15 Facts About Qawsun

An ethnic Mongol, Qawsun was born in 1302, in the Kipchak steppe north of the Black Sea during the region's rule by the Golden Horde, a Mongol empire.

Qawsun had joined Tulunbay's retinue as a traveling merchant, and once he arrived in Egypt, he moved to the Mamluk Sultanate's capital, Cairo, to sell his leather wares.

Qawsun agreed and sold himself to an-Nasir Muhammad, thus becoming a mamluk.

Qawsun was made part of the sultan's saqut and his 40-strong khassakiya, whose members held prominent positions in the sultanate.

Concurrent with his promotion, Qawsun was transferred the iqta of Emir Taynal, which, unprecedentedly was added to his older iqta.

However, despite his resentment of Baktamur, Qawsun did not likely play a role in the 1332 assassination by poison of Baktamur and his son Ahmad.

Qawsun was one of the 17 senior Mamluk commanders who accompanied an-Nasir Muhammad on the Hajj of 1332, at around the same time when Baktamur's assassination took place.

Qawsun's favored son Anuk died the year prior, and in picking another of his sons he consulted with Qawsun and Bashtak for advice.

Qawsun proceeded to lavish gifts and grants to the Royal Mamluks, the backbone of the Mamluk army who were theoretically the personal mamluks of the sultan, and lower-ranking mamluks in a bid to gain their loyalty.

Qawsun proceeded to rally opposition against Qawsun from among the Mamluk emirs of Syria.

Tashtamur and other Mamluk opponents of Qawsun primarily used Qawsun's maltreatment of an-Nasir Muhammad's sons as the justification for their opposition.

Meanwhile, Qawsun attempted to place an-Nasir Muhammad's son Ahmad, who was based in the Syrian desert fortress of al-Karak, in custody like his other brothers.

However, Qawsun's advantage was short-lived as Qutlubugha used Altunbugha's absence from Damascus as an opportunity to occupy the city.

Meanwhile, Qawsun was dealt a blow to his financial resources and morale when the na'ib of Gaza, a supporter of Ahmad, appropriated Qawsun's sugar-production factory in the Jordan Valley.

Qawsun's body was returned to Cairo for burial in his funerary complex.