Al-Mu'ayyad Shihab al-Din Ahmad

Al-Mu'ayyad Shihab al-Din Ahmad (Arabic: المؤيد شهاب الدين أحمد بن اينال; 1430 – 28 January 1488) was the son of Sayf ad-Din Inal, and a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 26 February to 28 June 1461.^[1][2]

Al-Mu'ayyad Shihab al-Din Ahmad
Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Reign	26 February 1461 – 28 June 1461
Predecessor	Sayf ad-Din Inal
Successor	Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam
Born	1430 Cairo
Died	28 January 1488(1488-01-28) (aged 57–58) Alexandria
Father	Sayf ad-Din Inal
Mother	Khawand Zaynab

Biography

Shihab al-Din Ahmad was born in Cairo to Sayf ad-Din Inal and Khawand Zaynab bint Khasbek. He was emir al-hajj ("commander of the pilgrimage [to Mecca]"),^[3] before he was proclaimed sultan on 26 February 1461, after his father became ill.^[4]

However, Ahmad ruled for four months before peacefully abdicating on 28 June as a result of pressure from an alliance of powerful mamluk factions opposed to his leadership, including the Zahiris, Ashrafis, Nasiris and his own Mu'ayyadis. They were led by Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam who became sultan in Ahmad's stead.^[5] Ahmad was imprisoned along with his brother Al-Nasri Mohammed in Alexandria, until he was released during the reign of Timurbugha in 1467.

He was allowed to return to Cairo with his son Ali by Sultan Qaitbay, when his mother became ill in 1479. He later returned to Alexandria and lived there until his death on 28 January 1488.

His only known wife was the daughter of Süleyman Bey, ruler of the Dulkadirid. She had been previously married to Sultan Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq. She died on 27 April 1460.^[6]

References

1. Margoliouth, David Samuel (1911). "Egypt/3 History" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 80–130, see page 102. ...On his death on the 26th of February 1461 his son Aḥmad was proclaimed sultan with the title Malik al-Mu'ayyad; he had the usual fate of sultans' sons.....he was compelled to abdicate on the 28th of June 1461
2. Eduard von Zambaur (1980). معجم الأنساب والأسرات الحاكمة في التاريخ الإسلامي للمستشرق زامباور (in Arabic). Beirut: IslamKotob. p. 164.
3. Raymond 2000, p. 166.
4. Natho 2010, p. 216.
5. Natho 2010, p. 217.
6. D'hulster, Kristof; Steenbergen, Jo Van. "Family Matters: The Family-In-Law Impulse in Mamluk Marriage Policy". Annales Islamologiques. 47: 61–82. Retrieved 2021-11-30.

Sources

• Natho, Kadir I. (2010). Circassian History. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 978-1441523884.
• Raymond, A. (2000). Cairo. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674003160. Uthman Inal Sultan.

Regnal titles
Preceded by Sayf ad-Din Inal	Mamluk Sultan of Egypt 26 February 1461–28 June 1461	Succeeded by Sayf ad-Din Khushqadam