Al-Mansur Ala' ad-Din Ali ibn Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1368 – 19 May 1381), better known as al-Mansur Ali II, was the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

sultan reigning in 1377–1381. He was installed to the throne while a child by the senior Mamluk emirs after they had rebelled against and killed al-Mansur Ali's father, Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban (r. 1361–1377). Al-Mansur Ali was a figurehead, with real power being held by the senior emirs, most prominently

Barquq Al-Malik Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Barquq ( Circassian: Бэркъукъу аз-Захьир Сэфудин; ar, الملك الظاهر سيف الدين برقوق; ruled 1382–1389 and 1390–1399; born in Circassia) was the first Sultan of the ...

. Al-Mansur Ali died about four years into his reign and was succeeded by his younger brother,

as-Salih Hajji Al-Salih Hajji (Epithet: Al-Salih Salah Zein al-Din Hajji II), also Haji II, was a Mamluk ruler, and the last ruler of the Bahri dynasty in 1382. He briefly ruled again in 1389, during the advent of the Burji dynasty. He fell hostage to Barquq ...

, although real power was still held by Barquq, who usurped the throne in 1382.

Biography

Al-Mansur Ali was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

in 1368. His father was Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban (r. 1363–1377) and his mother was Khawand bint Manklibugha, the daughter of a Mamluk emir. Al-Mansur Ali had seven brothers and half-brothers and six sisters and half-sisters. His brothers were Abu Bakr (d. 1400), Ahmad (d. before 1381), Ramadan (d. before 1381), Qasim (d. before 1381), Isma'il (d. 1395) and

Hajji Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since i ...

(d. 1412). His sisters that were named in the Mamluk-era sources were Khadija (d. 1422/23) and Fatima (d. 1432). Al-Ashraf Sha'ban was killed in a ''

mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

'' revolt in March 1377 and the rebel Mamluk emirs installed al-Mansur Ali, then a young child, as sultan. In the power struggle between the rebels, two relatively low-ranking emirs and ''mamluks'' of Emir

Yalbugha al-Umari Sayf ad-Din Yalbugha ibn Abdullah al-Umari an-Nasiri al-Khassaki, better known as Yalbugha al-Umari or Yalbugha al-Khassaki, was a senior Mamluk emir during the Bahri period. Originally a ''mamluk'' of Sultan an-Nasir Hasan (r. 1347–1351, 1354� ...

(d. 1366),

and Baraka, became the regents of al-Mansur Ali. Barquq had taken part in the ''mamluk'' revolt against al-Ashraf Sha'ban, and was formally appointed to the powerful post of ''atabeg al-asakir'' (commander in chief) by al-Mansur Ali in 1378. Although sultans typically had access to the royal treasury, al-Mansur Ali's income was limited to a daily stipend. Al-Mansur Ali died on 19 May 1381, and were it not for the strong objections of the other senior emirs, Barquq would have assumed the sultanate and thereby bring an end to the

Qalawun ( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290. He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious"). Biography and rise to power Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turki ...

id dynasty that been in power since 1277. Instead, al-Mansur Ali was succeeded by his younger brother, as-Salih Hajji, then nine years old. Barquq remained the power behind the throne until he toppled as-Salih Hajji and usurped the sultanate in November 1382.

References

{{Mamluk Sultans of Egypt 1368 births 1381 deaths 14th-century Mamluk sultans Bahri sultans Medieval child rulers