigns in Syria. At this time (Rabīʿ I, 626 = February, 1229) al-Kāmil ceded Jerusalem to the Emperor Frederick for ten years. The relations between Aiyūb and his father were disturbed in 628 (1231) by the slanders of one of al-Kāmil’s wives…

, a dynasty of rulers of Egypt and Syria. a. Period from 1250 to 1517. The history of this dynasty is dealt with under the separate rulers; the general questions of art, religion and economics of their time are also dealt with in these articles and notably in Becker’s article egypt [q. v]. and Hartmann’s article damascus [q. v.]. Only a brief survey of the whole period is given here. They were, as their name shows [cf. mamlūk], former slaves from the bodyguards of the sulṭāns and amīrs who had distinguished themselves by ability and been given their freedom by their mast…

al-malik al-kāmil, a Mamlūk Sulṭān, son of al-Malik al-Nāṣir Muḥammad [q.v.], brother of al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ Ismāʿīl [q. v.], ascended the throne on Rabīʿ II 4, 746 (Aug. 4, 1345), after having won over during the illness of his brother the emīrs of influence, notably his step-father, the Emīr Arg̲h̲ūn al-ʿAlāʾī. He is said to have used threats as to what he would do to them if not elected. He forced his brother’s widow to marry him and soon after also married the daughter of another Emīr and, inde…