Baybars was a
Kipchak thought to be born in the
steppe region north of the
Black Sea, or
Dasht-i Kipchak at the time. There is a discrepancy in
Ibn Taghrībirdī's dating of his birth, since he says it took place in 625 AH (12 December 1227 – 29 November 1228) and also that Baybars was about 24 years old in 1247, which would put his birth closer to 1223. He belonged to the Barli tribe. According to a fellow Cuman and eyewitness, Badr al-Din Baysari, the Barli fled the armies of the
Mongols, intending to settle in the
Second Bulgarian Empire (named in the sources
Wallachia). They crossed the
Black Sea from either
Crimea or
Alania, where they had arrived in Bulgaria in about 1242. In the meantime, the
Mongols invaded Bulgaria, including the regions where the Cuman refugees had recently settled. Both Baybars, who witnessed his parents being massacred,
Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565) counted him among
Ibn 'Arabi's students.
Rise to power . In 1250, he supported the defeat of the
Seventh Crusade of
Louis IX of France in two major battles. The first was the
Battle of Al Mansurah, where he employed an ingenious strategy in ordering the opening of a gate to let the crusader knights enter the town; the crusaders rushed into the town that they thought was deserted to find themselves trapped inside. They were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town population, and suffered heavy losses.
Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house, and
William Longespée the Younger were both killed, along with most of the
Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive. The second was the
Battle of Fariskur which essentially ended the Seventh Crusade and led to the capture of Louis IX. Egyptian forces in that battle were led by Sultan
Turanshah, the young son of recently deceased
as-Salih Ayyub. Shortly after the victory over the Crusaders, Baybars and a group of Mamluk soldiers assassinated Turanshah, leading to as-Salih Ayyub's widow
Shajar al-Durr being named
sultana. In 1254, a power shift occurred in Egypt, as
Aybak killed
Faris ad-Din Aktai, the leader of the Bahri Mamluks. Some of his Mamluks, among them Baybars and
Qalawun al-Alfi, fled to
an-Nasir Yusuf in
Syria, persuading him to break the accord and invade Egypt. Aybak wrote to an-Nassir Yusuf warning him of the danger of these Mamluks who took refuge in Syria, and agreed to grant him their territorial domains on the coast, but an-Nasir Yusuf refused to expel them and instead returned to them the domains which Aybak had granted. In 1255, an-Nasir Yusuf sent new forces to the Egyptian border, this time with many of Aktai's Mamluks, among them Baybars, and Qalawun al-Alfi, but he was defeated again. In 1257, Baybars and other Bahri Mamluks left Damascus to
Jerusalem, where they deposed its governor Kütük and plundered its markets, then they did the same in
Gaza. Later on, they fought against the forces of an-Nasir Yusuf at
Nablus, then fled to join the forces of in
Kerak. The combined forces tried in vain to invade Egypt during the reign of Aybak. Baybars then sent 'Ala al-Din Taybars al-Waziri to discuss with
Qutuz his return to Egypt, which was eagerly accepted. He was still a commander under sultan Qutuz at the
Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when he decisively defeated the Mongols. After the battle, Sultan Qutuz (aka Koetoez) was assassinated while on a hunting expedition. It was said that Baybars was involved in the assassination because he expected to be rewarded with the governorship of
Aleppo for his military success, but Qutuz, fearing his ambition, refused to give him the post. Baybars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt.
Becoming Sultan Soon after Baybars had ascended to the Sultanate, his authority was confirmed without any serious resistance, except from
Alam al-Din Sinjar al-Halabi, another Mamluk
amir who was popular and powerful enough to claim
Damascus. Also, the threat from the Mongols was still serious enough to be considered as a threat to Baybars' authority. However, Baybars first chose to deal with Sinjar, and marched on Damascus. At the same time the princes of
Hama and
Homs proved able to defeat the Mongols in the
First Battle of Homs, which lifted the Mongol threat for a while. On 17 January 1261, Baybars's forces were able to rout the troops of Sinjar outside Damascus, and pursued the attack to the city, where the citizens were loyal to Sinjar and resisted Baybars, although their resistance was soon crushed. There was also a brief rebellion in Cairo led by a leading figure of the Shiite named
al-Kurani. Al-Kurani is said originated from Nishapur. After the
Abbasid caliphate in Iraq was overthrown by the Mongols in 1258 when they conquered and
sacked Baghdad, the Muslim world lacked a
caliph, a theoretically supreme leader who had sometimes used his office to endow distant Muslim rulers with legitimacy by sending them writs of investiture. Thus, when the Abbasid refugee Abu al-Qasim Ahmad, the uncle of the last Abbasid caliph
al-Musta'sim, arrived in Cairo in 1261, Baybars had him proclaimed caliph as
al-Mustansir II and duly received investiture as sultan from him. Unfortunately, al-Mustansir II was killed by the Mongols during an ill-advised expedition to recapture Baghdad from the Mongols later in the same year. In 1262, another Abbasid, allegedly the great-great-great-grandson of the Caliph
al-Mustarshid, Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad, who had survived from the defeated expedition, was proclaimed caliph as
al-Hakim I, inaugurating the line of Abbasid caliphs of Cairo that continued as long as the
Mamluk sultanate, until 1517. Like his unfortunate predecessor, al-Hakim I also received the formal oath of allegiance of Baybars and provided him with legitimation. While most of the Muslim world did not take these caliphs seriously, as they were mere instruments of the sultans, they still lent a certain legitimation as well as a decorative element to their rule. He used siege engines to defeat the Crusaders in battles such as the
Fall of Arsuf from 21 March to 30 April. After breaking into the town he offered free passage to the defending Knights Hospitallers if they surrendered their formidable citadel. The Knights accepted Baybars' offer but were enslaved anyway. Baybars razed the castle to the ground. He next attacked
Atlit and
Haifa, where he captured both towns after destroying the crusaders' resistance, and razed the citadels. In the same year, Baybars laid siege to the fortress of
Safed, held by the
Templar knights, which had
been conquered by
Saladin in 1188 but returned to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1240. Baybars promised the knights safe passage to the Christian town of Acre if they surrendered their fortress. Badly outnumbered, the knights agreed. On capturing Safed, Baybars did not raze the fortress to the ground but fortified and repaired it instead, as it was strategically situated and well constructed. He installed a new governor in Safed, with the rank of
Wali. Later, in 1266, Baybars invaded the Christian country of
Cilician Armenia which, under King
Hethum I, had submitted to the Mongol Empire. After defeating the forces of Hethum I in the
Battle of Mari, Baybars managed to ravage the three great cities of
Mamistra,
Adana and
Tarsus, so that when Hetoum arrived with Mongol troops, the country was already devastated. Hetoum had to negotiate the return of his son
Leo by giving control of Armenia's border fortresses to the Mamluks. In 1269, Hetoum abdicated in favour of his son and became a monk, but he died a year later. Leo was left in the awkward situation of keeping Cilicia as a subject of the Mongol Empire, while at the same time paying tribute to the Mamluks. This isolated Antioch and Tripoli, led by Hethum's son-in-law, Prince
Bohemond VI. After successfully conquering Cilicila, Baybars in 1267 settled his unfinished business with Acre, and continued the extermination of remaining crusader garrisons in the following years. In 1268, he
besieged Antioch, capturing the city on 18 May. Baybars had promised to spare the lives of the inhabitants, but he broke his promise and had the city razed, killing or enslaving much of the population after the surrender. prompting the fall of the
Principality of Antioch. The massacre of men, women, and children at Antioch "was the single greatest massacre of the entire crusading era." Priests had their throats slit inside their churches, and women were sold into slavery. Then he continued to
Jaffa, which belonged to Guy, the son of John of Ibelin. Jaffa fell to Baybars on 7 March after twelve hours of fighting; most of Jaffa's citizens were slain, but Baybars allowed the garrison to go unharmed. After this he conquered
Ashkalon and
Caesarea.
Further Ilkhanate attempt to atack the Mamluks In 1272 the Mongol Ilkhanates attempted to besiege Al-Bira but failed when Sultan Baybars attacked the Mongols with a relief force of an unknown number, the Mongols tried to repel the attack, but they failed. After Mongol commander Samagar heard that the mongols have been defeated he retreated back into Mongol land.
Alliance with Golden Horde Baybars actively pursued a close relationship with
Berke, the Khan of Golden Horde. He particularly was recorded to receive the first two hundred soldiers from Golden Horde to visit warmly, where Baybars persuade them to convert to Islam while also observing the growing enmity between the Golden Horde Khan with Hulagu.
Continued campaign against Crusaders On 30 March 1271, after Baybars captured the smaller castles in the area, including
Chastel Blanc, he besieged the Krak des Chevaliers, held by the
Hospitallers. Peasants who lived in the area had fled to the castle for safety and were kept in the outer ward. As soon as Baybars arrived, he began erecting
mangonels, powerful siege weapons which he would turn on the castle. According to
Ibn Shaddad, two days later the first line of defences was captured by the besiegers; he was probably referring to a walled suburb outside the castle's entrance. After a lull of ten days, the besiegers conveyed a letter to the garrison, supposedly from the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller in Tripoli,
Hugues de Revel, which granted permission for them to surrender. The garrison capitulated and the Sultan spared their lives. The Hospitaller chapel was converted to a
mosque and two
mihrabs were added to the interior. Baibars led a campaign against the Assassins. In 1271, Baibars' forces seized al-'Ullaiqah and ar-Rusafa, after taking Masyaf the year before. Later in the year, Shams ad-Din surrendered and was deported to Egypt. Qala'at al-Khawabi fell that year and within two years Gerdkuh and all of the Assassin fortresses were held by the sultan. With the Assassins under his control, Baibars was able to use them to counter the forces arriving in the Ninth Crusade. Baybars then turned his attention to Tripoli, but he interrupted his siege there to call a truce in May 1271. The fall of Antioch had led to the brief
Ninth Crusade, led by
Prince Edward of England, who arrived in Acre in May 1271 and attempted to ally himself with the Mongols against Baybars. So Baybars declared a truce with Tripoli, as well as with Edward, who was never able to capture any territory from Baybars anyway. According to some reports, Baybars tried to have Edward assassinated with poison, but Edward survived the attempt and returned home in 1272 following the failure of the crusade.
Campaign against Makuria on a wallpainting from
Old Dongola In 1265 a Mamluk army allegedly raided Makuria as far south as Dongola while also expanding southwards along the African Red Sea coast, thus threatening the Nubians. In 1272 king
David marched east and attacked the port town of
Aidhab, located on an important
pilgrimage route to
Mecca. The Nubian army destroyed the town, causing “a blow to the very heart of Islam”. This initiated several decades of intervention by the Mamluks in
Nubian affairs. A punitive Mamluk expedition was sent in response, but did not pass beyond the second cataract. Three years later the Makurians attacked and destroyed Aswan, but this time, Baybars responded with a well-equipped army setting off from Cairo in early 1276, accompanied by a cousin of king David named Mashkouda or Shekanda. The Mamluks defeated the Nubians in three battles at Gebel Adda, Meinarti and finally at the
Battle of Dongola. David fled upstream the Nile, eventually entering
al-Abwab in the south, which, previously being Alodia's northernmost province, had by this period become a kingdom of its own. The king of al-Abwab, however, handed David over to Baybars, who had him executed. Baybars then completed his conquest of Nubia, including the
Medieval lower Nubia which was ruled by
Banu Kanz. Under the terms of the settlement, the Nubians were now subjected to paying
jizya tribute, and in return they were allowed to keep their religion, being protected under Islamic law as '
People of the Book'; they were also allowed to continue being governed by a king from the native royal family, although this king was chosen personally by Baybars, namely a Makurian noble named Shakanda. In practice this was reducing Makuria to a vassal kingdom, effectively ending Makuria's status as an independent kingdom.
Further campaign against Ilkhanate In 1277, Baybars invaded the
Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm, then controlled by the
Ilkhanate Mongols. He defeated a Ilkhanate army at the
Battle of Elbistan Baybars himself went with a few troops to deal with the Mongol right flank that was pounding his left wing. Baybars ordered a force from the army from Hama to reinforce his left. The large Mamluk numbers were able to overwhelm the Mongol force, who instead of retreating dismounted from their horses. Some Mongols were able to escape and took up positions on the hills. Once they became surrounded they once again dismounted, and fought to the death. During the celebration of victory, Baybars said that "How can I be happy? Before I had thought that I and my servants would defeat the Mongols, but my left wing was beaten by them. Only Allah helped us". The possibility of a new Mongol army convinced Baybars to return to Syria, since he was far away from his bases and supply line. As the Mamluk army returned to Syria the commander of the Mamluk vanguard, Izz al-Din Aybeg al-Shaykhi, deserted to the Mongols.
Pervâne sent a letter to Baybars asking him to delay his departure. Baybars chastised him for not aiding him during the Battle of Elbistan. Baybars told him he was leaving for Sivas to mislead Pervâne and the Mongols as to his true destination. Baybars also sent Taybars al-Waziri with a force to raid the Armenian town of al-Rummana, whose inhabitants had hidden the Mongols earlier.
Death in
Damascus Baybars died in
Damascus on 30 June 1277, when he was 53 years old. His demise has been the subject of some academic speculation. Many sources agree that he died from drinking poisoned
kumis that was intended for someone else. Other accounts suggest that he may have died from a wound while campaigning, or from illness. He was buried in the
Az-Zahiriyah Library in Damascus. ==Family==