An-Nasir Faraj
Al-Nasir Faraj or Nasir-ad-Din Faraj (Arabic: الناصر زين الدين فرج; r. 1399–1405, 1405–1412) 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.[1] 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.[1]
| An-Nasir Faraj | |
|---|---|
 Khanqah of Faraj ibn Barquq in Cairo | |
| Sultan of Egypt and Syria | |
| Reign | June 1399 – 20 September 1405 |
| Predecessor | Barquq |
| Successor | Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz |
| Sultan of Egypt and Syria | |
| Reign | 28 November 1405 – 23 May 1412 |
| Predecessor | Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz |
| Successor | Abu’l-Faḍl Abbas Al-Musta'in bi'llah |
| Born | c. 1386 |
| Died | 23 May 1412 (aged 25–26) Damascus |
| Spouse |
|
| Issue |
|
| Father | Sayf-ad-Din Barquq |
| Mother | Khawand Shirin |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
In September 1405, Faraj was afraid from the surrounding conspiracies, so he escaped his rule and was replaced briefly by his brother Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz, then he regained his position in November the same year.[1]
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.[1] Unable to escape, he surrendered and on May 23, 1412 he was stabbed to death in his prison cell by a hired assassin.[1] The Emirs placed on the throne as a temporary measure Caliph Al-Musta'in Billah.[1] 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]
References
- Muir, William (1896). The Mameluke; or, Slave dynasty of Egypt, 1260-1517, A. D. Smith, Elder. pp. 121−128.
- Onimus, Clément (2019). Les maîtres du jeu : Pouvoir et violence politique à l'aube du sultanat mamlouk circassien (784-815/1382-1412) (in French). Éditions de la Sorbonne. ISBN 9791035105440.
- Taghrībirdī, A.M.Y.I.; Popper, W. (1960). History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. University of California Press. p. 15, 56.
- Massoud, S. (2007). The Chronicles and Annalistic Sources of the Early Mamluk Circassian Period. Islamic History and Civilization. Brill. p. 61. ISBN 978-90-474-1979-2.
- Leslau, W. (1958). The Verb in Harari: (South Ethiopic). The Verb in Harari. University of California Press. p. 120. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- University of California, Berkeley (1960). University of California Publications in Semitic Philology. History of Egypt, 1382-1469 A.D. University of California Press. p. 165.
- D'hulster, Kristof; Steenbergen, Jo Van. "Family Matters: The Family-In-Law Impulse in Mamluk Marriage Policy". Annales Islamologiques. 47: 61–82. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
- Ghersetti, A. (2016). 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). Islamic History and Civilization. Brill. p. 56. ISBN 978-90-04-33452-6.
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