1. Barquq deposed sultan al-Salih Hajji to claim the throne for himself.
16 Facts About Barquq
1. 2.
The name Barquq is of Circassian origin and is his birth name.
3.
Barquq was of Circassian origin, and was acquired as a slave, presumably after a battle, and sold to a bathhouse in Crimea.
4.
Barquq was a member of the faction behind the throne, serving in various powerful capacities in the court of the boy sultans.
5.
Barquq took the reign name al-Zahir, perhaps in imitation of the sultan al-Zahir Baybars.
6.
Barquq placed many of his own family in positions of power to the detriment of fellow Mamluks, attempting to solidify his position.
7.
Barquq sponsored the construction of the Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq in the center of Cairo.
8.
Barquq ended the public holiday in Egypt celebrating the Coptic New Year Nayrouz.
9.
Barquq attempted to escape, but was captured and sent to the castle of al-Karak.
10.
Barquq became an enemy of the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur after Timur's invasion of Baghdad in 1393, and his intention to invade Syria.
11.
Barquq was buried in a mausoleum built by Faraj in Cairo's Northern Cemetery.
12.
Barquq was a Greek, and gave birth to Barquq's eldest son, An-Nasir Faraj.
13.
Barquq was Turkish and gave birth to Barquq's second son, Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz.
14.
Barquq was a free-born Syrian, and gave birth to Barquq's third son, Ibrahim.
15.
Barquq's father was either Ibn Qara or a royal mamluk named Muqbil.
16.
Sultan Barquq's reign was marked by trade with other contemporaneous polities.