Barsbay

Al-Ashraf Sayf-ad-Din Barsbay was the ninth Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438. He was Circassian by birth and a former slave of the first Burji Sultan, Barquq.

His 16-year reign was relatively long reign by the standards of the Mamluk period in Egypt. His reign was marked by relative security and stability, with few wars or rebellions. He apparently had a reputation simultaneously for being greed and bad-tempered but also generous to the poor and to Sufis (the latter tendency being evident in his mausoleum-khanqah complex in the Northern Cemetery).

He was responsible for a number of administrative reforms in the Mamluk state, including the consolidation of the sultanate as a military magistrature and securing for Egypt exclusive rights over the Red Sea trade between Yemen and Europe. In the process he diverted the Indian Ocean trade routes through Jeddah (closer to Cairo) and also introduced a state monopoly on sugar and pepper. His Red Sea activity included the final destruction in 1426 of ‘Aydhab, a once important port which had been in decline in the previous century.

In 1426-1427 he invaded and reconquered Cyprus, captured its king (from the House of Lusignan) and forced him to pay tribute.

In 1430 Egypt was severely struck by famine and plague.

The revenues from this military victory and these trade policies may have helped him finance his construction projects, and he is known for at least three extant and notable monuments. He built a madrasa-mosque complex in the heart of Cairo on al-Muizz street in 1424. His mausoleum complex, which also included a madrasa and khanqah, was built in Cairo's Northern Cemetery in 1432. He also built a mosque in the town of al-Khanqa, north of Cairo, in 1437.

• D. Behrens-Abouseif, Islamic architecture in Cairo: an introduction (Leiden, 1989).
• J.-C. Garcin, "The regime of the Circassian Mamluks," in C. Petry, ed., The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume I: Islamic Egypt, 640-1517 (Cambridge, 1998), 290-317.
• Muir, W. (1896). The Mameluke; or, Slave dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. Smith, Elder. pp. 137−148.