Al-Nasir Muhammad

Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun (Arabic: الملك الناصر ناصر الدين محمد بن قلاوون), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad (Arabic: الناصر محمد), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali (أبو المعالي) or as Ibn Qalawun (1285–1341) was the ninth Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty who ruled Egypt between 1293–1294, 1299–1309, and 1310 until his death in 1341. During his first reign he was dominated by Kitbugha and al-Shuja‘i, while during his second reign he was dominated by Baibars and Salar. Not wanting to be dominated or deprived of his full rights as a sultan by his third reign, an-Nasir executed Baibars and accepted the resignation of Salar as vice Sultan.

An-Nasir was known to appoint non-Mamluks loyal to himself to senior military positions and remove capable officers of their duty whose loyalty he doubted. He however annulled taxes and surcharges that were imposed on commoners for the benefit of the emirs and officials. He employed Emir Ibn al-Waziri, a man who was known to be tough on corruption, as the head of the Court of Justice.

An-Nasir Muhammad was the third son of Sultan Qalawun and the brother of Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil. He was born in Cairo at Qal'at al-Jabal (Citadel of the Mountain). His father Qalawun was of Turkic origin from a Kipchak tribe, and his mother Ašlūn was the daughter of a Mongol notable named Šaktāy. Qalawun received the news of an-Nasir's birth during his siege of Margat on the coast of the Levant. An-Nasir Muhammad was raised and behaved in Mongol fashion until the age of 29, until he had a change of mood after an illness in 1315, which led him and his followers to "shave their heads [...] and give up their flowing locks".

An-Nasir Muhammad married a Turkic woman Khawand Toghay, who started as his slave but was freed by him. She gave birth to Prince Anuk.

His reign can be separated mainly by three phases, as he was deposed once and abdicated once during his reign.

After the assassination of al-Ashraf Khalil in December 1293, he was installed as sultan with Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha as the regent and vice-sultan and Emir ‘Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Shuja‘i al-Mansuri (عَلَمُ الدِّينِ سَنْجَرُ الشُّجَاعِيُّ المَنْصُورِيُّ‎, romanised: ʿAlam ad-Dīn Sanǧar aš-Šuǧāʿī al-Manṣūrī) as vizier. As an-Nasir Muhammad was only 9 years old, he was a sultan in name only. Kitbugha and Sanjar al-Shuja‘i were the actual rulers of Egypt. The two emirs, Kitbugha, who was of Mongol origin, and al-Shuja‘i, who was of Turkic origin, were rivals and did not get on with each other. Al-Shuja‘i, with the support of the Burji Mamluks, planned to arrest Kitbugha and assassinate his emirs but Kitbugha laid siege to the Citadel and the conflict ended with the murder of al-Shuja‘i and the removal of the Burjis from the Citadel.

When Emir Hussam ad-Din Lajin, who had fled after the murder of al-Ashraf Khalil, returned to Cairo, the Burji Mamluks, who were known as the al-Mamalik al-Ashrafiyah Khalil (Mamluks of al-Ashraf Khalil) and who were removed from the citadel by Kitbugha, rebelled and went on a rampage in Cairo because Lajin had not been arrested and punished for his involvement in the murder of their benefactor Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil. The Ashrafiyah were defeated and many of them were killed and executed. Lajin convinced Kitbugha to depose an-Nasir Muhammad and install himself as sultan after warning that the Ashrafiyah and an-Nasir would seek revenge for the murder of Khalil in which Kitbugha had been involved. Kitbugha deposed an-Nasir and installed himself sultan with Lajin as his vice-sultan. An-Nasir, who was by now 10 years old, was removed with his mother to another section in the palace where they stayed until they were sent to al-Karak thus ending the first reign of an-Nasir.

In 1296 Kitbugha was deposed by his vice-Sultan Lajin and he fled to Syria and died in 1297 while holding the post of the governor of Hama. Lajin ruled as a sultan until he was murdered with his vice-sultan Mangu-Temur in 1299 by a group of Emirs led by Saif al-Din Kirji. After the murder of Lajin and his vice-Sultan, the Emirs, including Baibars al-Jashnakir (Baibars II), assembled and decided to call an-Nasir Muhammad from Karak and re-install him as sultan with Emir Taghji as Vice-Sultan. But the recall of an-Nasir was delayed for some time as Emir Kirji, who murdered Lajin, and the Ashrafiyah Emirs insisted that Taghji should become the sultan and Kirji be the vice-sultan. At last, an-Nasir was recalled and he arrived with his mother in Cairo amid widespread celebration by its population. An-Nasir, who was by now 14 years old, was re-installed with Sayf al-Din Salar, who was an Oirat Mongol as vice-Sultan and Baibars al-Jashnakir who was a Circassian as Ostadar. An-Nasir was, again, a nominal Sultan, with the actual rulers being Salar and Baibars.