d. 1257 · First Mamluk sultan (1250–1257)
Izz al-Din Aybak
A mamluk of al-Salih Ayyub; by marrying Shajar al-Durr in 1250 he became the first Mamluk sultan of Egypt, and was murdered in the palace in 1257.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Aybak entered the service of the Ayyubid sultan al-Salih Ayyub as a mamluk of Turkish origin and rose to be his taster (head of table service). He held a relatively moderate position among the Bahri Mamluks.
Role in the Crusades
In 1250, after Louis IX's defeat at Mansura and the killing of Turanshah, Shajar al-Durr briefly took over the government of Egypt. In response to objections to a woman sultan, Shajar al-Durr married Aybak, who became sultan with the title al-Malik al-Mu'izz. Aybak fought against the attempts of the Ayyubid rulers in Syria to retake Egypt.
Historical significance and source problems
In 1254 Aybak had Aqtay, leader of the Bahri Mamluks, killed, consolidating his power. When he planned another marriage in 1257, he was killed in his bath on Shajar al-Durr's orders. His reign is regarded as the beginning of the Mamluk state that would last until 1517; Ibn Wasil and al-Maqrizi are the main sources.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.