Faris al-Din Aktay al-Jamdar ( ar, فارس الدين أقطاى الجمدار) (d. 1254,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

) was a Turkic- Kipchak

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

(prince) and the leader of 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'') ...

s of the Bahri dynasty.

Biography

When the Ayyobid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub died Aktay was sent to Hasankeyf to recall Turanshah, the son and heir of the dead sultan, to Egypt. During the Battle of al-Mansurah he was one of the Mamluk commanders who defeated the Frankish forces led by the French king Louis IX. Aktay was one of the Mamluks who collaborated in the murdering of Turanshah after the battle of al-Mansurah. During the era of Sultan

Aybak Izz al-Din AybakThe name Aybeg or Aibak or Aybak is a combination of two Turkic words, "Ay" = Moon and "Beg" or variant "Bak" = Emir in Arabic. -(Al-Maqrizi, Note p.463/vol.1 ) ( ar, عز الدين أيبك) (''epithet:'' al-Malik al-Mu'izz Iz ...

, he led the Egyptian forces that defeated the army of the Ayyubid ruler of Syria

an-Nasir Yusuf An-Nasir Yusuf ( ar, الناصر يوسف; AD 1228–1260), fully al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn al-Aziz ibn al-Zahir ibn Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shazy (), was the Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (123 ...

at Gaza in October 1250 and, as a general, he played a crucial role in the final defeat of an-Nasir Yusuf in the . In 1251 he conquered parts of Syria and in 1252 the port city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

in northern Egypt became his own domain. He was known for his devotion to Islam and harsh treatment towards the Copts, the Christian minority. In 1252, together with Faris al-Din Aktay al-Musta'rib, he suppressed a major rebellion led by al-Sharif Hisn al-Din Tha'lab in Middle and Upper Egypt. Feeling that Aktay and his Mamluks were defying his authority and almost installed a state within his state, Aybak decided to kill him. In a conspiracy involving Aybak,

Qutuz Saif ad-Din Qutuz ( ar, سيف الدين قطز; died 24 October 1260), also romanized as Kutuz or Kotuz and fully al-Malik al-Muẓaffar Sayf ad-Dīn Quṭuz (), was a military leader and the third or fourth of the Mamluk Sultans of Egy ...

and some other Mamluks, Aktay was murdered in the sultan's fort and his Mamluks, including his friend Baybars al-Bunduqdari, fled to Syria and al-Karak. {{DEFAULTSORT:Faris Din Aktay 1254 deaths Bahri dynasty Egyptian nobility Mamluk emirs Muslims of the Seventh Crusade 13th-century Kipchacks Turkic rulers Year of birth unknown