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Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri

السلطان قانصوه الغوري

c. 24 August 1516 CE · 15 Rajab 922 AH

Last Circassian Mamluk sultan — Shadharat records his extortion and the abolished-inheritance policy, then Marj Dabiq on 15 Rajab 922 where Khayr Bak's defection broke his army and his body was lost beneath the horses' hooves 1. Al-Salabi adds that he sheltered the fleeing Ottoman princes (foremost Selim's brother Ahmad), that Ottoman intelligence found his secret alliance letter to the Safavids in the Topkapı archive, and that the victors prayed over him and buried him at Aleppo's edge 2.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

140014251450147515001525155015751600 c. c. c. c. c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Gunpowder Empires · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: 'Abd al-Barr Ibn al-Shihna · 'Abd al-Haqq al-Sunbati · 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad, mufti of Zabid · 'Abd Allah al-Fakihi, the grammarian · Abu al-Su'ud Afandi

Overview

Qansuh al-Ghawri al-Circassian, al-Malik al-Ashraf, the last sultan of the Circassian state. "Shadharat al-Dhahab" describes him as extremely greedy, given to injustice and oppression, and seizing people's money. It says that inheritance was abolished in his days, so that the whole estate of a deceased person was taken. 3

The book also says that he conquered Yemen and took mamluks who spread corruption. One story is told of one of his agents who, to a merchant who would not accept his price, said "the law of God" and struck him with a mace. 3

Marj Dabiq

A confrontation took place between him and Sultan Selim, king of the Rum, over Isma'il Shah. They met at Marj Dabiq north of Aleppo on 15 Rajab 922 AH. His army was routed by the trick of Khayr Bey, and al-Ghawri was lost under the hooves of the horses. 3

He was sultan of Egypt and Syria, and the seat of his realm was Cairo.

In al-Salabi

Al-Salabi adds that al-Ghawri sided with the Ottoman princes fleeing Selim — foremost Prince Ahmad, the sultan's brother — that Ottoman intelligence found his secret alliance letter with the Safavids in the Topkapı archive, and that the victors prayed over him and buried him at Aleppo's edge 2.

Connections

Explore the connections

Ruler of
Cairo
Participated in
From Jan Balat through Tuman Bay to Qansuh al-Ghuri, 905–906· The Portuguese reach the Indian Ocean; Jeddah walled

People and things also explored

From Jan Balat through Tuman Bay to Qansuh al-Ghuri, 905–906· Cairo· Al-Azhar Mosque· The Dar al-Hikma of Cairo· Baybars takes the sultanate, 658 AH· Capture of Cairo· death of Asad al-Dīn Shīrkūh — Saladin chosen vizier in his place· The great earthquake of Egypt, 608 AH

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 530-531
  2. al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 184-187
  3. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p.530-531
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/qansuh-al-ghawri/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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People

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From Jan Balat through Tuman Bay to Qansuh al-Ghuri, 905–906

After al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qaytbay was killed, the amir-kabir Jan Balat overcame Sultan al-Zahir Qansuh, who vacated the citadel; Jan Balat took the sultanate at mid-morning Monday 2 Dhu'l-Qa'da 905, held it half a year and sixteen days and built the Janbalatiyya madrasa outside Bab al-Nasr before deposition, exile to Alexandria and strangulation. Al-'Adil Tuman Bay was then invested on 18 Jumada II 906, held the Citadel three months and twenty-three days and built the 'Adiliyya before the army killed him; al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasr Qansuh al-Ghuri followed on 'Id al-Fitr 906 — his second reign after about eleven days in 902 when he fled to Gaza and was lost at the battle of Khan Yunus.