Sayf al-Din Bilbay or Yalbay (; d. 19 September 1468) was a

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 Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

from 9 October to 4 December 1467.

Career

Bilbay was of Circassian descent. He was brought to Egypt during the reign of

Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh (; 1369 – 13 January 1421) was a Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 6 November 1412 to 13 January 1421. Early career At the age of twelve, Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh was purchased as a slave by Sultan Barquq. Having entered the service o ...

. He owned lands and became ''emir of ten'' under

Barsbay Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Dīn Barsbāy () was the ninth Burji dynasty, Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt from AD 1422 to 1438. He was Circassians, Circassian by birth and a former slave of the first Burji Sultan, Barquq. Early career A former slave of the i ...

, then ''emir of drums'' under

Jaqmaq Sayf al-Din Jaqmaq (; 1373 – 13 February 1453) was the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), Mamluk sultan of Egypt from 9 September 1438 to 1 February 1453. Early life and career Jaqmaq was of Circassians, Circassian descent. He was brought to Egypt by ...

. He was imprisoned by Al-Mansur Fakhr-ad-Din Uthman, then freed by

Sayf ad-Din Inal Al-Malik al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Abu an-Nasr Inal al-'Ala'i az-Zahiri an-Nasiri al-Ajrud (better known as Sayf al-Din Inal; also spelled Saif al-Din Aynal; 1381 – 26 February 1461) was the 13th Burji Mamluk sultan of Egypt, ruling between 1453– ...

. Later on, he became ''

atabeg Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic language, Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the ti ...

'' in September 1466 under Khushqadam. He became a sultan in October 1467, following the death of Khushqadam. During his reign, he became reliant on his ''dwidar kabir'' (grand executive), Khairbek. However, the Dhahiri Mamluks captured Bilbay and deposed him on 5 December 1467, then

Timurbugha Al-Malik al-Zahir Timurbugha al-Rumi (died 1475) was the seventeenth Burji Sultan of Mamluk Egypt, briefly ruling from late 1467 to early 1468 when he was deposed. He used the title of ''al-Malik al-Zāhir''. Biography Timurbugha was of Greek o ...

was proclaimed sultan. Bilbay was later imprisoned in

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 ...

, where he died from plague on 19 September 1468.

References

Sources

* Burji sultans 15th-century Mamluk sultans 1468 deaths Year of birth unknown {{Egypt-bio-stub