Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay, 18th Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt

Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي; c. 1416/1418 – 7 August 1496)[a] was the eighteenth Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt from 872 to 901 A.H. (1468–1496 C.E.). He was Circassian 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.

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Family

One of his wives was the daughter of Sultan Sayf ad-Din Inal.[15] Another wife was Khawand Aslbay, a Circassian,[16] and sister of Sultan Abu Sa'id Qansuh. She was the mother of his son, Sultan Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad. After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultan Al-Ashraf Janbalat.[15] Another wife was Khawand Fatima, the daughter of Ala al-Din Ali bin Ali bin Al-Khassbak.[16] She was the mother of Ahmed (1462 – 1468) and Sitt al-Jarakisa (1464 – 1468).[17][18] After Qaitbay's death, she married Sultans Tuman bay I [15] and Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri.[19] She died on 6 June 1504.[16] Another wife was Khawand Zaynab.[20]

Biography

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