Al-Ashraf Sha'ban

Sha'ban
Al-Malik al-Ashraf
Sha'ban II copper fals coin from Hama. British Museum.
Sultan of Egypt
Reign 29 May 1363 – 15 March 1377
Predecessor Al-Mansur Muhammad
Successor Ali
Born 1353/54
Died 15 March 1377
(aged 23–24)
Burial Cairo
Issue Al-Mansur Ali
Abu Bakr
Ahmad
Ramadan
Qasim
Muhammad
Isma'il
As-Salih Hajji
Full name
Al-Malik al-Ashraf Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun
House Qalawuni
Dynasty Bahri
Father Al-Amjad Husayn
Religion Islam

Al-Ashraf Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as al-Ashraf Sha'ban or Sha'ban II, was a Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty in 1363–1377. He was a grandson of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–1341). He had two sons (out of a total of eight) who succeeded him: al-Mansur Ali and as-Salih Hajji.[1]

Biography

Early life and family

Sha'ban was born in 1353/54.[2] His father was al-Amjad Husayn (died 1363), a son of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–1341) who,[2] unlike many of his brothers, never reigned as sultan. Sha'ban's mother was Khawand Baraka (d. 1372), a former slave woman who married al-Amjad Husayn.[3] Sha'ban had four brothers, Anuk (d. 1390/91), Ibrahim, Ahmad and Janibak (d. 1428), and three sisters, Zahra (d. 1370), Shaqra (d. 1401) and Sara (d. 1432).[2]

Reign

In late May 1363, the Mamluk magnates, in effect the senior emirs, led by Emir Yalbugha al-Umari, deposed Sultan al-Mansur Muhammad on charges of illicit behavior and installed al-Ashraf Sha'ban, then ten years old, as his replacement.[4] Yalbugha and the emirs viewed al-Ashraf Sha'ban as a figurehead who would be easy to manage. Yalbugha maneuvered to become the effective regent of the sultan.[4] In December 1366, a number of senior emirs and Yalbugha's own mamluks launched a revolt against him.[5] At the start of the revolt, a significant number of Yalbugha's mamluks remained loyal to their master, but once al-Ashraf Sha'ban, who sought to rule in his own right, lent his support to the rebels, they too joined the revolt.[5]

After Yalbugha was captured and killed by his mamluks, al-Ashraf Sha'ban made a number of them emirs, but most were left without employment or a patron.[5] At that point, al-Ashraf Sha'ban had only 200 of his own mamluks, the relatively low number being attributed to his lack of real power during Yalbugha's regency.[6] By June 1367, Yalbugha's former mamluks had largely entered the services of Emir Asandamur an-Nasiri, who had neutralized his rival emirs.[7]

In late 1367, Asandamur and his newly-acquired mamluks moved against al-Ashraf Sha'ban, but were defeated.[8] The revolt was also supported by Emir Khalil ibn Qawsun, the son of former regent Emir Qawsun (d. 1342) and a daughter of an-Nasir Muhammad who had been appointed atabeg al-asakir (commander in chief) by al-Ashraf Sha'ban earlier that year.[9] Khalil had been promised the throne by Asandamur.[9] According to a contemporary Mamluk chronicler, al-Nuwayri al-Iskandarani, al-Ashraf Sha'ban was significantly assisted by the "common people", who killed many of the mamluk rebels, "making them bite the dust".[10] The support of the commoners was enlisted by al-Ashraf Sha'ban's loyalist commanders, emirs Asanbugha Ibn al-Abu Bakri and Qushtamur al-Mansuri, both of whom withdrew from the battle in Cairo and left the commoners to fight Asandamur's forces alone.[11] The commoners were able to turn the tide in favor of al-Ashraf Sha'ban's partisans, and the latter's emirs and Royal Mamluks returned to the battle,[11] defeated the rebels and arrested Asandamur.[8] Because of their loyalty and key support during the revolt, al-Ashraf Sha'ban treated the commoners well throughout his reign.[11]

Later, in 1373, survivors among Yalbugha's former mamluks, including the future sultan, Barquq, were allowed back to Cairo from exile to train al-Ashraf Sha'ban's mamluks.[12] In June/July 1373, conflict broke out between al-Ashraf Sha'ban and Emir Uljay al-Yusufi.[13] The commoners once again took up arms alongside al-Ashraf Sha'ban's loyalists.[11] After some eleven confrontations, al-Ashraf Sha'ban, using Emir Aynabak al-Yalbughawi as an intermediary, persuaded Uljay's emirs and lower-ranking mamluks to defect.[13] Uljay was killed that year.[14] In 1374, a famine set in within Egypt that would last two years. To mitigate the burden on his subjects, al-Ashraf Sha'ban undertook efforts to provide food for the poor, dividing the financial responsibility of the effort among his emirs and the well-to-do merchants of Cairo.[15]

In March 1376, al-Ashraf Sha'ban departed for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Once he left Egypt, Aynabak led a revolt of the Royal Mamluks and unemployed mamluks against the sultan.[13] Meanwhile, the Mamluk guard that accompanied al-Ashraf Sha'ban also rebelled against him.[16] Al-Ashraf Sha'ban attempted to flee, but he was later captured by the rebels at Aqaba.[17] In return for a promised promotion from Aynabak, Emir Jarkas as-Sayfi strangled and killed al-Ashraf Sha'ban in 1377.[16] The rebels installed one of al-Ashraf Sha'ban's sons, al-Mansur Ali, as his successor.

References

  1. ↑ Williams, pp. 16-17
  2. 1 2 3 Bauden, Frédéric. "The Qalawunids: A Pedigree" (PDF). University of Chicago. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  3. ↑ Al-Harithy, p. 332.
  4. 1 2 Steenbergen 2011, p. 437.
  5. 1 2 3 Steenbergen 2001, pp. 139–140
  6. ↑ Ayalon 2005, p. 63.
  7. ↑ Steenbergen 2001, p. 141.
  8. 1 2 Steenbergen 2011, pp. 142–143.
  9. 1 2 Levanoni 2006, p. 100.
  10. ↑ Steenbergen 2011, p. 143.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Levanoni 1995, pp. 111–112.
  12. ↑ Steenbergen 2011, p. 145.
  13. 1 2 3 Levanoni 1995, p. 103.
  14. ↑ Sabra, Adam (2000). Poverty and Charity in Medieval Islam: Mamluk Egypt, 1250-1517. Cambridge University Press. p. 51.
  15. ↑ Raphael, Sarah Kate (2013). Climate and Political Climate: Environmental Disasters in the Medieval Levant. Brill. p. 100.
  16. 1 2 Levanoni 1995, p. 104.
  17. ↑ Haarmann 1998, p. 68.

Bibliography

  • Levanoni, Amalia (1995). A Turning Point in Mamluk History: The Third Reign of Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad Ibn Qalāwūn (1310-1341). Brill. ISBN 9789004101821.
  • Levanoni, Amalia (2006). "Awlad al-nas in the Mamluk Army during the Bahri Period". In Wasserstein, David J.; Ayalon, Ami. Mamluks and Ottomans: Studies in Honour of Michael Winter. Routledge. ISBN 9781136579172.
  • Ayalon, David (2005). "Studies on the Structure of the Mamluk Army". In Hawting, Gerald R. Muslims, Mongols and Crusaders. Routledge.
  • Haarmann, Ulrich (1998). "Joseph's Law–The Careers and Activities of Mamluk Descendants before the Ottoman Conquest of Egypt". In Philipp, Thomas; Haarmann, Ulrich. The Mamluks in Egyptian Politics and Society. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521591157.
  • Al-Harithy, Howayda (2005). "Female Patronage of Mamluk Architecture in Cairo". In Sonbol, Amira El Azhary. Beyond The Exotic: Women's Histories In Islamic Societies. Syracuse University Press.
  • Northrup, Linda S. (1998). "The Bahri Mamluk sultanate". In Petry, Carl F. The Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1: Islamic Egypt 640-1517. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521068857.
  • Rabbat, Nasser O. (1995). The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mameluk Architecture. Brill. ISBN 9789004101241.
  • Steenbergen, Jo Van (2011). "On the Brink of a New Era? Yalbughā al-Khāṣṣakī (d. 1366) and the Yalbughāwīyah" (PDF). Mamluk Studies Review. Middle East Documentation Center, The University of Chicago. 15: 117–152.
  • Steenbergen, Jo Van (September 2011). "The Amir Yalbughā al-Khāṣṣakī, the Qalāwūnid Sultanate, and the Cultural Matrix of Mamlūk Society: A Reassessment of Mamlūk Politics in the 1360s". Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 131 (3): 423–443. JSTOR 41380710.
  • Caroline Williams, Richard Bordeaux Parker, Robin Sabin, Jaroslaw Dobrowolski, Ola Sei, Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide American Univ in Cairo Press, 2002 ISBN 977-424-695-0 ISBN 9789774246951
Regnal titles
Preceded by
al-Mansur Muhammad		 Mamluk Sultan
1363–1377		 Succeeded by
al-Mansur Ali
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