Funerary complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Inal, Cairo

The complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Inal (1451-1456) at the northern end of the Eastern Cemetery joins that of the amir Qurqumas, forming a long free-standing ensemble seen from afar: the cubic bulk of two madrasas linked by lower residential units, broken by slender minarets and domes patterned with lozenges and chevrons. ^{1 2} Inal began it as an amir and finished it as sultan; the minaret and mausoleum flanking the tall madrasa rise from lower bases, suggesting they were completed earlier. ²

The mausoleum is a separate structure at the eastern corner, and the north-east front keeps the remains of a sabil-kuttab and the ruins of a large khanqah built in 1454. ³ The minaret stands almost free, on a square base with three carved shafts, two balconies and a bulbous finial, its second shaft carved with vertical chevrons, echoed horizontally on the dome. ³

The muqarnas portal leads to a cruciform hall dominated by the qibla axis, the side iwans subordinate, a growing trait of late Burji architecture. ³ The central court, now ruined, was roofed in timber, a feature of late Burji madrasas whose source Yeomans finds in the domestic qa'a, part of a closer integration of religious foundation and residence. ^{3 4} Two-storey rab'-type lodgings for Sufis and khanqah staff link Inal's complex with Qurqumas's. ⁵