Al-Qa'im (Abbasid caliph at Cairo)

Abū al-Baqa Hamza Al-Qa'im (), (died 1458) was the thirteenth Abbasid caliph of Cairo for the Mamluk Sultanate between 1451 and 1455. He was deposed by Sultan Sayf ad-Din Inal after al-Qa'im supported a mutiny of ''mamluks'' against Inal.

Life

He was the son of Al-Mutawakkil I and he was the successor to the office after the death of his brother, who was not entrusted with succession to anyone after him. He was a strict man, and he established his reign. Al-Zawahiri died in early 857 AH. The Caliph took his son, ''Othman'', as the ruler of the Sultanate. He took the title of Al-Mansour. He was the ruler of the state, Prince Anal, and a month and a half after he took over the Sultanate.

Most of Uthman's Zahiri ''mamluks'' abandoned their support for Inal by 16 March when the ''Caliph'' al-Qa'im and the top ''qadis'' ("judges") passed a resolution stripping Uthman of his executive authority. Inal, at age 73, was thereby proclaimed sultan and entered the citadel later that week, capturing Uthman.Muir, 1896, p
156
/ref> On 9 April Inal had Uthman imprisoned in Alexandria.

On 15 June 1455 Inal faced a mutiny by roughly 500 of his Circassian ''mamluks'' after assembling them to launch an expedition against Bedouin tribesmen invading al-Buhayra Province (the Delta region.)Levanoni, 1995, p.
128
/ref>Muir, 1896, p
157
/ref> Inal had rejected their requests for customary camels as a result of the poor economic conditions of the sultanate. Consequently, the ''mamluks'' rallied in Cairo's horse market, refusing to participate in the expedition. Being leaderless, the mutineers were organized and directed by the higher ranking ''mamluks''. They attempted to assassinate Yunus al-Aqba'i, Inal's executive secretary, as he departed from the Cairo Citadel, but his bodyguards warded off the attackers, wounding a few of them. The mutineers were then joined by the recently dismissed Zahiris (the faction which Inal originally hailed from) and subsequently besieged the citadel, demanding higher salaries and the handing over of Yunus.Natho, 2010, p
216
/ref> Afterward, Inal sent disciplinary officers to assuage the ''mamluks'' concerns, but to no avail. The ''mamluks'' proceeded to raid Yunus's house, but were unsuccessful and returned to the horse market. There, Inal sent a herald to offer the ''mamluks'' amnesty and their wounded compensation, but they refused and severely beat the herald. After the ''mamluks'' blocked the street to the citadel preventing the royal ''emirs'' from leaving. Inal dispatched four ''emirs'' to negotiate with the ''mamluks'', but they were taken hostage until their demands were met.Levanoni, 1995, p
129
/ref>

The mutiny convinced Caliph al-Qa'im to abandon his support for Inal and join the uprising. With the caliph providing symbolic legitimacy to the ''mamluks'', they took up arms and assaulted the citadel. Finding himself faced with no alternatives, Inal launched an offensive against the mutineers. The Royal Mamluk Guard of the citadel resisted the rebels and eventually dispersed the Zahiris. Inal had al-Qa'im arrested and imprisoned in Alexandria. He was replaced by al-Mustanjid. All ''mamluks'' with the exception of the royal guard were removed from their positions in citadel and some of the mutineers were either imprisoned or exiled. Despite the insurrection, Inal supplied the ''mamluks'' with the camels they sought and the expedition to al-Buhayra was carried out.

That "Enal" minted the Sultanate in the spring of the first of 857 AH, and took the title of "Ashraf". The Sultan differed with the Al-Qaim. The Sultan seized the Caliph in the month of Jumadi I and imprisoned him in Alexandria. He remained there until he died in 1458 (863 AH) and was buried there. Then the Sultan announced Al-Mustanjid as caliph.

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1458 deaths
Cairo-era Abbasid caliphs
15th-century Abbasid caliphs
Year of birth unknown
Sons of Abbasid caliphs

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