Death of al-Zahir Baybars, 676

At the start of 676 AH the sultan al-Malik al-Zahir arrived and stayed in his al-Jawsaq al-Ablaq in the Marj of Damascus. He fell ill in mid-Muharram and died thirteen days later ². Al-Dhahabi says that he passed away on Thursday afternoon, on the twenty-eighth of Muharram, in his palace in Damascus ³.

His death was kept secret. His deputy Baylak carried him in a litter, making it appear that the sultan was ill inside, until he entered Egypt with the army. Then his death was announced, mourning was held, and the amirs swore allegiance to his son al-Malik al-Saʿid ².

He had asked to be buried by the road, with a dome built over his grave. His son al-Malik al-Saʿid bought for him the house of al-ʿAqiqi for seventy thousand dirhams, built it as a teaching college for the Shafiʿi and Hanafi schools, moved the body there, and endowed it with many endowments ³.

Baybars took forty fortresses that had been held by the Franks, conquering them by the sword and by surrender ³.