Baibars

al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari (Arabic: الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري‎, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī) (1223/1228 –1287), of Turkic Kipchak origin, commonly known as Baibars (Arabic: بيبرس‎, Baybars) – nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (أبو الفتوح; English: Father of Conquest, referring to his victories) — was the fourth sultan of Egypt in the Mamluk Bahri dynasty.
He is best known for his part in reversing the string of territorial losses suffered by the Mamluks within the Middle East at the hands of the Crusaders, the Romans and the Mongol Khans.
Born in Cumania, in the Modern day region of the Ukraine and Caucuses, as a child Baibars was sold into slavery, one of many thousands transported southwards in that lucrative trade. There he was purchased by the Egyptians to be trained, first as a bodyguard and later as a battlefield commander of the Mamluks. It was due to his successes on the battlefield that he gained the favor of the Vice-Sultan Saif ad-Din Qutuz, whom he aided in palace intrigues, first to seize power from the Sultan, then from his patron less than a year later.
Commanding a realm that was surrounded on all sides by enemies, Baibars became known for quick, decisive and ultimately brutal action, crushing any threats to his rule. It can be attributed to his son and successors easy transition to power was due to this efficient and final removal of his enemies, taking the Mamluk Sultanate from a kingdom scarred from its repulsion of the crusader states established during the fourth crusade facing challenges to its independence from the ever ambitious Crusader States of the Holy Land, to a regional powerhouse capable of challenging the Mongol Hordes and retaking lost territories.