An-Nasir Faraj Explained

An-Nasir Faraj
Succession:Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Reign:June 1399 – 20 September 1405
Predecessor:Barquq
Successor:Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz
Succession1:Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Reign1:28 November 1405 – 23 May 1412
Predecessor1:Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz
Successor1:Abu’l-Faḍl Abbas Al-Musta'in bi'llah
Spouse:
  • Khawand Fatima
  • Lâ Aflaha man Zalama
  • Thuraiya
Father:Sayf-ad-Din Barquq
Mother:Khawand Shirin
Birth Date: 1386
Death Place:Damascus
Religion:Sunni Islam

Al-Nasir Faraj or Nasir-ad-Din Faraj (;) also Faraj ibn Barquq was born in 1386 and succeeded his father Sayf-ad-Din Barquq as the second Sultan of the Burji dynasty of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt in July 1399 with the title Al-Nasir.[1] He was only thirteen years old when he became Sultan on the sudden death of his father. His reign was marked by anarchy, pandemonium and chaos with invasions of Tamerlane (Timur Leng, or Timur Beg Gurkani), including the sack of Damascus in 1400, incessant rebellions in Cairo, endless conflicts with the Emirs of Syria (with the Sultan and also amongst themselves),[2] along with plague and famine which reduced the population of the kingdom to one-third.

In September 1405, Faraj was afraid from the surrounding conspiracies, so he escaped his reign after emir Saad al-Din bin Ghurab convinced him and was replaced briefly by his brother Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz, then he regained his position in November the same year by Saad al-Din.

During the end of his reign he became a tyrannical ruler which eventually led him into his seventh and final conflict with the Syrian Emirs at Baalbek. Defeated in battle he fled to the Citadel of Damascus. Unable to escape, he surrendered and on May 23, 1412 he was stabbed to death in his prison cell by a hired assassin. The Emirs placed on the throne as a temporary measure Caliph Al-Musta'in Billah. Faraj was buried in Bab al-Faradis cemetery in Damascus.

Family

One of his wives was Khawand Fatima, the sister of the Islamic historian Ibn Taghribirdi.[3] [4] After Faraj's death, she married Inal Nauruzi.[3] One of his concubines was Lâ Aflaha man Zalama. She gave birth to Faraj's son, Ghars ad-Din Khalil.[5] Another concubine was Thuraiya. She gave birth to Faraj's daughter, Khawand Asiya.[6] Another daughter of Faraj named Khawand Satita married Sidi Ibrahim, son of Sultan Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh. She died in 1416.[7] Another daughter, Khawand Shakra, married Amir Jarbash al-Muhammadi and had a son, Nasir ad-Din Muhammad.[3] She died in 1482.[8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Muir, William . The Mameluke; or, Slave dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D.. William Muir. 1896. Smith, Elder. 121128.
  2. Book: Onimus, Clément . Les maîtres du jeu : Pouvoir et violence politique à l'aube du sultanat mamlouk circassien (784-815/1382-1412) . 2019 . Éditions de la Sorbonne . 9791035105440 . fr.
  3. Book: Taghrībirdī . A.M.Y.I. . Popper . W. . History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. . University of California Press . 1960 . 15, 56.
  4. Book: Massoud, S. . The Chronicles and Annalistic Sources of the Early Mamluk Circassian Period . Brill . Islamic History and Civilization . 2007 . 978-90-474-1979-2 . 61.
  5. Book: Leslau, W. . The Verb in Harari: (South Ethiopic) . University of California Press . 1958 . 2021-11-30 . 120.
  6. Book: University of California, Berkeley . University of California Publications in Semitic Philology . University of California Press . History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D . v. 13-14; v. 17-19; v. 22-23 . 1960 . 165.
  7. D'hulster . Kristof . Steenbergen . Jo Van . Family Matters: The Family-In-Law Impulse in Mamluk Marriage Policy . Annales Islamologiques . 47 . 61–82 . 2021-12-01.
  8. Book: Ghersetti, A. . Al-Suyūṭī, a Polymath of the Mamlūk Period: Proceedings of the themed day of the First Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies (Ca' Foscari University, Venice, June 23, 2014) . Brill . Islamic History and Civilization . 2016 . 978-90-04-33452-6 . 56.