Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (Arabic: الْمَلِك الظَّاهِر رُكْن الدِّين بَيْبَرْس الْبُنْدُقْدَارِيّ; 1223/1228 – 30 June 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars (بَيْبَرْس) and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (أَبُو الْفُتُوح, lit. 'Father of Conquests'), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, ruling from 1260 to 1277. He is noted for leading the vanguard of the Mamluk army that inflicted the first substantial defeat of the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut, as well as his successful campaigns against the Crusaders. Through a combination of diplomacy and military action, he ushered in an age of Mamluk dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Of Turkic Kipchak origin, Baybars was sold into slavery during the Mongol invasions and ultimately entered the service of Ayyubid sultan As-Salih Ayyub. He subsequently rose to become a prominent military leader in Egypt. In 1250, he was a commander of the Muslim forces that defeated and captured King Louis IX of France during the Seventh Crusade. He played a significant role in the victory over the invading Mongol army at Ain Jalut and soon thereafter orchestrated the assassination of sultan Qutuz, seizing the throne for himself.
As sultan, Baybars set about asserting Mamluk authority in Syria. After securing the loyalty of Ayyubid emirs, he launched extensive campaigns against the Crusader states, culminating in the capture of Antioch in 1268. He continued to fend off threats from the Mongols by engaging with the Ilkhanate, while forging an alliance with the Golden Horde. In 1276, he launched an expedition into Nubia that concluded with the subjugation of Makuria.
In his native Turkic language, Baybars' name means "great panther" or "lord panther" (see also Wiktionary: bay "rich person, noble" + pars "leopard, panther").
Possibly based on the Turkic meaning of his name, Baybars used the panther as his heraldic blazon, and placed it on both coins and buildings. The lion/panther used on the bridge built by Baybars near al-Ludd (today's Lod) plays with a rat, which may be interpreted to represent Baybars' Crusader enemies.
Baybars was described as a tall man with olive skin and blue eyes. He had broad shoulders, slim legs, and a powerful voice. It was observed that he had cataract in one eye.
Baybars was a Kipchak thought to be born in the steppe region north of the Black Sea, or Dasht-i Kipchak at the time. There is a discrepancy in Ibn Taghrībirdī's dating of his birth, since he says it took place in 625 AH (12 December 1227 – 29 November 1228) and also that Baybars was about 24 years old in 1247, which would put his birth closer to 1223. He belonged to the Barli tribe. According to a fellow Cuman and eyewitness, Badr al-Din Baysari, the Barli fled the armies of the Mongols, intending to settle in the Second Bulgarian Empire (named in the sources Wallachia). They crossed the Black Sea from either Crimea or Alania, where they had arrived in Bulgaria in about 1242. In the meantime, the Mongols invaded Bulgaria, including the regions where the Cuman refugees had recently settled. Both Baybars, who witnessed his parents being massacred, and Baysari were among the captives during the invasion and were sold into slavery in the Sultanate of Rum at the slave market in Sivas. Afterwards, he was sold in Hama to 'Alā' al-Dīn Īdīkīn al-Bunduqārī, an Egyptian of high rank, who brought him to Cairo. In 1247, al-Bunduqārī was arrested and the sultan of Egypt, As-Salih Ayyub, confiscated his slaves, including Baybars.
Al-Sha'rani (d. 973/1565) counted him among Ibn 'Arabi's students.
In 1250, he supported the defeat of the Seventh Crusade of Louis IX of France in two major battles. The first was the Battle of Al Mansurah, where he employed an ingenious strategy in ordering the opening of a gate to let the crusader knights enter the town; the crusaders rushed into the town that they thought was deserted to find themselves trapped inside. They were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town population, and suffered heavy losses. Robert of Artois, who took refuge in a house, and William Longespée the Younger were both killed, along with most of the Knights Templar. Only five Templar Knights escaped alive. The second was the Battle of Fariskur which essentially ended the Seventh Crusade and led to the capture of Louis IX. Egyptian forces in that battle were led by Sultan Turanshah, the young son of recently deceased as-Salih Ayyub. Shortly after the victory over the Crusaders, Baybars and a group of Mamluk soldiers assassinated Turanshah, leading to as-Salih Ayyub's widow Shajar al-Durr being named sultana.
In 1254, a power shift occurred in Egypt, as Aybak killed Faris ad-Din Aktai, the leader of the Bahri Mamluks. Some of his Mamluks, among them Baybars and Qalawun al-Alfi, fled to an-Nasir Yusuf in Syria, persuading him to break the accord and invade Egypt. Aybak wrote to an-Nassir Yusuf warning him of the danger of these Mamluks who took refuge in Syria, and agreed to grant him their territorial domains on the coast, but an-Nasir Yusuf refused to expel them and instead returned to them the domains which Aybak had granted. In 1255, an-Nasir Yusuf sent new forces to the Egyptian border, this time with many of Aktai's Mamluks, among them Baybars, and Qalawun al-Alfi, but he was defeated again. In 1257, Baybars and other Bahri Mamluks left Damascus to Jerusalem, where they deposed its governor Kütük and plundered its markets, then they did the same in Gaza. Later on, they fought against the forces of an-Nasir Yusuf at Nablus, then fled to join the forces of al-Mughith Umar in Kerak. The combined forces tried in vain to invade Egypt during the reign of Aybak.
Baybars then sent 'Ala al-Din Taybars al-Waziri to discuss with Qutuz his return to Egypt, which was eagerly accepted. He was still a commander under sultan Qutuz at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, when he decisively defeated the Mongols. After the battle, Sultan Qutuz (aka Koetoez) was assassinated while on a hunting expedition. It was said that Baybars was involved in the assassination because he expected to be rewarded with the governorship of Aleppo for his military success, but Qutuz, fearing his ambition, refused to give him the post. Baybars succeeded Qutuz as Sultan of Egypt.
Soon after Baybars had ascended to the Sultanate, his authority was confirmed without any serious resistance, except from Alam al-Din Sinjar al-Halabi, another Mamluk amir who was popular and powerful enough to claim Damascus. Also, the threat from the Mongols was still serious enough to be considered as a threat to Baybars' authority. However, Baybars first chose to deal with Sinjar, and marched on Damascus. At the same time the princes of Hama and Homs proved able to defeat the Mongols in the First Battle of Homs, which lifted the Mongol threat for a while. On 17 January 1261, Baybars's forces were able to rout the troops of Sinjar outside Damascus, and pursued the attack to the city, where the citizens were loyal to Sinjar and resisted Baybars, although their resistance was soon crushed.
There was also a brief rebellion in Cairo led by a leading figure of the Shiite named al-Kurani. Al-Kurani is said originated from Nishapur. Al-Kurani and his follower are recorded to have attacked the weapon stores and stables of Cairo during a night raid. Baybars, however, manage to suppress the rebellion quickly as he surrounded and arrested them all. Al- Kurani and another rebel leaders were executed (crucified) in Bab Zuweila
After suppressing the revolt of Sinjar, Baybars then managed to deal with the Ayyubids, while quietly eliminating the prince of Kerak. Ayyubids such as Al-Ashraf Musa, Emir of Homs and the Ayyubid Emir Dynasty of Hama Al-Mansur Muhammad II, who had earlier staved off the Mongol threat, were permitted to continue their rule in exchange for their recognizing Baybars' authority as Sultan.
After the Abbasid caliphate in Iraq was overthrown by the Mongols in 1258 when they conquered and sacked Baghdad, the Muslim world lacked a caliph, a theoretically supreme leader who had sometimes used his office to endow distant Muslim rulers with legitimacy by sending them writs of investiture. Thus, when the Abbasid refugee Abu al-Qasim Ahmad, the uncle of the last Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim, arrived in Cairo in 1261, Baybars had him proclaimed caliph as al-Mustansir II and duly received investiture as sultan from him. Unfortunately, al-Mustansir II was killed by the Mongols during an ill-advised expedition to recapture Baghdad from the Mongols later in the same year. In 1262, another Abbasid, allegedly the great-great-great-grandson of the Caliph al-Mustarshid, Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad, who had survived from the defeated expedition, was proclaimed caliph as al-Hakim I, inaugurating the line of Abbasid caliphs of Cairo that continued as long as the Mamluk sultanate, until 1517. Like his unfortunate predecessor, al-Hakim I also received the formal oath of allegiance of Baybars and provided him with legitimation. While most of the Muslim world did not take these caliphs seriously, as they were mere instruments of the sultans, they still lent a certain legitimation as well as a decorative element to their rule.