1 July 1277 · Damascus
Death of Baybars
The Mamluk sultan Baybars died in Damascus on 1 July 1277. After the brief reigns of his sons and a power struggle among the emirs, the emir Sayf al-Din Qalawun became sultan in 1279 and maintained the pressure on the Latin coastal states.
RESEARCH DOSSIER
Historical analysis of the event
Background
In his reign from 1260 to 1277, Baybars took Caesarea, Arsuf, Safed, Jaffa, Antioch and Krak des Chevaliers from the Latin states and campaigned against the Mongols and Armenian Cilicia. In his 1277 campaign into Anatolia he defeated the Mongol–Seljuk army at Elbistan and entered Kayseri.
His death
Returning from the Anatolian campaign, Baybars fell ill in Damascus in June 1277 and died on 1 July. The sources give different accounts of his death: some say he accidentally drank poisoned kumis prepared for a rival, others that he died from excessive kumis or an illness.
Baybars was buried in the al-Zahiriyya madrasa in Damascus, named after him.
Outcome and significance
Baybars was succeeded by his son Baraka Khan, but Baraka fell out with the emirs and was deposed in 1279. His younger brother Solamish was briefly recognised as sultan, and in November 1279 the emir Sayf al-Din Qalawun took the throne.
Though the government changed, the Mamluks' long-term strategy toward the Latin coastal cities continued. After defeating the Mongols at Homs in 1281, Qalawun took Marqab, Latakia and Tripoli, preparing the way for the fall of Acre.
Sources and debates
The biographies of Baybars by Ibn Abd al-Zahir and Izz al-Din ibn Shaddad are the main sources for the sultan's reign and are full of praise. Later historians such as al-Maqrizi and Ibn Taghribirdi report the rumours about his death. The cause of Baybars's death is not known with certainty.
Dates, places and figures in this record compare the principal narrative sources with modern scholarship. Where the sources disagree this is stated in the text; for a thesis or publication, consult the relevant edition and page reference.