Qā’it Bey

Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Qa'it Bay (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي‎‎) (c. 1416/1418 – 1496) was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872-901 A.H. (1468-1496 C.E.). (Other transliterations of his name include Qaytbay and Kait Bey.) He was Circassian (Arabic: شركسيا‎‎) by birth, and was purchased by the ninth sultan Barsbay (1422 to 1438 C.E.) before being freed by the eleventh Sultan Jaqmaq (1438 to 1453 C.E.). During his reign, he stabilized the Mamluk state and economy, consolidated the northern boundaries of the Sultanate with the Ottoman Empire, engaged in trade with other contemporaneous polities, and emerged as a great patron of art and architecture. In fact, although Qaitbay fought sixteen military campaigns, he is best remembered for the spectacular building projects that he sponsored, leaving his mark as an architectural patron on Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and every quarter of Cairo. To some historians, he is infamous for building a fortress on the remains of the ancient wonder, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, in 1480, resulting in the final disappearance of the lighthouse, confining it to the history books.

Qaitbay was born between 1416 and 1418 in Great Circassia of the Caucasus. His skill in archery and horsemanship attracted the attention of a slave merchant who purchased him and brought him to Cairo when he was already over twenty years of age. He was quickly purchased by the reigning sultan Barsbay and became a member of the palace guard. He was freed by Barsbay's successor, Jaqmaq, after knowing that Qaitbay a descendant of Al-Ashraf Musa Abu'l-Fath al-Muzaffar ad-Din and appointed third executive secretary; under the reigns of Sayf ad-Din Inal, Khushqadam, and Yilbay he was further promoted through the Mamluk military hierarchy, eventually becoming taqaddimat alf, commander of a thousand Mamluks. Under the Sultan Timurbugha, finally, Qaitbay was appointed atabak, or field marshal of the entire Mamluk army. During this period Qaitbay amassed a considerable personal fortune which would enable him to exercise substantial acts of beneficence as sultan without draining the royal treasury.

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