Baibars or Baybars (Arabic: الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري‎, al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī) (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak origin — nicknamed Abu al-Futuh and Abu l-Futuhat (Arabic: أبو الفتوح; English: Father of Conquest, referring to his victories) — was the fourth Sultan of Egypt in the Mamluk Bahri dynasty. He was one of the commanders of the Egyptian forces that inflicted a defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France. He also led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked the first substantial defeat of the Mongol army and is considered a turning point in history.

The reign of Baibars marked the start of an age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean and solidified the durability of their military system. He managed to pave the way for the end of the Crusader presence in the Levant and reinforced the union of Egypt and Syria as the region's pre-eminent Muslim state, able to fend off threats from both Crusaders and Mongols, and even managed to subdue the kingdom of Makuria, which was famous for being unconquerable by previous Muslim empire invasion attempts. As Sultan, Baibars also engaged in a combination of diplomacy and military action, allowing the Mamluks of Egypt to greatly expand their empire.

His name was derived from Kipchak Turkic ("chief") + ("panther").

Baibars was a Cuman born in the Dasht-i Kipchak, between the Edil (Volga) and Yaiyk (Ural) rivers. There is a discrepancy in Ibn Taghrībirdī's dating of his birth, since he says it took place in 625 AH (12 December 1227–29 November 1228) and also that Baibars was about 24 years old in 1247, which would put his birth closer to 1223. He belonged to the Barli tribe. According to a fellow Cuman and eyewitness, Badr al-Din Baysari, the Barli fled the armies of the Mongols, arranging to settle in the Second Bulgarian Empire. They crossed the Black Sea from either Crimea or Alania, where they had settled in the meantime, to Bulgaria about 1242. After a time, the Bulgarians turned on the Cumans and attacked them. Baysari and Baibars were among the captives and were sold into slavery in the Sultanate of Rum at the slave market in Sīwās. He was sold at Aleppo to 'Alā’ al-Dīn Īdīkīn al-Bunduqārī, an Egyptian of high rank, who brought him to Cairo. In 1247, al-Bunduqārī was arrested and the sultan of Egypt, As-Salih Ayyub, confiscated his slaves, including Baibars.

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