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 ...

launched a naval raid on the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. I ...

in March 1368. The raid was a delayed response to the

Alexandrian Crusade The brief Alexandrian Crusade, also called the sack of Alexandria, occurred in October 1365 and was led by Peter I of Cyprus against Alexandria in Egypt. The Crusade was sanctioned by Pope Urban V at the request of Peter I. Although often referr ...

of October 1365, which had been spearheaded by King

Peter I of Cyprus Peter I (9 October 1328 – 17 January 1369) was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus, ...

.Clément Onimus, "Peter I of Lusignan's Crusade and the Reaction of the Mamluk Sultanate", in Alexander D. Beihammer and Angel Nicolaou-Konnari, eds., ''Crusading, Society, and Politics in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of King Peter I of Cyprus'' (Brepols, 2022), pp. 251–271, at 258–259. The main sources for the expedition are Leontios Makhairas,

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 ...

and al-Nuwayri.

Construction of the Mamluk fleet

In response to the crusade, the Mamulk '' atābak'' Yalbugha al-Umari ordered the construction of a fleet at

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 ...

. Ibn Qāḍī Shuhba dates this to November–December 1365, but al-Maqrizi, who is probably more reliable, places it in January–February 1366, at the same time as a fleet was ordered in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. Procurement in Cairo was to be the responsibility of the

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

Mājid ibn al-Qazwīna, while construction was overseen by Ṭaybughā and Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn al-Mufassar. According to al-Maqrizi, the craftsmen and sailors were imported from the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

or recruited from among the Turcomans of

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

. According to al-Nuwayri, the fleet cast off on 28 November 1366. According to al-Maqrizi, there were 100 ships, each under the command of an

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 ...

. The '' Prise d'Alexandrie'', however, puts the number of ships at 200.

Raid on Cyprus

In May 1366, the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

offered to send 100 ships in a joint attack on Cyprus, but the Mamluks could not commit, since their fleet was still under construction. In March 1368, the privateer brothers Peter and John Grimante, sailing from

Famagusta Famagusta, also known by several other names, is a city located on the eastern coast of Cyprus. It is located east of the capital, Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime ...

raided

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

, seizing several ships. In Alexandria, they faced strong resistance from the captain of the arsenal, Ibrahim al-Tazi, who was from the Maghreb. Sultan

al-Ashraf Sha'ban Al-Ashraf Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Ma'ali Sha'ban ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (, better known as al-Ashraf Sha'ban ( or Sha'ban II, was a Turk Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty in 1363–1377. He was a grandson of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (r. ...

immediately summoned al-Tazi to Cairo and offered him command of the fleet, moored at

Boulaq Boulaq ( from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile. History The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land available on its eastern ...

, for a raid against Cyprus. Al-Tazi opted to take only a single ship from Cairo together with one other ship from Alexandria. He set sail from the port of Alexandria with 500 of his crew for an armed reconnaissance of the Cypriot coast. According to al-Nuwayri, he sent back a boat full of booty on 30 March. He captured one or two boats before being forced to retreat by Genoese galleys in Cypriot service. He returned to Alexandria in mid-April or early May. The sources are not entirely consistent, but the raid lasted about 23 days. It netted 35 Cypriot prisoners.

References

{{reflist Conflicts in 1368 14th century in Cyprus Battles involving the Kingdom of Cyprus Battles involving the Mamluk Sultanate