Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Salihi

Mamluk commander

Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Salihi was a Mamluk commander during the reign of the Ayyubid Sultan As-Salih Ayyub.

Biography

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Baybars was imprisoned along with his master As-Salih Ayyub and Shajar al-Durr in Al-Karak by An-Nasir Dawud, when Ayyub was deposed as Emir of Damascus.[1][2] In June 1240, he accompanied Ayyub to Cairo, where Ayyub became the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt. In October 1244, Baybars led the Ayyubid army and Khwarezmian mercenaries to a decisive victory over the Syro-Frankish forces at the Battle of La Forbie.[2]

Later, the Khwarezmians launched a rebellion in the Damascus region and reached out to their former commander, Rukn al-Din,[a] who was in charge of the troops remaining in Gaza.[3] Accused of conspiring with the Khwarezmians, Rukn al-Din was recalled to Egypt by As-Salih Ayyub, imprisoned, and later executed.[4]

  1. Ibn Taghribirdi reported that Rukn al-Din's mother was of Khawarazmian origin.

References

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  1. Al-Maqrizi 1997, p. 419.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Humphreys 1977, p. 275.
  3. Humphreys 1977, pp. 284–285.
  4. Humphreys 1977, p. 285.

Sources

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  • Al-Maqrizi (1997). Al Selouk Leme'refatt Dewall al-Melouk. Vol. 1. Dar al-kotob.
  • Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-263-4.