Qalawun

al-Manṣūr Qalāwūn
al-Malik al-Manṣūr
  • kassim amir al-mu'minin''
For a time, Mamluk sultans after him received their coronation here.
Sultan of Egypt
ReignNovember 1279 – 10 November 1290
PredecessorSolamish
Successoral-Ashraf Khalil
Bornc. 1222
DiedNovember 10, 1290 (aged 67–68)
Cairo, Egypt
Burial
Consort
  • Fatima Khatun
  • Qutqutiya Khatun
  • Sitt Ashlun Khatun
Issue
Royal nameالملك الْمَنْصُور سيف الدّين قَلَاوُونَ بن عبد الله الألفي العلائي الصَّالِحِي
HouseQalawunid dynasty
DynastyBahri Mamluks
ReligionSunni Islam

Qalāwūn aṣ-Ṣāliḥī (Arabic: قلاوون الصالحي, c. 1222 – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Turkic Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt; he ruled from 1279 to 1290. He was called al-Manṣūr Qalāwūn (المنصور قلاوون, "Qalāwūn the Victorious").[1] After having risen in power in the Mamluk court and elite circles, Qalawun eventually held the title of "the victorious king" and gained de facto authority over the sultanate. He is the founder of the Qalawunid dynasty that ruled Egypt for over a century.

The current sultan, Barakah was exiled and rumored to have been poisoned by Qalawun. He would then wage war against the Crusaders, capturing lands held by the County of Tripoli, and later totally defeating them in 1289. Acre, a major Crusader stronghold was besieged by Qalawun but would only be taken by his son al-Ashraf Khalil as the former died before the siege was won in 1291. His son Khalil succeeded him as sultan.

  1. ^ Rabbat, Nasser O. (2021). The Citadel of Cairo. Brill. p. 136. ISBN 978-90-04-49248-6. When Qalāwūn assumed the throne in 1280, he took the regnal title al-manṣūr (the victorious).