The Battle of "Marj Dabiq" between Egypt and the Levant against the Ottoman state was decisive.. and the upper hand in it belonged to the people of Egypt under the leadership of Sultan "Qansuh al-Ghuri".. until "al-Ghuri" signalled the Syrian emir "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" to advance.. and he was the commander of the left wing.. and the governor of Aleppo "Khayr Bey" to advance as well.. and he was at the head of the right wing.
And here something strange happened.
"Janbirdi al-Ghazali" stays put and does not advance with his forces.. while the governor of Aleppo "Khayr Bey" advances a short distance.. and then falls back, shouting to the rest of the Mamluk forces.. that Sultan al-Ghuri had been defeated and killed in the battle!
And the situation was astonishing for Sultan "al-Ghuri", who hears the news of his own death with his own ears while he is still alive.. and he signals the emirs of Lebanon "Fakhr al-Din Ma'n I" and "Jamal al-Din al-Arslani" to attack.. but they too stay put! A clear, blatant betrayal.
No one attacks alongside "al-Ghuri".. and here.. the Ottoman forces bare their fangs and pounce on the Egyptian forces and the garrison of "Damascus" led by the Syrian "Sibay".. but the Syrian "Sibay" had another goal.. after becoming certain of the treachery of the others.. namely to protect Sultan "al-Ghuri".. whatever the cost.
And "Sibay" advances with his men and surrounds "al-Ghuri", who had begun to retreat and withdraw.. while "Sibay" fends off the Ottomans from him with desperate ferocity.. until the arrows rain down on him.. and he falls a martyr before the eyes of Sultan "al-Ghuri".
And here "Khayr Bey al-Circassian" does attack.. but he attacks "al-Ghuri" and his forces.. and a terrible battle rages between the two sides.. and "al-Ghuri" is struck by a fatal shell splinter from a cannonball.. and he follows "Sibay", governor of Damascus.. and falls a martyr.
And "Khayr Bey" withdraws to give the Ottoman cannons a chance to open up on the rest of "al-Ghuri"'s forces.. and of the ten thousand fighters.. only two thousand remain.
And the battle ends.. it ends with a decisive victory for the Ottoman forces.. and a horrifying defeat for the Mamluks.
And while the dust of the field had not yet settled.. amid the smoke and the corpses.. one of the Mamluks of Cairo crawls.. towards the body of Sultan "al-Ashraf al-Ghuri".. and draws his dagger.. and severs the Sultan's head from his body.. and crawls away to bury it far off.. the aim here being that the Ottomans would not recognise "al-Ghuri"'s body.. so that they would not mutilate and humiliate it.. and indeed "Selim" had intended to do that.. and it enraged him that he never managed to reach "al-Ghuri"'s body at all.
The truth is that the cause of the tragedy that occurred.. was not treachery alone.. the main cause was "al-Ghuri" himself.. because "Sibay", governor of Damascus, warned him about "Khayr Bey" very many times and informed him that he was in contact with the Ottomans.. and he wrote to him dozens of times.. but "al-Ghuri" believed that "Sibay" was greedy to bring down "Khayr" and take over Damascus and Aleppo together.. so he ignored all his warnings.
In any case.. Sultan "al-Ghuri" does learn the truth.. but too late.
Despite "al-Ghuri"'s fatal mistake.. he washed away with his blood any blame towards him.. and he crept into the collective consciousness of Egyptians and Syrians as a popular hero.. to this day in Egypt and Syria.. there are people who name their sons "Qansuh".. likewise the "Ghuriyya" district in Cairo is named after the martyr "Qansuh al-Ghuri".
The Ottomans took Syria.. and the road to Cairo became open.. "Khayr" returned to Damascus in the company of the Ottoman forces.. and they set off to loot and plunder and rape women.. and they drove people from their houses and seized them to live in them.. the historian "Ibn Tulun al-Salihi" says:
"And the Ottoman soldiery fell upon it and upon its outskirts to take up residence, and many people were turned out of their houses, and their belongings and provisions were thrown out, and a group of pregnant women came out driven away, and there befell the people a calamity the like of which had never befallen the people of Damascus and its outskirts".
And "Selim" appoints "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" as the first governor of Damascus.. as a reward for his treachery.
After that "Khayr" eagerly asks "Selim I".. to put him in command of the army that would invade Cairo.. and he began showing him the possible points of attack and the gaps in Cairo from which he could attack.
And the strange thing is that "Selim".. although he rewarded "Khayr" and "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" and the rest of the gang of traitors.. but let us give him his due and his faults...
"Selim" was a fighter and fought himself.. and he valued courage and respected it even in his enemies.. so although "Khayr" and the rest of that group helped him and he rewarded them.. he despised them and mocked them the whole time.. to the point that he would call "Khayr Bey" nothing but "Khain Bey".. and whenever he appeared before him.. "Selim" would say to his followers sarcastically.. that this was the traitor who allowed him to invade his country and violate the sanctity of the women of his homeland.
This nickname remained attached to "Khayr" for the rest of his life.. if you search for "Khain Bey".. search engines like Google will automatically take you to all the pages related to "Khayr Bey al-Circassian".. and if you take the index of any encyclopedia and search for "Khain Bey".. it will bring up the pages that refer to this "Khayr".
Always know that when you betray your homeland.. the enemy looks at you with contempt.. no matter how much he smiles in your face and no matter how many millions in rewards or otherwise he throws at you.. in his eyes you are nothing but a pig.. or even less.. lower in rank than an animal.. and worse than a beast.
And in Cairo.. news arrived of the martyrdom of Sultan al-Ashraf "Qansuh al-Ghuri".. and the morale of the soldiers sank to zero.. and many Mamluks withdrew.. they had regarded "al-Ghuri" as their master.. and some of them abandoned their weapons.. and plunged into drinking wine.. and the news spread among the people like wildfire.. and they became certain that the era of "al-Ashraf Qaitbay" and "Saif al-Din Azbak" had ended.. and that they might see the Ottomans entering Cairo once again.. but not bound in chains.. entering it as victorious conquerors.. and the shops closed and people kept to their homes.. and celebrations and evening gatherings ceased entirely.
And in the midst of their grief and despair.. the Mamluks elect a successor to Sultan "al-Ghuri".. one of the Circassian Mamluks.. whose historical name is "Sultan al-Malik al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasr Tuman Bay al-Dawadar ibn Qansuh al-Nasiri". Whom we know as "Tuman Bay".
Note that historically there are 2 Mamluks named "Tuman Bay".. "al-Adil Tuman Bay".. and he ruled before al-Ghuri.. and the people loved him very much.. to the point that before he ruled, when he passed in the street the men would applaud him and the women would ululate for him from the windows.. and after he ruled he became harsh and violent.. so his rule did not last more than one year.. and the people deposed him.
And the other is "al-Ashraf Tuman Bay".. and he was the son of Sultan "al-Ghuri"'s brother and ruled after him.. if you want to imagine the appearance of Sultan al-Ashraf "Tuman Bay".. he greatly resembled the late "Rushdy Abaza" in his last days, but with a beard.. and the truth is I do not know whether he is actually related to him or not.. because he too was one of the Abazas".
"Tuman Bay" inherited the heavy burden.. "Selim" at the head of the Ottoman forces.. with "Khayr" and "Janbirdi al-Ghazali" and "Fakhr al-Din Ma'n I" and "Jamal al-Din al-Arslani" with the forces of Lebanon and most of the forces of Syria.. coming to invade his country.
And "Tuman Bay" decides to defend his country whatever the cost.. and he begins to gather his forces.. and prepare his artillery.. to confront the Ottomans.
And the news reaches "Selim".. so he sends to "Tuman Bay" offering him peace.. on condition that "Tuman Bay" recognise the sovereignty of the Sublime Porte over the Egyptian lands.. and pay the Ottomans an annual tribute.. and the Sublime Porte in turn recognise him as ruler of Egypt.. but "al-Ashraf Tuman Bay" responds to the offer in a gentle way.. so he kills all of "Selim"'s envoys.. and sends him their corpses.
And "Tuman Bay" prepares.. and readies his army and sets off to the frontier.. and "Selim" begins to prepare in turn.. so he seizes thousands of camels from Syria.. and begins loading them with water and provisions.. so as to cross the desert without problems.. and reach Cairo.
But "Tuman Bay" had a unique style of fighting.. this style would drive "Selim" mad but at the same time would make him admire "Tuman Bay" and wish he were on his side.. "Selim" hated "Tuman Bay" madly.. and admired him at the same time.. because he was an exceptional, honourable fighter.. who decided to defend his land to the end.. and did his utmost so that Cairo would not fall.
And "Tuman Bay"'s style of fighting.. and whether Cairo fell or not.. this is a subject that would take long to speak of.. so we will continue our talk about it later.
And there remains.. more to be said.
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- Previous posts in the first comment.
- The photo is of the dome of "Tuman Bay" on Salah Salem Road inside the headquarters of the Central Military Region Command in Abbassia.
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