ABSTRACT
Both Qalāwūn (ruled 678–89/1279–90) and his middle son, al-Malik al-Ashraf (ruled 689–93/1290–3), are central to the history of the Crusades as it was largely due to their efforts that the Crusaders were expelled from the Syrian Levant. Qalāwūn was the seventh Mamluk ruler, and the fourth of the four strong rulers who founded the Mamluk state (the others were Aybak [648–55/1250–57], Quṭuz [657–58/1259–60] and Baybars al-Bunduqdārī [658–76/1260–77]). While Baybars attempted to have his children rule after him—and two of them did—the attempt to make the Mamluk regime hereditary at that time was abortive, most probably because the senior emirs (commanders) viewed the accession of a minor with trepidation. The Mongol menace of the time was simply too serious for an inexperienced youth to be allowed to rule. The chapter also presents the translation of a section of the sources concerning Qalāwūn, and highlight the work of Ibn 'Abd al-Ẓāhir.
