Al-Mansur Muhammad, Sultan of Egypt

Muhammad
Al-Malik al-Mansur
Sultan of Egypt
Reign	17 March 1361–29 May 1363
Predecessor	An-Nasir Hasan
Successor	al-Ashraf Sha'ban
Born	1347/48
Died	1398 (age 53)
Burial	Rawda Island
Full name Al-Malik al-Mansur Salah ad-Din Muhammad ibn Hajji ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun
House	Qalawuni
Dynasty	Bahri
Father	Al-Muzaffar Hajji
Religion	Islam

Al-Mansur Salah ad-Din Muhammad ibn Hajji ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1347/48–1398), better known as al-Mansur Muhammad, was the Mamluk sultan in 1361–1363. He ruled in name only, with power held by the Mamluk magnates, particularly Yalbugha al-Umari, al-Mansur Muhammad's regent. The latter had al-Manur Muhammad's predecessor and uncle an-Nasir Hasan killed and al-Mansur Muhammad installed to replace him.

Biography

Al-Mansur Muhammad was the son of Sultan al-Muzaffar Hajji (r. 1346–1347).^[1] Following the murder of his uncle, Sultan an-Nasir Hasan (r. 1354–1361), by Emir Yalbugha al-Umari in 1361, the latter and the other senior emirs or magnates selected al-Mansur Muhammad,^[2] then an adolescent,^[3] as an-Nasir Hasan's successor.^[2] His kingmakers consisted of eight emirs, chief among whom were emirs Yalbugha and Taybugha al-Tawil.^[2] Their decision to appoint al-Mansur Muhammad, a grandson Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310–1341), ended the tradition of installing sons of an-Nasir Muhammad as sultans.^[2] They chose al-Mansur Muhammad instead of an-Nasir Muhammad's last surviving son, al-Amjad Husayn, because they believed al-Mansur Muhammad would be easier to control.^[2] In the new order, Yalbugha was the most powerful of the senior emirs, although he ruled mostly in concert with Taybugha.^[2]

In early 1363, Yalbugha and Taybugha had al-Mansur Muhammad deposed based on allegations of the sultan's illicit behavior.^[3] They chose his cousin, al-Ashraf Sha'ban, the ten-year-old son of al-Amjad Husayn, as al-Mansur Muhammad's successor, in the belief that he would be easier to dominate.^[3] Al-Mansur Muhammad died in 1398 and was buried in the mausoleum of his paternal grandmother (wife of al-Muzaffar Hajji) in Rawda Island.^[4] He had ten children.^[4]

References

1. Steenbergen, Jo Van (2006). Order Out of Chaos: Patronage, Conflict and Mamluk Socio-political Culture, 1341–1382. Brill. ISBN 9789004152618.
2. Steenbergen 2011, p. 434.
3. Steenbergen 2011, p. 437.
4. Bauden, Frédéric. "The Qalawunids: A Pedigree" (PDF). University of Chicago. Retrieved 2016-02-25.

Bibliography

• 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.