The palace was built between 1330 and 1337 for amir
Qawsun (full name:
Sayf ad-Din Qawsun ibn Abdullah an-Nasiri as-Saqi) just north-west of
Cairo's Citadel, in an area outside the main walled city which was developed during the prosperous reign of
Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. This area was once home to many such palaces of amirs and other powerful Mamluks, but Qawsun's palace is one of the few remaining examples today (along with the nearby
Palace of Amir Taz). The sultan commissioned more than one such palace in this area for his favourite amirs, apparently as part of his wider building program to develop a monumental royal quarter in the Citadel (which contained the sultan's own palace, the
Qasr Ablaq, which overlooked the amirs' palaces below) and in the areas around it. Qawsun himself was one of the most powerful
amirs (commanders or high officials) under al-Nasir Muhammad and some of his successors, as well as al-Nasir's son-in-law. Another rival amir,
Sunqur Sa'di, had built a
madrasa and mausoleum for himself next to the site of Qawsun's palace in 1315–1321, but was later forced to leave Egypt after angering Qawsun. His structure still stands today and is also known as the
Mausoleum of Hasan Sadaqa, who was later buried there instead. In the late 15th century
Yashbak min Mahdi, a powerful amir under Sultan
al-Ashraf Qaytbay (1468–1496), restored and expanded Qawsun's palace for his own use, hence why it is also known today as the Palace of Yashbak. == Architecture ==