On Shaaban 14 647 AH / November 21 1249 AD, while the Crusader forces were led by King Louis IX of France on the outskirts of the Egyptian city of Mansoura, the powerful and righteous Ayyubid Sultan Najm al-Din Ayyub died, and this death led to sudden turmoil among the military and administrative elite for fear of low morale of the army And if people knew about this death, but the behavior of the maidservant of the Sultan (Shajar al-Durr) al-Hakim by concealing his death except from the army commander, Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Sheikh and a few of the senior statesmen of the Mamluks and ministers, then by declaring allegiance to his only remaining son and crown prince, Ghiyath al-Din al-Muazzam Turanshah among them, who was Present in southern Anatolia at the time, he contributed to the reunification of the military front and its continued cohesion in those difficult times.

Therefore, in conjunction with these developments, the army commander at the time sent Prince Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Sheikh to Fort Kayfa near Diyarbakir in order to bring the crown prince, the great King Turanshah quickly, so he rode immediately, then arrived in Damascus on Eid al-Fitr and feasted there, and finally landed He traveled to Mansoura at the beginning of Dhu al-Qi`dah of the same year.

King of France Louis IX captured

King of France Louis IX.

(communication Web-sites)

The Crusader forces at that time had reached the outskirts of the eastern side of the city of Mansoura at the beginning of the month of Ramadan, taking advantage of the death of the good king, and they were separated from the Muslims by the Damietta branch of the Nile, but their progress was very difficult due to the fierce resistance of the Ayyubid army consisting of the Kurds and the Mamluks, and the volunteers from the Egyptians .

The truth is that the Muslims were able to thwart the Crusader attempts, which lasted for nearly a month, to build a bridge to cross to Mansoura on the other bank, as whenever the Crusaders tried to narrow the width of the river on their side, the Muslims expanded it on the opposite side, but on “Tuesday the skinning (end) of the holy month of Ramadan was the fall The great battle between the Muslims and the Franks, many of the two groups were killed, then the Franks descended in front of the Muslims on Mansoura, and in that day the Franks made a great trench and surrounded a wall over it, and set up catapults with which to shoot the Muslims, and the Franks' barrages and their ravens (their military ships) faced them against Mansoura, then the fighting continued Between the two teams, day and night, until Wednesday, six of their cavalry escaped from the Franks, and they came to Emir Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Sheikh, the state administrator, and told them that the Franks were in great distress due to their lack of sustenance.” [1] As the Mamluk historian Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari told us.

Finally, in Dhu al-Qi`dah 647 AH / February 1250 AD, the Crusaders were able to cross the Damietta branch from the eastern side of Mansoura to the nearby Jadila area, then the vanguard of that army, led by my brother King Louis IX, Count Robert Artois, quickly attacked an Egyptian camp and occupied it, and in response to this surprise the prince came out Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Sheikh quickly, without being shielded, was martyred with an arrow that killed him immediately, so "the period of his management of the kingdom in the Egyptian lands was seventy-five days" [2], after the death of the righteous Sultan Ayoub in the middle of Sha'ban of the same year.

With the death of the army commander and state mastermind, the Crusaders were deceived by this partial victory and advanced towards Mansoura, killing everyone they found in the streets and alleys until they reached the palace of the righteous Sultan Ayoub there, but here the valor of the righteous Mamluk forces in charge of guarding the city appeared, so Prince Faris al-Din Abu al-Haija and Prince Rukn al-Din Baybars rode Al-Bunduqdari, who later became a sultan at the head of the Turkish Mamluk force. And its luster is like lightning, for God has dirhams. On that day, they revived Islam again, with every lion of the Turks whose heart is stronger than iron. It was only an hour, and then the Franks turned on their heels, defeated.” [3], with the loss of the Crusaders of more than two thousand and fifty dead, and hundreds of the captives.

The Crusaders withdrew to the other bank of the Damietta branch of the Nile, and tried to escape north towards Damietta, and at the city of Faraskur, the decisive battle took place in which the power of the new Sultan Turanshah, the Mamluks and the Volunteer emerged. The arrival from Damietta to them, they did not have patience left for the place, so they departed on Wednesday night heading to Damietta, and the Muslims rode on their shoulders, and when it settled on Wednesday morning, the Muslims mixed with them and put the sword on them, so only a few of them were spared, and the number of the dead among the Franks reached thirty thousand according to what was said. Reed Everness (King of France) and those with him of the kings sided with a country there, and they asked for safety, so Al-Tawashi (the servant soldier) Mohsen al-Salihi secured them, then they were surrounded and brought to Mansoura, and Reed Everness was tied up, and he was placed in the house where the construction writer Fakhruddin bin Luqman used to stay. Al-Tawashi was entrusted to him by Subeh Al-Maadami.”[4]

Harsh conditions and humiliating withdrawal

After the fall of Louis IX and most of his army leaders and soldiers in captivity, he had to comply reluctantly with the conditions dictated to him by the Muslims under the leadership of Sultan Turanshah bin Al-Saleh Ayyub.

(communication Web-sites)

The defeat of the Crusaders was the result of many factors, including: the delay in the attack, the failure to withdraw at the appropriate times, as well as the hunger, disease and exhaustion that they faced, as well as the guerrilla warfare strategy that they were subjected to by the Muslims, and the Ayyubid army took advantage of the new Mamluk leadership after the martyrdom of the commander Fakhr Al-Din Ibn Al-Sheikh combined these factors, so they killed and captured the Crusaders, and did not accept a peace agreement during their siege of the Crusader camp.

After the fall of Louis IX and most of his army commanders and soldiers in captivity, he had to comply unwillingly with the conditions dictated to him by the Muslims under the leadership of Sultan Turanshah bin Al-Saleh Ayyub. 800,000 golden Byzantine dinars as a ransom for all the Crusader captives, half of which is paid in advance, and the other half is with the liberation of these Crusader captives.

The conditions also included the release of all Muslim prisoners in his possession and also those in the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant who had been arrested for twenty years, since the Jaffa agreement between his grandfather, Al-Kamil Al-Ayyubi, and Emperor Frederick II of Germany in the year 626 AH and until the day of the conclusion of this agreement.

Likewise, that the Crusaders maintain security, peace, and stability in all the countries under their control in the Levant, and not encroach on the Islamic villages and cities close to them[5].

And there is a condition that the Muslims wanted to force Louis IX with, but he was unable to achieve it, which is the restoration of the Crusader kingdoms in the Levant, and this is because they were not among his possessions. A full year after it fell into the hands of the Crusaders, and the remnants of the Crusaders went out to the city of Acre in the Levant, and thus the Seventh Crusade ended in abject failure.

A heartbreaking end for a smart Sultan

The senior Mamluk princes agreed with the royal army closest to Turanshah, known at the time as "Jund al-Halaqa", to destroy the new sultan, whose presence threatened everyone's privileges.

(communication Web-sites)

This failed crusade, and before it the battle of Harbiye or Lavorbih in northern Gaza, was one of the most important reasons that revealed the extent of the strength of the new Mamluk division in the Ayyubid army, but instead of respecting and appreciating this valiant military division, the new Sultan, the great Turanshah, began to treat them with contempt, and sought to persecute them. them.

On the other hand, Turanshah was not in the eyes of the Mamluk military like his good father or his complete grandfather. They saw his frivolity early, and knew what he was harboring towards them. The battle of Mansoura, and it was he who preserved the sultanate for him after the death of his good father Ayoub, and he was able to gather the fragments of the army and restore its shape and draw its plans. And some of his cloth for half the value, and he did not give them a dirham, nor did he replace the heirs with anything, and the price was fifteen thousand dinars, and if he sat, he made the good deeds of Fakhr al-Din bad, saying: He released flax and sugar, spent money, and released the locks, so what did he leave for me? For the military, and his fighting against the enemies is one of his greatest sins.”[6]

For this reason, the senior Mamluk princes feared for themselves and their privileges. At a time when his good father Ayoub was bringing them closer and giving them fiefdoms that would bring them abundant funds, Turanshah began to exempt the Mamluk princes from their positions and appoint some of those who came with him from Hisn Kayfa instead of them before decisively resolving the battle with the Crusaders. It is final, and it is for the right to exemption that had no need in light of this military operation against the Crusaders. The historian Ibn al-Amid says: “Al-Mu’azzam started distancing his father’s servants and his relatives, and brought his servants closer who arrived with him from the east, so Masrour made the servant the master of his house, and Sobeh the prince of his jandar (the official). On the authority of the Royal Mail) and he was an Abyssinian slave, a stallion, and he commanded that a stick of gold be forged for him, and he bestowed upon him money and kindness, and isolated his father’s servants (the Turks) and abused them and a group of his mamluks and threatened them, so a group of them gathered and agreed to kill him "[7].

On the Crusader side, the Crusader historian Joinville - who was captured at the time - recounts that the senior Mamluk princes agreed with the royal army closest to Turanshah, known at the time as "Soldiers of the Circle", to destroy the new sultan, whose presence had become a threat to everyone's privileges, and Joinville said: "Therefore They entered into discussions with the soldiers of the circle, whose duty it was to guard the person of their master, and they obtained a promise from them that as soon as the princes asked them to kill the Sultan, they would do so "[8].

The great Sultan Turanshah Al-Ayyubi was a smart young man, who contributed to restoring an emergency military plan to confront the Crusaders on the eastern bank of the Nile, and he had an important and decisive role in the Battle of Fariskur, in which thousands of Crusaders were killed (communication sites)

After the Crusaders, led by Louis IX, left Egypt towards Acre, the Mamluks proceeded to implement the plan, and the implementation of the assassination plan was led by Rukn al-Din Baybars, Faris al-Din Aktay, and Izz al-Din Aybak al-Turkmani, and two of these would become the first and third sultan of the Mamluks, and the historian Abu Shama narrated in his history “The tail on the two gardens” that “in Safar in the year six hundred and forty-eight, the news reached that Al-Muazzam Turanshah bin Al-Saleh Ayyub bin Al-Kamil bin Al-Adil was killed in the hallway of the tent after he extended the table (table), he was struck with a sword, and he was defeated, and he entered the wooden tower and was burned, so he threw himself to the side of the Nile, So he was overtaken and cut down in the village of Fariskur, and that was from his father’s marine servants.”[9] Abu Shama quoted an eyewitness of that incident with tragic details showing that he died by drowning.

So, the Mamluks were not satisfied with this renewal and replacement in the supreme military command of the army with elements loyal to al-Muazzam from Hasankeyf, especially when they saw them as less than them in experience, prestige, and rank, in addition to their fear of the news that was coming to them that al-Muazzam wanted to kill them and kill them after completing the implementation. Reconciliation with the Crusaders, and then some of the senior Mamluk princes agreed to kill him, and before the reconciliation was concluded with the Crusaders to hand over Damietta and other conditions, the Mamluks killed the great Turanshah on Muharram 28 648 AH, and he was less than thirty years old, and the Kurdish princes of Qaymariya did not help him. And none of the soldiers of the circle from the rest of the Mamluks loyal to his father;

Because of their weakness in front of the Mamluks, and perhaps to buy the Mamluks for them, then he was buried near Damietta, and they did not rule except for a period of about three months, during which he did not enter the capital of his kingdom, Cairo [10].

The truth is that the great Sultan Turanshah Al-Ayyubi was a smart young man, who contributed to re-establishing an emergency military plan to confront the Crusaders on the eastern bank of the Nile, and he had an important and decisive role in the Battle of Fariskur in which thousands of Crusaders were killed, and thousands of others were captured, led by King Louis IX of France, The Crusaders recognized him for his intelligence and military acumen, as Joinville said: “The deceased sultan (as-Salih Ayyub) had a son (Turanshah) who was wise, tactful, and shrewd”[11].

Despite this intelligence, al-Muazzam betrayed success and timing, as well as his lack of appreciation for the role of the Mamluks and the former army commander, Fakhr al-Din ibn al-Sheikh, in preserving the Sultanate for him, and defending Egypt themselves in its most difficult moments in front of a mighty crusade led by the King of France himself and many other European leaders who assisted him. .

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Sources

[1] Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari: Kanz al-Durar 7/375.

[2] Ibn al-Ameed: News of the Ayyubids, p. 37.

[3] Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari: Kanz al-Durar 7/377.

[4] Abu Al-Feda: Al-Mukhtasar fi Akhbar Al-Bishr 3/181.

[5] Mahmoud Saeed Omran: History of the Crusades, p. 314.

[6] Sibt Ibn Al-Jawzi: Mirat Al-Zaman 8/516.

[7] Ibn al-Ameed: News of the Ayyubids, p. 38.

[8] Suhail Zakkar: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Crusades, Biography of Saint Louis of Joinville 35/111, 112.

[9] Abu Shama: The tail on the two gardens, p. 185.

[10] Ibn Aybak al-Dawadari: Kanz al-Durar 7/382, 383.

[11] Biography of Saint Louis by Joinville 35/111, quoted by Suhail Zakkar.