Ibrahim bin Abu Bakr bin Shaddad bin Saber (), commonly known as Ibrahim bin Shaddad (late 13th century – 1342), was the '' muqadam'' (military assistant to the governor) of El Mahalla El Kubra and later the ''muqadam al-Dawla'' (equivalent to an

interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

). He comes from the

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Shaddad family, and he was the closest companion to the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

sultan al-Nasir Mahammad.

Early life

Ibrahim bin Shaddad bin Saber is originally an

fellah A fellah ( ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a local peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". Due to a con ...

'' (farmer) from the ''fellahin'' of Minyat Abbad in Gharbiyyah. His father was ''Muqadam'' of El Mahalla El Kubra (Military Assistant to the Governor of El Mahalla). A problem arose between his father and the Governor of the El Mahalla, Qaisar, which led to his imprisonment and death in prison. So Ibrahim bin Shaddad traveled to

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 ...

to complain to the Egyptian Sultan al-Nasir Mahammad bin Qalawun, who did justice to Ibn Shaddad and brought him justice from the Governor of Mahalla. This was his first meeting with al-Nasir Mahammad ibn Qalawun.

Career

After that, Ibrahim was appointed ''Muqadam'' of El Mahalla, then he was removed after a while and came to Cairo, and after a while he entered the Egyptian army within the forces of ''

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

'' Sanjar al-Khazen. Ibrahim ibn Shaddad rose through the ranks in an amazing way until he reached the position of ''Muqadam al-Dawla'' (Minister of Interior) and became one of the most powerful leaders of the Egyptian state during the reign of al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, to the point that he appointed many of his relatives to different positions like his cousins, Ahmad bin Zaid bin Shaddad and Mahammad bin Yusuf bin Shaddad.

Relationship with al-Nasir

Ibrahim ibn Shaddad, proving to al-Nasir Mahammad ibn Qalawun the extent of his sincerity and competence in his work, led him to gain the respect and love of al-Nasir Mahammad and to be very close to him to the point that he became his true friend, companion, and confidant. The Egyptian historian

Al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...

says about this:

"And he gained power in the days of the Sultan and became great, and neither the Supervisor of the state (speaker on behalf of the Sultan) nor the head of the bureaus had any conversation with him, but he would approach the Sultan and talk to him secretly. And he does what he wants, and no one can respond to his actions or words."

Al-Nasir Mahammad entrusted Ibrahim Ibn Shaddad with the souls of his family and those close to him, and asked him to protect them and provide guardianship to his family. He used to make him the one who carried out the rulings in his name and in his place. An example of this is when he executed the ruling by beating up the ''Emir''

Tankiz Sayf ad-Din Tankiz ibn Abdullah al-Husami an-Nasiri, better known simply as Tankiz (; died May 1340), was the Damascus-based Turkic peoples, Turkic ''na'ib al-saltana'' (viceroy) of Syria from 1312 to 1340 during the reign of the Bahri dynasty, Bah ...

the ''na'ib'' (deputy) of the Levant and then choked him, he also participated in suppressing the rebellions of the ''emirs'' of the Levant. Almost the entire Egyptian state was envious of Ibrahim bin Shaddad for his position and the extent of his closeness to the Sultan, so some of the princes of the state preferred to wait for the opportunity to pounce on him, and the opportunity came to them when al-Nasir died.

False charges

As soon as the Sultan died, they accused him with a false charge and arrested him. The historian al-Maqrizi says that they found in his house 80 concubines, 140 horses, 300 milking cows, 500 calving ewes, and an amount of two hundred thousand and eighty thousand dirhams. It was not permissible for them to arrest the closest man to the great Sultan Mahammad bin Qalawun, especially since he was a feared figure in the state, with his status and pride, and who was known for his extreme loyalty to the late Sultan al-Nasir Mahammad. He was released one month after his arrest after ''emirs'', including ''emir'' al-Mulk and Jawhar al-Saharti, defended him.

Death

He died in 1342 in Cairo.

Lagacy

The historian Al-Maqrizi says about his description:

"He was very tall and very aware of his suffering, and he acquired many properties, and no one saw in the offering what he saw as far as we know."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ShaddadI, brahim bin Egyptian generals People from El Mahalla El Kubra 1342 deaths 13th-century people from the Mamluk Sultanate 14th-century people from the Mamluk Sultanate Generals of the medieval Islamic world 13th-century Muslims 14th-century Muslims