Sayf al-Din Salar

Sayf al-Din Salar al-Mansuri (Arabic: سيف الدين سالار المنصوري, romanized: Sayf ad-Dīn Salār al-Manṣūrī, c. 1260s–September or October 1310) was the viceroy of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad during the latter's second reign (1299–1310). As a boy he was taken captive at the Battle of Elbistan in 1277 and became a mamluk (slave soldier) of the emir al-Salih Ali and eleven years later by the latter's father Sultan Qalawun. Salar distinguished himself in his training as a skilled horseman among other mamluks of the Mansuriyya faction (mamluks of Qalawun). He was promoted to the rank of ustadar (majordomo) by his friend, Sultan Lajin in 1299. After participating in Lajin's assassination later that year he effectively became the strongman of the sultanate alongside Baybars al-Jashankir. Despite tensions and incidents between their respective factions, Salar and Baybars avoided direct conflict throughout their power-sharing arrangement. Salar continued as viceroy when Baybars acceded as sultan in 1309 after al-Nasir Muhammad stepped down and exiled himself. After Baybars was deposed in 1310, al-Nasir Muhammad returned to power and Salar was consequently imprisoned and starved to death. His sons and grandsons became middle-ranking emirs of al-Nasir Muhammad and his successors.