ABSTRACT
Al-Zahir Baybars's comrades from the Mamluk household of al-Salih Ayyub remained an important political factor throughout his reign, and it was his policy to maintain good relations with them. The success of the conspiracy against Kutuz did not of itself secure the sultanate for Baybars. It marked the re-establishment of al-Salih Ayyub's military household, the Bahriyya or Salihiyya, in place of the rival Mu'izziyya, headed by Kutuz himself. Among the Salihiyya, Aktay al-Musta'rib remained the sultan's chief minister for many years. Meanwhile Baybars was placing increasing reliance on one of his own military household, the Zahiriyya, Bilik al-Khazindar, who understudied Aktay, shared his emoluments and succeeded him as the chief minister on his death. The annexation of Muslim Syria to the Mamluk sultanate was, as has been seen, a consequence of the Mongol invasion and the Mamluk victory at Ayn Jalut. The Mamluk households of the last two Ayyubids, the Aziziyya and the Nasiriyya, retained considerable power.
