Al-Mansur Qalawun

Qalawun aṣ-Ṣāliḥī
al-Malik al-Manṣūr
Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Reign	November 1279 – 10 November 1290
Predecessor	Solamish
Successor	al-Ashraf Khalil
Born	c.1222
Died	November 10, 1290 Cairo
Consort	Ashlūn bint Shaktāy
Issue	al-Ashraf Khalil an-Nasir Muhammad
Royal name	الملك المنصور سيف الدين قلاوون الألفى الصالحى النجمى العلاءى
Dynasty	Bahri Mamluks
Religion	Sunni Islam

Qalāwūn aṣ-Ṣāliḥī (Arabic: قلاوون الصالحي‎‎, c. 1222 – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290.

Qalawun was a Kipchak who became a mamluk (slave soldier) in the 1240s after being sold to a member of Sultan al-Kamil's household. Qalawun was known as al-Alfī ("the Thousander") because as-Salih Ayyub bought him for a thousand dinars of gold.

Qalawun initially barely spoke Arabic, but he rose in power and influence and became an emir under Sultan Baibars, whose son, al-Said Barakah, was married to Qalawun's daughter. Baibars died in 1277 and was succeeded by Barakah. In early 1279, as Barakah and Qalawun invaded the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, there was a revolt in Egypt that forced Barakah to abdicate upon his return home. He was succeeded by his brother Solamish, but it was Qalawun, acting as atabeg, who was the true holder of power. Because Solamish was only seven years old, Qalawun argued that Egypt needed an adult ruler, and Solamish was sent into exile in Constantinople in late 1279. As a result, Qalawun took the title al-Malik al-Manṣūr.

The governor of Damascus, Sungur, did not agree with Qalawun's ascent to power and declared himself sultan. Sungur's claim of leadership, however, was repelled in 1280, when Qalawun defeated him in battle. In 1281, Qalawun and Sungur reconciled as a matter of convenience when Abaqa Khan, head of the Ilkhanate, invaded Syria. Qalawun and Sungur, working together, successfully repelled Abaqa's attack at the Second Battle of Homs.

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