Tuman Bai II Al-Ashraf

Nephew and successor of the penultimate Sultan Kansuh al-Gauri ( 1501 - 1516 ). Initially, he served as governor of Egypt.

In September 1516, after the death of his uncle Kansuh al-Gauri, Tuman-bai was elected the new sultan of Egypt and led the fight against the Ottoman army of Selim I Yavuz , who occupied Syria and attacked Egypt .

Tuman Bai decided to wage war to a victorious end and refused to negotiate with Selim , killing the Ottoman ambassadors. The fog-bay gathered the surviving Mamluk detachments, enlisted the support of the Bedouin sheikhs, and began to manufacture guns.

In December 1516, the 10,000th Mamluk vanguard under the command of the former governor of Damascus, Janberdi al-Ghazali, was defeated by the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Beysan in Palestine.

In mid-January 1517, the Ottoman army under the command of Sultan Selim I of Yavuz , passing the Sinai Peninsula , entered Egypt and entered the Nile Delta . The Ottoman sultan issued an appeal to the Egyptian people, where he promised the population an amnesty, guaranteed the inviolability of the person and property, and declared that he came to fight only with the Mamluks. Ordinary people ( peasants and the urban poor) joyfully welcomed the Ottomans. On the side of Tuman Bay II there were only Mamluks and Bedouins.

Sultan Tuman-bai with his own strength strengthened near Cairo . He enlisted six thousand black slaves in his army, released criminals from prisons and distributed weapons to wealthy citizens. The fog-bay was able to gather up to 40 thousand people under its command, including 20 thousand Mamluks and Bedouins .

On January 22, 1517, a decisive battle took place at Ridaniyi (the northern suburbs of Cairo ). Ottoman Turks destroyed the Mameluke artillery with fire. Selim Yavuz surrounded and defeated the Mamluk army. Tuman Bai himself with his Mamluks showed miracles of courage, crashing into the thick of the enemies. He personally killed the great Vizier Sinan Yusuf Pasha . Having lost 20 thousand soldiers in the battle, Tuman-bye with the remnants of his army randomly retreated. Ottoman Turks occupied Cairo . In the battle near the walls of the capital on January 23, many Mamluk emirs died, including Arazmak-Nashir and his brother Inal.

On the night of January 29, 1517, a fog-bye with a small detachment of Mamluks suddenly burst into Cairo and unleashed street fights that lasted three days. Killed about 50 thousand inhabitants. When the Turks got the upper hand, Sultan Selim I ordered the decapitation of 800 captive Mameluk bei.

After the Turkish submission to Cairo, Alexandria and other cities of Lower Egypt began to expel the Mameluke garrisons. The Egyptian population expressed humility and loyalty to the Ottoman Sultan Selim Yavuz . Relying on the Bedouin tribes and the Mamluks, who arrived from the remote provinces of Upper Egypt, Tuman-bai continued the struggle against the Turks. But the forces of the opponents were unequal. Mamluk cavalry could not withstand volleys of Turkish artillery. Soon, disagreements began between the Bedouins and the Mamluks . The Bedouin sheikhs considered the further struggle useless, left Tuman Bay and sought to conclude an agreement with the Ottomans.

On April 2, 1517, Fog Bay broke into Lower Egypt and in the vicinity of Cairo entered the last battle with the Ottoman Turks and suffered a final defeat. The Mamluk sultan himself decided to take refuge with his friend, a Bedouin sheikh, who betrayed him and betrayed him to the Ottoman sultan. On April 15 of the same year, the last Mamluk sultan of Egypt was hanged under the arch of the gates of Bab Zuwail in Cairo .

• Ryzhov K.V. Burdzhita // All the monarchs of the world. Muslim East. VII – XV centuries - M .: Veche,2004 .