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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Parthicus, post: 4336420, member: 81887&quot;][ATTACH=full]1099265[/ATTACH] </p><p>Bahri Mamluks.&nbsp; AE fals (20 mm).&nbsp; Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari, aka Baybars I (1260-1277 AD).&nbsp; Obverse: Lion (or possibly panther?) in lozenge of dots, inscription around (mostly off flan).&nbsp; Reverse: Inscription in six-pointed star.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The word &quot;Mamluk&quot; means &quot;slave&quot;, and referred to a specific type of higher-status slave trained in the military arts and permitted to carry and use weapons.&nbsp; The Mamluk rulers of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517) started out as slave soldiers of the Ayyubids, and eventually supplanted their masters.&nbsp; While the earlier Mamluks, referred to as the Bahri Mamluks (1250-1390) allowed hereditary succession like most monarchies, the later Mamluks, known as the Bujri Mamluks (1382-1517) stayed true to their roots and chose each ruler anew from their slave-origin military caste.</p><p><br /></p><p>Baybars was of Turkic origins, born in the Cuman-Kipchak confederation between the Volga and Ural Rivers, probably in 1223 (though some sources give 1228).&nbsp; He was captured by Bulgarians and sold into slavery in the Sultanate of Rum in 1242, and in 1247 ended up in the service of As-Salih Ayyub, the Sultan of Egypt.&nbsp; In 1250 he was a commander of Mamluk troops against Louis IX of France in the Seventh Crusade, and was present at the Battle of Fariskur where Louis IX was captured.&nbsp; Shortly afterwards, Baybars was part of a group of Mamluks who killed Sultan Turanshah (son of As-Salih Ayyub), leaving his widow Shajar al-Durr as the reigning Sultana.&nbsp; She soon married a Mamluk named Aybak, which is considered the end of the Ayyubids in Egypt and the start of the Bahri Mamluks.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1260, Baybars was still a military commander when he defeated the Ilkhan (Mongols in Iran) leader Hulagu at the Battle of Ain Jalut (in what is now northern Israel), which was the turning point in stopping the Mongol advance through the Muslim world.&nbsp; Mamluk sultan Qunduz was assassinated, supposedly in a plot by Baybars who was upset that he did not receive the governorship of Aleppo as a reward for his success.&nbsp; Baybars claimed the Sultanate of Egypt, and after defeating another claimant allowed some minor surviving Ayyubids who had helped fight off the Mongols to continue in their small realms, in exchange for recognizing him as Sultan.&nbsp; He also tried to shore up his legitimacy by sheltering the surviving heir to the Abbasid Caliphate.&nbsp; Though the Caliphate had long ceased to have real political power of its own, it continued as an important symbol of Muslim legitimacy, and the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258 threatened to end this link to the very origins of Muslim society.&nbsp; While this heir was killed in 1261 in a ludicrously poorly planned attempt to retake Baghdad (he brought just a few hundred horseman), another surviving Abbasid was duly proclaimed Caliph, and in turn confirmed Baybars as Sultan.</p><p><br /></p><p>The remainder of Baybars&#039; reign saw further fighting against both Crusaders and Mongols, as well as a successful campaign to conquer the Nubian Christian kingdom of Makuria.&nbsp; Baybars died in 1277 in Damascus, though the circumstances are unclear.&nbsp; He may have been poisoned, he may have died as a result of a wound sustained in recent fighting against the Mongols, or possibly even died of natural causes.&nbsp; He was succeeded by one of his sons, al-Said Barakah.</p><p><br /></p><p>I like the history behind this coin- you have to have some respect for a man who defeated both Crusaders and Mongols- as well as its pictorial type, which is always interesting to see in Islamic coinage.&nbsp; This type is usually described as a lion, and while it does resemble a lion, I can&#039;t help suspecting it may have been intended as a panther.&nbsp; Baybars&#039; name means &quot;noble panther&quot;, and who could resist making a visual pun on his own name?&nbsp; Baybars also created a charitable endowment for a cat garden in Cairo.&nbsp; The man was into felines, is what I&#039;m saying.&nbsp; Please post your coins of Baybars, or other related coins, or anything that would let me make another terrible Britney Spears pun.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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