Baibars

c. 1223 – 1 July 1277

Baibars (al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari) was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria and one of the greatest military commanders of the medieval Islamic world. A Kipchak Turk sold into slavery in his youth, he rose through the Mamluk ranks, helped defeat both the Crusaders and the Mongols, and as sultan dismantled much of the Crusader presence in the Levant.

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Life events

Born in the Kipchak steppe
c. 1223

Baibars was born around 1223 among the Kipchak Turks of the Eurasian steppe, in the region north of the Black Sea.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Sold into slavery and trained as a Mamluk in Egypt
c. 1242

Captured after the Mongol invasions of the steppe, Baibars was sold as a slave soldier and eventually joined the elite Bahri Mamluk regiment of the Ayyubid sultan al-Salih Ayyub.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Fought at the Battle of La Forbie
October 1244

Baibars was a commander in the Egyptian army that crushed the Crusader-Syrian coalition at La Forbie near Gaza in October 1244.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Helped defeat the Crusaders of Louis IX at al-Mansurah
February 1250

In February 1250 Baibars played a leading role in the Egyptian victory at al-Mansurah that broke the Seventh Crusade and led to the capture of King Louis IX of France.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Ain Jalut
3 September 1260

On 3 September 1260 Baibars led the Mamluk vanguard in the victory at Ain Jalut, the first major defeat of the Mongols in open battle.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Became Sultan of Egypt and Syria
24 October 1260

After the assassination of Sultan Qutuz in October 1260, in which Baibars was implicated, he seized the throne as al-Malik al-Zahir.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Captured the Crusader city of Antioch
18 May 1268

On 18 May 1268 Baibars took Antioch, destroying one of the oldest Crusader states in a devastating sack.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Captured the fortress of Krak des Chevaliers
8 April 1271

Baibars took the great Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers in April 1271 after a short siege.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Elbistan
15 April 1277

In April 1277 Baibars marched into Anatolia and defeated a Mongol army at Elbistan in his final major campaign.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Died in Damascus
1 July 1277

Baibars died in Damascus on 1 July 1277, possibly from drinking poisoned kumis, and was buried in the Zahiriyya Library there.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓