d. 1250 · Last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt (1249–1250)
Turanshah
Son of al-Salih Ayyub; after his father's death he came to Egypt as sultan, secured the surrender of Louis IX's army at Fariskur in 1250, and was killed by the Bahri Mamluks a few weeks later.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Al-Mu'azzam Turanshah had been sent by his father al-Salih Ayyub to govern Hisn Kayfa. When his father died at Mansura in November 1249, Shajar al-Durr and the emirs concealed the sultan's death and summoned Turanshah to Egypt.
Role in the Crusades
Reaching Mansura in February 1250, Turanshah had the crusader supply lines on the Nile cut. Weakened by hunger and disease, the crusader army was defeated at Fariskur in April 1250 as it tried to withdraw to Damietta, and Louis IX was captured. When Turanshah began replacing his father's mamluks with men brought from Hisn Kayfa, his relations with the Bahri Mamluks broke down.
Historical significance and source problems
On 2 May 1250 he was killed in his camp at Fariskur by Bahri Mamluks, among them Baybars. His death marked the end of Ayyubid rule in Egypt and the beginning of Mamluk power. Joinville describes the event through the eyes of the captive crusaders; Ibn Wasil gives the view of the Egyptian court.
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.