page_title: An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt
section_title: Early life and career
hierarchical_section_title: An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt / Early life and career
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Burg KerakEnglish&#x3a;&#32; Kerak CastleLietuvių&#x3a;&#32; Karako pilisMagyar&#x3a;&#32; Kerak (erőd)עברית&#160;&#x3a;&#32; מצודת כרכالعربية&#160;&#x3a;&#32; قلعة الكرك This is a photo of a monument in Jordan identified by the ID JO-KA-01
context_page_description: An-Nasir Shihab ad-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun, better known as an-Nasir Ahmad, was the Bahri Mamluk sultan of Egypt, ruling from January to June 1342. A son of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad, he became embroiled in the volatile succession process following his father's death in 1341. An-Nasir Ahmad lived much of his life in the desert fortress of al-Karak in Transjordan and was reluctant to assume the sultanate in Cairo, preferring al-Karak, where he was closely allied with the inhabitants of the city and the Bedouin tribes in its vicinity. His Syrian partisans, emirs Tashtamur and Qutlubugha al-Fakhri, successfully maneuvered to bring Syria under an-Nasir Ahmad's official control, while sympathetic emirs in Egypt were able to oust the Mamluk strongman Emir Qawsun and his puppet sultan, the five-year-old half-brother of an-Nasir Ahmad, al-Ashraf Kujuk. An-Nasir Ahmad eventually assumed the sultanate after frequently delaying his departure to Egypt.
  An-Nasir Ahmad was known to be a seclusive sultan, surrounding himself with his coterie of supporters from al-Karak, rarely making direct contact with the Mamluk emirs of Egypt and avoiding the public view.
context_section_description: Ahmad was born in 1316 or 1318. His father was Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad and his mother was Bayad, a singer and a slave girl freed by Emir Bahadur As and possibly given to an-Nasir Muhammad. At the time of his birth, Ahmad was an-Nasir Muhammad's only son (three other sons had died before Ahmad was born) and the only son of an-Nasir Muhammad born to Bayad. Bayad and an-Nasir Muhammad later divorced and the former married Maliktamur al-Sarjuwani, an emir who became Ahmad's stepfather. As a youth, Ahmad spent frequent bouts of time in the desert fortress of al-Karak under orders from his father. He was first sent there in 1324 under supervision and with a large budget to begin training in horsemanship and hunting. He was sent again in April 1326. Since Ayyubid times, but particularly during an-Nasir Muhammad's reign, al-Karak, which was isolated from the other Mamluk centers, became akin to a private academy for young Mamluk emirs where they could gain and perfect chivalric skills. Thus, Ahmad's residency in al-Karak was intended to imbue in him knightly qualities. While at al-Karak, Ahmad was under the supervision of its governor, Bahadur al-Badri. Nothing about Ahmad in the Mamluk-era sources is known between 1326 and 1331.
  In May 1331, Ahmad was recalled to Cairo, under the escort of Badri, where he was made an emir. His allotment of an emirate occurred on 30 September with much pomp and festivities. The following day, Ahmad left Cairo for al-Karak. Sometime in 1331, prior to Ahmad's arrival in Cairo, Bayad died. Her widower, Maliktamur, was appointed governor of al-Karak concurrent with Ahmad and Badri's arrival in Cairo. Maliktamur was ordered to raise Ahmad and ensure his education. In 1332, Ahmad and his brother Abu Bakr, who had also been at al-Karak at the time, met an-Nasir Muhammad and the latter's favored son and Ahmad's much younger brother, Anuk, at the Red Sea town of Aqaba, south of al-Karak. From there, they were to accompany their father to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage, but at the last minute, an-Nasir Muhammad sent Ahmad, Abu Bakr and Anuk to al-Karak under Maliktamur's care. Nothing is known about Ahmad's life between the latter event and 1337. 
  Ahmad was recalled to Cairo in 1337 by his angered father after the latter learned that Ahmad had been intimately associating with the riffraff of al-Karak. Upon Ahmad's arrival, an-Nasir Muhammad saw to it that Ahmad be married to Zahirbugha Tayirbugha, a daughter of one of an-Nasir Muhammad's leading emirs. Ahmad returned to al-Karak with his wife, who had been growing increasingly ill. At some point that year, Ahmad fell out with Maliktamur and requested from his father that the governorship of Mamlakat al-Karak (al-Karak Province) be transferred to him, a request which an-Nasir Muhammad acceded to. Ahmad thus became the governor of the fortresses of al-Karak and Shawbak, although an-Nasir Muhammad appointed an ustadar (majordomo), Emir Zumurrudi, to supervise him.
caption: The fortress of al-Karak, where Ahmad was based for much of his life
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