Political Struggle and Confrontations Following the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople

Political Struggle and Confrontations

Following the Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople

 

After the Islamic conquest of Constantinople, the star of a brilliant leader, Muhammad II el Fatih, also known as Mehmet II, had been rising. Muhammad II sent his delegates, carrying precious gifts and captive slaves, informing Mamluk Sultan Inal of this victory. The Sultan rejoiced and responded with a congratulatory letter. Egyptian cities were decorated, the Sultani cannons fired at Saladin’s citadel, and festivities took place. Under the surface, powerful currents were swirling unseen, and this conquest was followed up by much instability.

Outline of the Ottoman Empire, from the Theatro d'el Orbe de la Tierra de Abraham Ortelius, Antwerp, 1602, updated from the 1570 edition

• Europe’s Response to the Islamic Conquest of Constantinople

The reaction of Western Europe to the Ottoman conquest was furious and bitter. It was not surprising that the trade routes from Western Asia to Western Europe through the Black Sea, Anatolia, and the straits collapsed. This conquest challenged Venice's economic position within the region and threatened the existence of the Venetian colonies of Crete and Negroponte. The papacy restricted Christian merchants from dealing with Muslims. The Levant and Egypt had been important markets where Venetian trade had been tax-exempt. Trade with the Mamluks was Venice’s main engine. The effects were dramatic, and European merchants were no longer able to flock to the Egyptian and Levantine coasts and markets.

Mamluks and Italians. Renaissance painting by Giovanni Mansueti “Scenes from the Life of St Mark”

But it did not take long for the Italian attitude to be entirely reshaped. Venice’s economic ties with the Mamluks took precedence over concern with the Ottoman threat. When two ministers of sea affairs demanded the postponement of the scheduled voyage of large Venetian round-ships to Syria, the senate allowed the round-ships to depart as planned. In December 1462, five Venetian ministers proposed in the Senate a motion that was to initiate a long-lasting Venetian embargo against the Ottoman Empire. Business with the Mamluks was resumed and with the strong demand came a rising level of trade. Venice and the Italian states worked on strengthening their relations with the Mamluks. In 1485, negotiations for closer relations between Venice and Cairo were held. In 1496, a treaty was concluded between Florence and the Circassian-Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay. Muslim traders and merchants were highly active in the Mediterranean. However, Egypt and Italy faced another blow. In 1487, the world changed after the Portuguese reached the coasts of the Indian Ocean following their discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. Egypt and Italy lost their important commercial positions. At the same time, Ottoman ambitions and horizons began to expand.

•  Situation in the Mamluk Sultanate

By the late 15th century, the Mamluk Sultanate suffered from maladministration by weak sultans and corrupt emirs. There were troubles caused by the public along with economic decline, frequent plagues, and environmental disasters such as drought, which devastated agriculture. The Egypt-born Baalbaki historian Al Maqrizi captured the realities of life for most Egyptians: People were going hungry, and food, though available, was not being distributed. This was due to inflated prices, bribery, high taxes, and an unstable currency. Regarding economic functions, the Mamluk government suffered from monopoly, corruption, and tyranny of officials, as well as neglect of agricultural lands. The Iqta’ system controlled most of the agricultural land in Egypt and the Levant. The leasing and sale of land of Bayt al Maal became common. The Mamluk state was on the verge of financial collapse. Sultans Barquq and Qaitbay introduced fiscal reforms, but these caused a financial crisis due to the depletion of the treasury, especially the revenues from Kharaj lands. To make matters worse, the public was unhappy about the freedom and privileges given to the Europeans. In the decades after, Mamluk slave soldiers dominated the people, so they used to buy from merchants in the markets without paying them. Theft and prostitution became widespread.

Emblem of Sultan Qaitbay on the facade of the caravanserai and public fountain of Sultan Qaitbay in Cairo. Emblem reads: Abul Nasr Qaitbay, Glory to our Lord, the Sultan, Al Malik Al Ashraf, May his victory be glorified. Photographs taken by Simon Rousselot in November 2019.

•    Mamluk-Ottoman Rivalry

The golden days of the Mamluks were now pages of the past. This was no longer the powerful sultanate of Baybars and Qalawun. The Mamluk Empire was no longer achieving significant military victories. The continuous Ottoman success and acquiring more lands increased their popularity. This worried the Mamluk Sultans. The Arabs of Granada, facing the Catholic threat, turned their requests to the Ottomans with a delegation arriving at the court of Muhammad II after the Mamluks showed no significant response to their pleas. The Ottomans, who started taking up global Muslim causes, turned their gaze to the Levant and the Mamluk borders to secure their trade routes. In September 1465, Doge Christophoro Moro of Venice, who was at war with Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II, sent a letter to King Edward IV of England, mentioning that Egyptian merchants on his vessels were mistreated by knights working on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan. This might have been intended as an affront to Mamluk Sultan Khushqadam. On the 9th of October 1467, the Mamluk Sultan passed away and Qaitbay ascended to the throne. Qaitbay, already not a fan of the Ottomans, was skeptical of Muhammad II. A dangerous level of hostility started building up, especially after Muhammad II’s letter to Qaitbay where he hinted that the Mamluk Sultan was his 'enemy'. During this period, the Ottomans approached closer to the borders of the Mamluks. The relations between the two states were clearly strained. In one of the visits, the Ottoman ambassador, contrary to the norm, refused to kneel to the Mamluk Sultan. The two Empires were almost at the brink of war.

•    Mamluks between the Ottomans and Safavids

In 1488, the Turkish ruler of the Safavid order, Haydar, was killed in a conflict with the Shirvanshahs, the Arab Kings of Shirvan in modern-day Azerbaijan. His son, Ismail, went into hiding until he reached his early teens. At the heart of the Ottoman-Mamluk rivalry, Ismail started rising to power, securing lands until he conquered Iran in the early 1500s. Ismail, also known as Al Safawi or Sophy, set his eyes on the Levant. Aleppo was the key point in the Mamluk defensive system, both against the Safavids and against the Ottomans.

Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri ("Campson Gavro re d'Egitto") by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Galleria degli Uffizi

In 1507, the Mamluk Vice-Sultan paraded the Syrian troops in Aleppo. The Safawid army had crossed the Euphrates in October and met the Mamluk army of Emir Ali Dülat. The Mamluk historian Ibn Iyas mentioned that the Safawids were defeated. These events took place in the presence of an Ottoman envoy in Cairo. Sultan Qansuh Al Ghouri bestowed robes of honour on him, and he was sent back to the Ottoman Sultan bearing the news. In December, Ismail I sent his envoys to the Mamluk Sultan with an apology letter emphasizing that the incident was not intended and that the Safawid soldiers lost their way. Keeping his doubts aside, the Mamluk Sultan accepted the apology and returned Safawid prisoners to Iran. Ibn Iyas commented: 

The Safavid envoys were very impudent; they wore red conical caps on their heads but were not as elegant as the Ottomans.

Meanwhile, tension continued to build up between the Mamluks, Ottomans, and Safawids. In March 1511, after Ismail I defeated and killed Özbeg Khan, a Tartar chieftain, he sent his envoys to Cairo. They arrived in Damascus in May 1511 and in Cairo in June of the same year. The letter of Ismail I was read in the presence of the Mamluk Emirs. When the gift box presented to the Sultan was opened, they found inside the head of Ozbeg Khän. Ismail's gift had its dangerous and unequivocal implications. The Shah was indirectly telling Al Ghouri that he was an old man who could not participate in battle and that he must leave the Mamluk Sultanate to vigorous men, like Shah Ismail, who can kill his enemies on the battlefield. The Mamluk Sultan was furious because Ismail I’s letter contained abusive verses insulting him. The Mamluk-Safawid relations went from bad to worse. In April of the following year, the Safawid infantry battalions rampaging in Mamluk domains were defeated by the Mamluk Emir of Sis. He then sent ten Safawid heads with red conical caps to the Sultan in Cairo. Al Ghouri immediately ordered these heads to be stuck on lances and put on display in the streets of Cairo, and finally to be hung on the gates of Bab Al Futuh and Bab Al Nasr.

Mosaic depicting the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 from Chehel Sotoun palace, Isfahan

 

No doubt, Shah Ismail was unhappy about this. He sent his delegation to Cairo with a letter to the Mamluk Sultan containing abusive words. Al Ghouri was enraged and sent the delegation back to Iran in less than a month with a letter containing abusive words. Al Ghouri, a man of experience, was more aware of Ismail I’s intentions than the Ottomans were. In July, Bayezid II (originally Abu Yazid) died, and Al Ghouri mourned him, ordering prayers in the mosques of Al Azhar, Al Hakem, and others. The Mamluks were saved from a definite clash with the Safawids because the circle of conflict was transferred to the Ottoman axis. The Ottomans did not want the Safawids to defeat the weak Mamluks and control the Islamic Holy cities. In 1514, the Ottomans and Safawids met at Chaldiran. Ismail I was defeated, and Selim I, also known as Yavuz Selim or Selim the Grim, entered Tabriz. When the news of the Ottoman victory arrived, Al Ghouri ordered the Quran to be recited in some of the mosques of Cairo and Fustat. But he did not order the drums to be beaten and did not declare that Cairo should be decorated in celebration of this occasion. The reason was obvious. The Mamluk Sultan was aware of the consequences of such a victory and realized that he would drink from the same cup as Ismail I.

Ottoman painting showing the head of Mamluk Sultan aAl Ghouri being remitted to Selim I

 

Following his victory, Selim I turned his attention to the Mamluks. He met Al-Ghouri in Marj Dabiq, north of Aleppo, where the Mamluks were defeated, and their Sultan was killed on the battlefield. Selim I then marched to Egypt, conquering Cairo after the Battle of Al Raydaniya, bringing an end to the Mamluk Sultanate.

Bibliography

• Aylon, D. (1987). The End of the Mamluk Sultanate: (Why did the Ottomans Spare the Mamluks of Egypt and Wipe out the Mamluks of Syria?)

• Rabie, H. (1978). Relations Between the Safavids of Persia, the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria in the Early Sixteenth Century.

• Stantchev, S. (2010). Devedo: The Venetian Response to Sultan Mehmet II in the Venetian Ottoman Conflict of 1462-79.

• Walker, J. B. (2008). Popular Responses to Mamluk Fiscal Reforms in Syria.

• Wansbrough, J (1965). Venice and Florence in the Mamluk Commercial Privileges

•  Winter, M. (1980). Turks, Arabs and Mamluks in the army of Ottoman Egypt.

 

About me

Natalie Mallat is a freelance writer with a particular interest in Medieval Arab history. She enjoys running the history blog www.bibliotecanatalie.com. You can follow her Instagram @medievalarabhistory and LinkedIn @bibliotecanatalie for regular posts.