?Do you know how al-Zahir Baybars died? Did Baybars kill himself
On the Aleppo-Damascus road in the middle of the year 1277 AD, the Mamluk Sultan’s caravan was moving silently towards Damascus, the Levant capital of the Mamluk Sultanate, carrying a terrible omen: Sultan al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari was dying. But who would have imagined that the Sultan of Al-Bireen and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the conqueror of the Mongols and the crusher of the Franks, the dear of Egypt, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Anatolia, would be killed by a trivial disease like diarrhea? The Mongolian hordes before and after Ain Jalut did not harm him, nor did the Frankish brigades with their counts, Isbari presenters, and medicine men, nor even the conspiracies of the Mamluk conspirators and dissidents, and the stomach parasites and intestinal medicines did not harm him!
His name was appropriate, as Baybars means cheetah, and like him, he was fast, strong, persistent, and solid. Some of them mention that in some difficult battles he would suddenly disappear, then reappear, crossing the horizon like a legendary warrior on his horse, carrying the helmet or armor of one of the enemy knights, and perhaps a few pieces from the door of the fort they were besieging. How and when did he ignore them and disappear to penetrate the enemy hordes and return safely? Nobody knows. Others say that during his time of serenity, he used to have fun swimming in the Nile, wearing all his gear and heavy military armor, dragging behind him a raft on which a few knights in full uniform stood.
They are accustomed to being like him, fast leopards who are quick to attack and flee. His army appears in front of the Frankish fortresses in the Levant. He ends the siege with a conquest or a conditional truce in favor of the Egyptian army. He disappears to surprise some conspirators in Syria. He marches a fleet to Cyprus. He crushes a rebellion in Nubia. He destroys the Mongols' plan and ends it by annexing Anatolia. He travels around the countries of the Levant to regulate their conditions, visits the holy lands of Hijaz, administers government from the mountain citadel in Cairo, surprises workers in facilities on the banks of the Nile, strips off his royal robes and participates with the builders in carrying the dirt and stones on iron shoulders painted by the sun. He organizes the movement of mail between the outskirts of his kingdom until the message arrives from Cairo. To Damascus in just three days. He divides the tasks of government into institutions and positions, each of which has its own function according to a strict law. He organizes the judiciary, assigning each sect its own judge to facilitate the people. He revives Al-Azhar as a scientific institution. The Sultan is known for his extreme hostility to ignorance. Even prostitutes and prostitutes get a share of his activity, so he arrests them and arranges gentle preaching for them. And then he prepares and marries them to suffice them from having to trade the body. No one knows when or how he sleeps. What is that supernatural spirit that possesses him to make him a mass of enthusiasm that is ablaze with activity? Was it inherited from his ancestors descended from the fighting tribes of the Caucasus, or is it the blessing of Muslim supplications? It is said that some people get a share of their name, but this man, Baibars Al-Fahd, is the one who got a share of his name. And now this rebellious leopard, the mighty Sultan, lies on a palanquin racing death to Damascus, and in one day’s journey from the city, the Sultan delivers his soul to its creator.
Next to the royal tent, the Mamluk leaders gathered in silence and sadness. Qalawun broke the silence, saying: “The doctors would not have obeyed him in removing the head of that arrow in the final battle.”
Sunkar objected, saying: “Do you doubt the doctors?!”
Qalawun replied: “No, but removing the blade in a land where diseases abound is not a wise decision.”
Bayrelak interjected in the Qavqa Turkish Turkish language in which the conversation was taking place: “God gave him a strong body, but in fact I see other reasons.” After a heated dialogue between the Mamluk leaders, Qalawun turned to them and said firmly: “The Sultan, in fact, may have killed himself.”
Two weeks before that day in Damascus, the Sultan ordered his cupbearer to offer him qamuz, the Mamluks’ favorite fermented horse milk. This was a great honor. How about the Sultan himself offering you a drink in a sultan cup? The conquering prince, Ibn al-Muazzam Issa al-Ayyubi, took the cup from the Sultan’s hand. He was reassured that a move like this indicated that the latter had been satisfied with him after his previous discontent. The two men drank the drink and entered into a friendly conversation, then Qalawun noticed Baibars looking into his cup. Then he glanced at his guest, the conquering prince, and looked back at the cup. There is something unusual. The Sultan appears unwell. Qalawun got up from his seat, pretending to be calm, heading towards Baybars. He's the only one who can put a hand on his shoulder. Baybars pulled him in and said to him in his ear: “I will break up the meeting. Help me move to my room, but without anyone noticing. Send me a doctor.”
Prince Sunqar Al-Ashqar said: “We all remember that incident, and we all heard the rumors that the Sultan had deceived himself to get rid of the oppressive prince by putting poison in his drinking cup, then the cups were changed by mistake, and the Sultan felt this when he felt the poison spreading in his gut, but he kept it quiet so as not to "His plan is revealed, but the story is unacceptable and naive."
Thus, the cause of the Sultan's death remained an exciting mystery, as was his life.
Source:
The Book of Mamluk Blood - The Bloody Ends of the Mamluk Sultans