Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad al-Mustansir (; c. 1210 – 28 November 1261) was the first

Abbasid caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

to rule in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and who was subservient to the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

. He reigned from June 1261 to 28 November 1261.

Life

Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad was a member of the Abbasid house who was imprisoned by his nephew the Caliph

al-Musta'sim Abu Ahmad Abdallah ibn al-Mustansir bi'llah (), better known by his laqab, regnal title Al-Mustaʿṣim bi-llāh (; 1213 – 20 February 1258), was the 37th and last caliph from the Abbasid dynasty ruling from Baghdad. He held the title from 12 ...

in Baghdad. Following the Sack of Baghdad by the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

in 1258, he escaped to the Arab tribes in the desert, where he hid out for over three years, until after the Mamluks had driven the Mongols from Syria in 1260. After making his way to

, Mamluk Egypt, al-Mustansir was installed as

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

there by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars I in 1261. He was sent with an army to the east to recover Baghdad, but was killed in a Mongol ambush near al-Anbar (near Falluja in modern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

) in 1261, and was succeeded, though not immediately, by his rather distant Abbasid kinsman (and former rival caliph, having been proclaimed by the ruler of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

)

Al-Hakim I Al-Hakim I (; full name: '', Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad al-Ḥākim bi-amr Allāh ibn Abi 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Abu Bakr''; c. 1247 – 19 January 1302) was the second Abbasid caliph whose seat was in Cairo and who was subservient to the Mamluk Sultanat ...

. Though he was not the direct ancestor of any of them, the line of Cairo caliphs Ahmad al-Mustansir founded lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, but they were little more than religious figureheads for the Mamluks.

References

Bibliography

*Amitai-Preisss, Reuven. ''Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk-Ilkhanid War, 1260-1281''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp. 56–60, 62. * *Glubb, John Bagot. ''Soldiers of Fortune: The Story of the Mamlukes''. New York: Dorset Press, 1988. Pp. 66, 73–75. *Holt, P. M. "al-Mustansir (II)." ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam''. 2nd ed. Vol. VII. P. 729. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustansir 1262 deaths Cairo-era Abbasid caliphs 13th-century Abbasid caliphs Year of birth unknown Monarchs killed in action 13th-century Egyptian people Sons of Abbasid caliphs