Мысыр мен Сирия сұлтаны Әл-Ашраф Халил ибн Қалаун

Sultan of Egypt and Syria (r. 1290–1293)

Al Ashraf Salāh ad Dīn Khalil ibn Qalawūn (الملك الأشرف صلاح الدين خليل بن قلاوون; c. 1260s – 14 December 1293) was the eighth Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan, succeeding his father Qalawun. He served from 12 November 1290 until his assassination in December 1293. He was well known for conquering the last of the Crusader states in Palestine after the siege of Acre in 1291. While walking with a friend, Khalil was attacked and assassinated by Baydara (his commander in chief) and his followers, who was then killed under the orders of Kitbugha.

Khalil's exact year of birth is not known, although according to the Mamluk era historian al Safadi, he died "in his thirties or less". He was the second son of Sultan Qalawun (r. 1279–1290) and his mother was a woman named Qutqutiya. Khalil had three brothers, as Salih Ali, an Nasir Muhammad and Ahmad, and two sisters. In 1284, Khalil married Ardukin, the daughter of Sayf ad Din Nukih ibn Bayan, a Mongol emir of Qalawun. As Salih Ali, al Ashraf Khalil's brother, married Ardukin's sister, and both wives were chosen by Qalawun's second wife because of their Mongol ethnicity, which was considered prestigious by the Mamluks. Qalawun had proclaimed as Salih Ali as his heir apparent in 1280. From that point on, as Salih Ali's name was added next to Qalawun's name in treaties. Khalil's name also began to be added to treaties in the regal style of "al Malik al Ashraf" starting in 1285 in the treaty between Qalawun and the king of Lesser Armenia. When as Salih Ali died in 1288, Qalawun appointed al Ashraf Khalil as his co sultan. While al Ashraf Khalil's name was read alongside Qalawun's name in the khutbah (Friday prayer sermon) and the emirs swore their allegiance to him, mostly Circassian, mamluk corps, the Ashrafiyya. Instead, al Ashraf Khalil had Turuntay imprisoned in the Cairo Citadel. but he nonetheless did not target the Mansuri mamluks as a faction and did not replace Mansuri officeholders with his Ashrafi mamluks. In November 1290, he began his march toward Acre, the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but died outside of Cairo shortly after. As he led the Mamluk army of Egypt, he sent orders to the Mamluk emirs of Syria, including the sultanate's Ayyubid vassals in Hama under al Muzaffar III Mahmud, to assemble their mangonels and head toward Acre. The other Syrian Mamluk armies were from Damascus (led by Lajin), Tripoli (led by Bilban) and al Karak (led by Baibars al Dawadar). There are no reliable figures for the size of the Mamluk army, but it was likely a significantly larger force than that of the Crusader defenders of Acre. In May 1291, al Ashraf Khalil's army launched the assault against Acre. Heavy fighting ensued with the Knights Templar, which controlled the fortress. Arriving at Cairo, he ordered the release of Philip Mainebeuf and the men who accompanied him to Cairo earlier. Following Acre's capture, al Ashraf Khalil and his generals proceeded to wrest control of the remaining Crusader held fortresses along the Syrian coast. and was captured after 30 days by Khalil, who renamed it Qal'at al Muslimin (Castle of the Muslims). Khalil left Emir al Shuja‘i at the castle and returned to Damascus with prisoners. The population of Damascus bid farewell to the victorious Sultan on his way to Cairo at night with thousands of lighted candles. The Sultan entered Cairo through the Victory Gate (Bab al Nasr) and was greeted by the celebrating population, also with thousands of lighted candles
The Sultan returned to Damascus and assembled an army to invade Sis, the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, but an Armenian embassy in Damascus had made terms with him first. Til Hemdun, Marash and Behesni were given to the Sultan in order to maintain peace. The Armenian kingdom had thus began to diminish much like its allied Crusader states. The crusaders' kingdom of Jerusalem had already been destroyed by Saladin, Baibars and Qalawun, and Louis IX's Seventh Crusade against Egypt ended in a complete failure, but the crusaders tried to keep their strongholds on the Syrian coast intact, hoping to be able one day to recapture what they had lost. Pope Nicholas IV tried to act but he died in 1292, and the European kings, who became involved in internal conflicts and struggles, became unable to organize new effective crusades. As for the Templars, they were accused of heresy in Europe and badly persecuted by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V.

After the death of the great Sultan of Egypt, El Mansur Qalawun, and the ascension of his son the conqueror of Acre, Sultan El Ashraf Khalil, to the Egyptian throne, the Kingdom of Makuria had been under Egyptian rule since its conquest by the Egyptian army led by the Egyptian Prince Ezz el Din el Kourani in the Fourth battle of Dongola, and it annually sent the taxes and royalties imposed on it from Egypt in accordance with the ancient Baqt agreement. The Makurian king Samamoun thought that the new Egyptian Sultan was weak and still a young man, and this was a great misconception on his part, and after a letter that was completely deceptive to El Ashraf Khalil in which he said that due to the attacks of the Egyptian army on his kingdom during the reign of El Mansur Qalawun and El Zahir Baybars, the treasury of the Kingdom of Makuria has become empty and he will not be able to pay the imposed taxes and royalties. The Egyptian Sultan El Ashraf Khalil bin Qalawun was known for his temper and that he did not joke, so he sent a letter full of threats and promises to the Makurian king, a letter that struck terror in Samamoun’s heart to the point that he described his country as being ruled by women. However, these words did not enter the mind of Sultan Khalil, who went on to order the movement of the Egyptian army under the leadership of Prince Ezz el Din el Afram, who moved from Cairo and arrived in Makuria and won a crushing victory over the Makurian forces. He entered the capital, Dongola, and plundered it all. King Samamoun fled from Makuria as he had fled before in the campaigns of El Mansur Qalawun.

In 1292, Venetian pirates kidnapped Egyptian sailors and merchants in the Mediterranean Sea. This made the blood boil in El Ashraf Khalil’s veins to the point that he began to actually think about invading the Republic of Venice, becoming the only Egyptian Sultan who thought about that. It was logical at the time that Egypt would think about invading any country, as the Egyptian army at that time was considered the strongest army in the world and in less than 3 years, he eliminated the last 8 Crusader states in the East and invaded the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. This also does not prevent the difficulty or near impossibility of invading this country due to its naval power, its impregnable geographical location, and the country's support for the Crusades and its location close to the Vatican, which will make the entire European and Christian world unite against Egypt. The Sultan, in light of his thoughts about invading Venice, gave orders to the Egyptian Navy to arrest any ship belonging to the Republic of Venice that entered the Egyptian coast, even if for the purpose of trade. In fact, the Egyptian Navy arrested Venetian ships that landed in Alexandria, and all their goods were seized and placed in the Egyptian treasury. The Sultan ordered the Venetian sailors and merchants to be placed in Egyptian prisons. This made the Republic of Venice speak officially with the Sultanate of Egypt, and they sent a high ranking official delegation with a lot of gifts. The delegation, when it met El Ashraf Khalil, completely denied any relationship linking them to the pirates who kidnapped the Egyptian sailors, and that they did not know anything about this subject. Sultan El Ashraf Khalil was very angry and preferred to be determined and tell them that the Venetian prisoners will not be released except when the Egyptian sailors and merchants to return. Later they reached an agreement in the end that the Venetians would pay a very large ransom to release their captives, in addition to that they would hand over the pirates to Egypt and return the kidnapped Egyptians. After that, the Venetians asked the Kingdom of Aragon to mediate with them in Egypt, and in fact a peace treaty was concluded between the Sultanate of Egypt and the Republic of Venice through the mediation of the Spanish Kingdom of Aragon.

In late 1292, Cypriots kidnapped Egyptian sailors in the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptian Sultan El Ashraf Khalil bin Qalawun, who was known for his extreme pride and temper, ordered immediately to prepare and build 100 huge warships to invade all of Cyprus. He preferred to follow the construction of these ships himself, and every now and then he would visit Egyptian ports and repeat the same sentence, with anger and sarcasm in his face:<blockquote>"Cyprus Cyprus to the grave"<blockquote>"The Khan wishes to enter Aleppo and reside in it, it belongs to the conquests of his father Hulagu Khan by his sword, if you do not allow that, then he will cross to the Levant. "<blockquote>"I am the king of the world and the sultan of the earth. God willing, we will conquer the East (Persia), the Roms (Byzantines; Constantinople), and Iraq, and we will possess the countries from the setting of the sun to the rising of the sun, and God will support me." and a few Emirs. Khalil continued his father's policy of replacing Turkish Mamluks with Circassians, a policy which contributed in the intensification of the rivalry among the Mamluks. After his victories against the Franks, arrogance got hold of al Ashraf Khalil, he treated the Emirs roughly and began to sign messages and documents with the letter "KH" only. In addition, his Vizier Ibn al Salus was envied by many Emirs and by the vice Sultan Baydara in particular. Ibn al Salus who, originally, was neither a Mamluk nor an Emir but a merchant from Damascus, became the most influential official during the reign of Khalil. While Al Ashraf was rough on the Emirs, he was very generous towards Ibn al Salus who did not treat the Emirs with respect. Ibn al Salus was involved in the unjustly persecution of the supreme judge of Egypt Ibn Bint al A'az, as he was involved in provoking the Sultan against Baydara on several occasions. In December 1293, Al Ashraf Khalil, accompanied by Ibn al Salus, Baydara and other Emirs went to Turug in northern Egypt on a bird hunting expedition. He sent Ibn Al Salus to the nearby city of Alexandria to bring materials and to collect the taxes. Arriving at Alexandria, Ibn Al Salus found out that the deputies of Baydara had already taken everything. On receiving a message from Ibn Al Salus with this news, Al Ashraf summoned Baydara to his Dihlis and insulted and threatened him in the presence of other Emirs. The distressed Baydar left the Dihlis and called Lajin, Qara Sunqur and other Emirs and together they decided to kill the Sultan. On 14 December, while the Sultan was walking with his friend Emir Shihab ad Din Ahmad he was attacked and assassinated by Baydara and his followers. The Emirs who struck the Sultan after Baydara were Hosam ad Din Lajin and Bahadir Ras Nubah followed by other Emirs. After the assassination of Al Ashraf Khalil, Baydara and his followers went to the Dihliz and proclaimed Baydara the new Sultan. But Baydara was soon arrested by the Sultani Mamluks and Emirs. Baydara was killed by the Sultani Emirs led by Kitbugha and Baibars al Jashnikir and his head was sent to Cairo. Ibn al Salus was arrested in Alexandria and was sent to Cairo where he was mistreated and at last beaten to death. The Emirs who were involved in the assassination of Al Ashraf Khalil were severely punished and executed. Lajin and Qara Sunqur fled and disappeared. After the death of Al Ashraf Khalil, the Emirs decided to install his 9 year old brother Al Nasir Muhammad as the new Sultan with Kitbugha as vice Sultan and al Shuja‘i as the new Vizier. But the death of Al Ashraf Khalil was concealed for some time. While Al Ashraf was dead, his brother Al Nasir Muhammad was proclaimed Vice Sultan and heir. A message from Egypt to the Syrian Emirs said: "I appointed my brother al Malik al Nasir Muhammad as my Vicegerent and heir so that when I go to fight the enemy he replaces me ". As soon as everything was under control the death of Al Ahraf Khalil was revealed to the public in Egypt and Syria. He was buried in a mausoleum attached to a madrasa that he commissioned and built in 1288 (prior to his accession to the throne). His funerary complex, located in the Southern Cemetery of Cairo, is partly ruined today, though the domed structure over his tomb remains standing. Al Ashraf Khalil ruled about three years and two months. He had two daughters. Besides being remembered as the conqueror of Acre, he was remembered by Muslim historians as an intelligent Sultan who was fond of reading and learning.

Coins of al Ashraf Khalil were unique in Mamluk coinage history. New kinds of titles were inscribed on his coins, including: al Sultan al Malik al Ashraf Salah al Din Nasir al Milah al Muhamadiyah Muhyyi al Dawalah al Abasiyah (The Sultan King al Ashraf Salah al Din the Promoter of the Muhammadan Nation and the Revitalizer of the Abbasid Caliphate) and al Sultan al Malik al Ashraf Salah al Donya wa al Din Qasim Amir al mu'minin (The Sultan King al Ashraf reform of temporal world and faith sharer of the Emir of the faithful), "Emir of the faithful" being the title of the Abbasid Caliph. His father Qalawun was also mentioned on Al Ashraf's coins as: Mawlana al Sultan al Malik al Mansur (Our benefactor the Sultan King al Mansur).