1. Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Barsbay was the ninth Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438.
16 Facts About Barsbay
1. 2.
Barsbay was Circassian by birth and a former slave of the first Burji Sultan, Barquq.
3.
Barsbay later assumed the role of tutor to Muhammad, the son of Sultan Tatar, who was just ten years old upon ascending to the throne.
4.
Taribay was captured and imprisoned in Alexandria, allowing Barsbay to pursue the throne.
5.
Barsbay's 16-year reign was a relatively long reign by the standards of the Mamluk period in Egypt.
6.
Barsbay's reign was marked by relative security and stability, with few wars or rebellions.
7.
Barsbay apparently had a reputation simultaneously for being greedy and bad-tempered but generous to the poor and to Sufis.
8.
Barsbay 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.
9.
Barsbay reduced customs duties to attract merchants until Egypt became a monopoly of most trade in the East, angering some European powers at the time.
10.
Barsbay had good ties with other Muslim rulers of his time, namely Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, the Sultan of Bengal.
11.
Barsbay built a madrasa-mosque complex in the heart of Cairo on al-Muizz street in 1424.
12.
Barsbay built a mosque in the town of al-Khanqa, north of Cairo, in 1437.
13.
Barsbay's mother was the daughter of Qutlubugha Hajji al-Banaqusi al-Turkmani al-Halabi.
14.
Barsbay had been a concubine, and was his favourite wife.
15.
Barsbay was the daughter of Ottoman Prince Orhan Celebi, son of Suleyman Celebi, who was himself the son of Sultan Bayezid I Barsbay had a younger brother named Suleyman Celebi.
16.
Barsbay was a Circassian, and was the mother of his son Ahmed.