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The Fatimid Period (969-1171) :
Baybars, one of the great Ayyubid commanders, seized power in
the aftermath of Shajarat Ad-Durr's murder but his heirs were murdered
by Qalawun, another Mamluke who established the Bahri Mamluke
dynasty, named after the Mamluke garrison along the Nile River
(Bahr Al-Nil).
During his reign Sultan Qalawun became a great patron of
architecture and constructed mosques, fortresses and other buildings
in Cairo. Qalawun also established relations many foreign
countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Qalawun's son and successor,
Mohammed An-Nasir who reigned for nearly half a century, from
1294-1340, was also a great patron of
architecture.
The Mamluke armies of Sultan Mohammed An-Nasir shocked
the seemingly unstoppable Mongol armies by defeating them on the
Syrian battlefield. The descendants of Mohammed An-Nasir were weak and
the Turkish Bahri Mamluke dynasty gradually lost control of the
sultanate which was seized by the Circassian Mamluke Barquq
who established the Burgi Mamluke dynasty, named after the
Mamluke garrison set beneath the Citadel In Cairo. Although Sultan
Mohammed An-Nasir had made a treaty with the Mongols, they remained on
the borders of Syria and Sultan Barquq campaigned against the Mongols
to drive them out of the Near East altogether.
Heavy taxation was levied to pay for these campaigns, debilitating the
economy of Egypt. Conditions were exacerbated by a plague that swept
through the country during the reign of Barquq's son Farag. It
was not until the reign of Sultan Barsbey that Egypt regain its power.
Barsbey recognized the rising power and potential threat of the
Ottoman Turks and established good relations with them. He also
extended Mamluki trade. Nevertheless, the Mamluke
economy remained unstable for nearly a century until the reign of
Sultan Qait Bey, another great Mamluki builder, who constructed
mosques, madrassas and other buildings throughout the empire.
The 46th Mamluki sultan was
Qansuh Al Ghuri who continued the Mamluki architectural
tradition but saw his economy crash after European traders began using
the Cape of Good Hope for their spice trade rather than trading
through Cairo. To add insult to injury, the Ottomans attacked
Mamluke Syria and Sultan Qansuh fell in battle in
1516. The following year Tuman was
executed by the Ottomans, signaling the end of the Mamluke
Empire and the beginning of Ottoman rule, but the Mamlukes
remained a powerful force within Egypt throughout the Ottoman period
and beyond.
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