Politics of the Mamluk Sultanate

Timeline

1. 1373Cairo · EgyptSultan Sha'ban and emir Uljay al-Yusufi clashed in armed conflict, with commoners once again fighting alongside the sultan's loyalists. After about eleven engagements, Sha'ban turned Uljay's subordinates through the emir Aynal-Baq, and Uljay was killed that year. That same year, the Mamluks of Yalbugha's former retainers (including the future sultan Barquq) were permitted to return to Cairo from exile and train Sha'ban's newly purchased Mamluks.
2. 1374–1376Nile Delta · EgyptA severe famine lasting about two years broke out in Egypt. Sultan Sha'ban ordered grain distributed to the poor, spreading the financial burden among the emirs and wealthy merchants of Cairo to ease popular discontent and maintain regime stability.
3. 1376–1377Aqaba · LevantOn Sultan Sha'ban's pilgrimage to Mecca, royal Mamluks and unemployed Mamluks mutinied under the emir Aynal-Baq. The accompanying guard also turned against him; Sha'ban was captured at Aqaba and strangled by Jarqas al-Sayfi. The rebels enthroned his young son Mansur Ali as sultan, while real power was held by Barquq and low-ranking emirs such as Barqa.
4. 1378–1380Cairo · EgyptSultan Mansur Ali formally appointed Barquq as atabeg al-asakir (commander-in-chief of the army), through which Barquq gained control of the army and court financial channels, becoming the actual ruler behind the puppet sultan. The Qalawunid dynasty nominally continued, but the Circassian Mamluk faction had seized core power.