# Burji Mamluks

The Burji Mamluks (Arabic: المماليك البرجية, romanized: al-Mamalik al-Burjiya) or Circassian Mamluks (Arabic: المماليك الشركس, romanized: al-Mamalik al-Sharkas), sometimes referred to as the Burji dynasty, were the rulers of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt from 1382 until 1517. As with the preceding Bahri Mamluks, the members of the Burji Mamluk ruling class were purchased as slaves (mamluks) and manumitted, with the most powerful among them taking the role of sultan in Cairo. During this period, the ruling Mamluks were generally of Circassian origin, drawn from the Christian population of the northern Caucasus. The name Burji, meaning 'of the tower', refers to the traditional residence of these Mamluks in the barracks of the Citadel of Cairo.
Although sultans typically designated their sons to succeed them after death, the latter rarely lasted more than a few years before being usurped by one of the powerful Mamluk commanders, usually from among the Mamluks purchased by previous sultans. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan.
During this period, the Mamluks fought Timur and conquered Cyprus. Over the course of the 15th century, the sultanate was weakened by infighting and economic decline brought about by multiple factors. Although militarily powerful, they were eventually unable to compete with the more modern army of the Ottoman Empire, leading to their eventual conquest in 1517 by the Ottomans.

## History
### Establishment and early challenges

From 1250, Egypt had been ruled by the first Mamluk dynasty, the mostly Cuman-Kipchak Turkic Bahri dynasty. In 1377 a revolt broke out in Syria which spread to Egypt, and the government was taken over by the Circassians Barakah and Barquq; Barquq was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty. He was expelled in 1389 but recaptured Cairo in 1390. Early on, the Zahiri Revolt threatened to overthrow Barquq though the conspiracy was discovered before agitators could mobilize. Permanently in power, he founded the Burji dynasty.
Faced with a common enemy, Timur, Barquq joined with Bayezid I and Toktamish in a combined resistance and executed Timur's peace envoys. In the following months Timur was engaged in Georgia and unable to respond to Barquq's actions, while Barquq had died by 1399. In 1401, Timur invaded Syria and sacked Aleppo and Damascus. Syria was regained by Barquq's son, sultan Nasir-ad-Din Faraj, after Timur died in 1405, but Faraj continually faced rebellions from the emirs there and he was forced to abdicate in 1412.
After Faraj, the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'in was permitted to rule the sultanate in Cairo for several months, but the role of sultan was soon taken by another Mamluk, Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh.

### Apogee and decline

Under the reign of Sultan Barsbay, the Mamluk Sultanate grew to its widest territorial extent. In 1426, he invaded the Kingdom of Cyprus and forced its kings to become Mamluk vassals. However, Barsbay also introduced a number of economic policies that were damaging in the long term, such as a state monopoly on the spice trade. During Barsbay's reign Egypt's population was greatly reduced from what it had been a few centuries before, with only one fifth of the number of towns. He frequently raided Asia Minor, but died in 1438.
During the reign of Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq an attempt to conquer Rhodes in 1444 from the Knights of St. John was repelled.
Sayf ad-Din Inal came to power in 1453 and had friendly relations with the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, who captured Constantinople later that year, causing great celebration in Egypt. The relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks became more adversarial after this time. Both states constantly vied for control of the spice trade, and the Ottomans aspired to eventually take control of the Holy Cities of Islam. Under the reign of Khusqadam, of Greek origin, tensions increased. Both Khusqadam and Mehmed II supported different candidates to the principality of Karaman.
After the death of Mehmed II in 1481, Sultan Qaitbay offended the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II by harboring his rebellious brother, Cem. Bayezid II later seized Adana, Tarsus and other places within Mamluk territory, but was unable to defeat the Mamluks during a prolonged war that ended in 1491. Qaitbay also tried to help the Muslims in Spain by threatening the Christians in Syria, but without effect. He died in 1496, leaving several hundred thousand ducats in debts to the great Venetian trading families.
Following another several years of political instability and succession disputes, the last major Mamluk sultan was Qansuh al-Ghuri, who came to power in 1501. While he attempted some reforms, including the introduction of the first military regiment with gunpowder weapons, he was unable to fully integrate them into the Mamluk army and he could not fix the country's economic problems.

### Conquest by the Ottomans

By 1516, the Ottomans were free from other concerns — Sultan Selim I had just vanquished the Safavid Persians at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 —and turned their full might against the Mamluks, who still ruled in Syria and Egypt, to complete the Ottoman conquest of the Middle East. Al-Ghuri led his army to confront Selim I's invasion of Syria in 1516, but he died in the Battle of Marj Dabiq and the Mamluk army was routed.
In 1517, the Ottomans completed their conquest with the capture of Cairo on January 22. The centre of power transferred from Cairo to Constantinople. However, the mamluks continued to exist as a political and military class in Ottoman Egypt. While the governors were appointed by the Ottoman sultan, the mamluks vied for influence within the country and held many high political positions. They were finally destroyed and exterminated by Muhammad Ali Pasha during his rise to power in Egypt in the early 19th century.

## List of Burji Sultans

| Titular Name(s) | Personal Name | Reign |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf-ad-Din Barquq سیف الدین برقوق | 1382–1389 first reign |
| Sultan As-Saleh Al-Muzaffar Al-Mansur سلطان الصالح المظفر المنصور | Salah-ad-Din Hajji II صلاح الدین حاجی ثانی | 1389 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf-ad-Din Barquq سیف الدین برقوق | 1390–1399 second reign |
| Al-Nasir الناصر | Nasir-ad-Din Faraj ناصر الدین فرج | 1399–1405 first reign |
| Al-Mansur المنصور | Izz ad-Din Abd al-Aziz عز الدین عبدالعزیز | 1405 |
| Al-Nasir الناصر | Nasir-ad-Din Faraj ناصر الدین فرج | 1405–1412 second reign |
| Al-Adil العادل | Al-Musta'in Billah المستعین باللہ | 1412 |
| Al-Mu'ayyad المؤید | Shaykh al-Mahmudi شيخ المحمودى | 1412–1421 |
| Al-Muzaffar المظفر | Ahmad أحمد | 1421 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf ad-Din Tatar سیف الدین تتر | 1421 |
| As-Saleh الصالح | An-Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ناصر الدین محمد | 1421–1422 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Sayf-ad-Din Barsbay سیف الدین برسبای | 1422–1437 |
| Al-Aziz العزیز | Jamal-ad-Din Yusuf جمال الدین یوسف | 1437–1438 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq سیف الدین جقمق | 1438–1453 |
| Al-Mansur المنصور | Fakhr-ad-Din Uthman فخرالدین عثمان | 1453 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Sayf-ad-Din Inal سیف الدین إینال | 1453–1461 |
| Al-Mu'ayyad المؤید | Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad شھاب الدین أحمد | 1461 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam سیف الدین خوش قدم | 1461–1467 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Sayf ad-Din Bilbay سیف الدین بلبأی | 1467 |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Taimur Bugha تیمور بغا | 1467–1468 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Sayf-ad-Din Qait Bay سیف الدین قایتبای | 1468–1496 |
| Al-Nasir الناصر | Muhammad bin Qait Bay الناصر محمد بن قایتبای | 1496–1497 first reign |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Qansuh Khumsama'ah [arz] قانصوه خمسمائة | 1497 |
| Al-Nasir الناصر | Muhammad bin Qait Bay الناصر محمد بن قایتبای | 1497–1498 second reign |
| Al-Zahir الظاہر | Qansuh Al-Ashrafi قانصوہ الأشرفی | 1498–1500 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Al-Ashraf Janbalat جنبلاط | 1500–1501 |
| Al-Adil العادل | Sayf-ad-Din Tuman Bay I سیف الدین طومان بای | 1501 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Qansuh Al-Ghawri قانصوہ الغوری | 1501–1516 |
| Al-Ashraf الأشرف | Tuman Bay II طومان بای | 1516–1517 |
| Burji dynasty of the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) falls to Ottoman Empire under Sultan Selim I in 1517 C.E. |||
* Orange shaded row signifies brief interruption in the rule of Burji dynasty by Bahri dynasty.
** Silver shaded row signifies interruption in the rule of Burji dynasty by Abbasid dynasty.