Amda Seyon I

When Christians and Muslims were burning down each other's houses of worship in Egypt during the reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (lived 1285 - 1341), the emperor of Ethiopia sent him a message: ensure the safety of the Coptic Christians, or else.

The "or else" was serious, and contained two parts. The first part was the threat to send a military legion to conquer Egypt. al-Nasir might not have balked at that: his armies were large and fierce. It was the second part that was the more serious threat: before attacking, they would divert the Nile River and cut off Egypt's greatest source of fresh water and transportation. This bold declaration came from Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344. Let's talk about him.

Ge'ez chronicles, the source of much of what we know about Amda Seyon, were written a century later and get some events mixed with other emperors. (Ge'ez is an ancient Semitic language.)

He was part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a Christian Church that existed long before European colonization. It was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria since the early 300s. The chief doctrine differs from Latin and Eastern Orthodox and others in that it believes in Miaphysitism, in one perfectly unified combination of the human and divine in Christ, not in two separate natures.

Most of Amda's fighting was against Muslims in the southeast in what is now Somalia, enlarging his kingdom and spreading Christianity. In one instance, after invading the Muslim Hadiya Kingdom and exiling its people, he demanded that its ruler, Amano, visit him to pay tribute. A Muslim prophet told Amano not to go and not to be afraid, because if Amda Seyon attacked, Amano would be triumphant. Quite the contrary. The angry Amda Seyon invaded Hadiya, killed many, and took Amano prisoner. Conquering Hadiya hindered the Muslim slave trade and affected Muslim wealth in that part of the world.

After giving Amda's warning to al-Nasir, the messenger on the way back to Ethiopia was captured by Haqq ad-Din I, sultan of Ifat, who was encouraged by al-Nasir to attack Ethiopia. Haqq ad-Din tried to convert the messenger to Islam; he failed, and killed the messenger. Hearing this, Amda Seyon called up his army to attack Ifat. Amada himself with only seven horsemen rode ahead of the army to Ifat and killed many of Haqq ad-Din's soldiers. The army then destroyed Ifat's capital, and Amda took much of its gold and other materials. Haqq ad-Din was killed in battle against Amda Seyon in 1328.

The prophet who had given such bad advice to Amano is credited with continuing to stir up Muslims in the region against the powerful Ethiopian Christian kingdom. This led to Haqq ad-Din's brother and successor deciding it was time to conquer Ethiopia. That is a story for next time.

Al-Nasir Muhammad, Aggressor

Once he was firmly established as Sultan of Egypt in 1310 (after two previous reigns), al-Nasir Muhammad became more aggressive to his neighbors.

For example, a few years after he began his third reign, he launched raids on the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (now Turkey). The attacks from Egypt started by al-Nasir continued even after his reign, resulting in the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in 1375.

He also sent soldiers to enter the Mongol-controlled Baghdad, which was much sought after by several invading armies due to its cultural and educational pre-eminence. al-Nasir had sent his men to close the Baghdad bazaar because of its reputation for drinking and prostitution. The wine found by the soldiers was to be destroyed, and any women found selling their bodies were to be pardoned and told to marry as soon as possible. There were mosques in Baghdad, and al-Nasir's name was added to their prayers.

Back in Egypt, Muslims and Christians were becoming hostile to each other. Some Christian churches had been destroyed in parts of Egypt, and some mosques in Cairo were set on fire. Some Christians were arrested in the act of setting fire to buildings with rags soaked in oil.

The sultan ordered the Christian patriarch to attend him to discuss the matter. The Coptic patriarch (John IX of Alexandria) condemned the burnings. Also, word came from the emperor of Ethiopia, warning al-Nasir that Christian persecutions must stop, or else. Investigations led to the arrest of both Muslims and Christians who damaged each other's buildings.

Egypt's power was growing under al-Nasir. Envoys from Pope John XXII and King Philip VI of France came with gifts and letters, along with requests to treat Christians fairly. Philip asked to be given the city of Jerusalem and areas along the Levantine coast; al-Nasir insulted the French envoys and ordered them out of his kingdom.

The coins from his third reign were inscribed with "The Sultan King an-Nasir triumphant in faith and temporal world, The Greatest Sultan King, The Sultan King triumphant in temporal world and in faith, the one who shares with the Emir of faithfuls."

He had many children by wives and concubines. Eight of his sons became sultans of Egypt, as well as four of his grandsons. On a summer day in 1341, he went to the mosque to pray despite feeling ill and in pain, asking the preacher to give a shorter sermon. After prayers, he went back to his palace. The next day he summoned his princes and military leaders and appointed in their presence his son al-Mansur Abu Bakr as his successor, telling that if any of his descendants proved wrong for the throne, he should be removed. He was pronounced dead on 21 July.

He was a very powerful sultan in the end, and increased Egypt's power in the world, so what could the "or else" threat from Ethiopia have been? Tomorrow we meet Ethiopian Emperor Amda Seyon, who had an interesting trump card over Egypt.

Al-Nasir Muhammad, Third Reign

Al-Nasir Muhammad (1285 - 1341) had three different periods of his life when he was Sultan of Egypt. The first two are laid out here and here. In the first two he was overshadowed by powerful men who were essentially regents due to his youth. The third time around, however, he had gained sufficient maturity (and experience in politics) to run the country himself.

He became sultan for the third time in 1310 at the age of 24, and had a satisfying reign of three decades. Determined to chart his own course and eliminate hindrances, he had his predecessor al-Jashnakir executed, and replaced his earlier vice-sultan Salar with a new man, Baktmar al-Jukondar. (He arrested Salar a year later; Salar died in prison.)

Unfortunately, al-Jukondar was not a loyal vice-sultan, and conspired in 1310 to overthrow al-Nasir and replace him with al-Nasir's nephew, Emir Musa (Musa's father was as-Salih Ali, Al-Nasir's brother). Musa was up for the change, but someone spilled the beans and al-Nasir had al-Jukondar and Musa arrested.

Al-Nasir became more pro-active after that. Emirs who were corrupt or had opposed him in the past found their property taken by the sultan. He appointed a man with a reputation for being tough on corruption as the head of the Court of Justice. Al-Nasir would spend time each Monday allowing the common people to come to him with complaints against officials. He eliminated some additional taxes that had recently been put in place but really just enriched corrupt emirs. He prohibited executions without his permission. He also ordered a comprehensive land survey to re-set the property taxes owed.

He also got rid of the position of vice-sultan. (And built at least one mosque, pictured above.)

He was fortunate during his reign that recent losses weakened the Mongols, and there were no Crusades that invaded Egypt. This gave him years of relative peace from external enemies. In fact, he was the cause of external conflict for other territories. I'll talk about his attempts to expand his kingdom tomorrow.

Al-Nasir Muhammad, Second Reign

Al-Nasir Muhammad survived his first ousting, when the pre-teen was replaced by his advisor Zayn-al-Din Kitbugha. Now a teenager, he was returned in 1299 to the position of Mamluk Sultan of Egypt with Sayf al-Din Salar, an Oirat Mongol, as vice-Sultan and Baibars al-Jashnakir as an advisor.

His youth and their political savvy meant, however, that he was still not in charge except in name. Salar and al-Jashnakir were members of dynasties that were rivals to the Burji Mamluks, to whom Al-Nasir Muhammad belonged. As the Burji Mamluks grew in power, conflicts arose between the groups. There were also external dangers.

Mahmud Ghazan of the Mongol Ilkhanate invaded the Levant in the Eastern Mediterranean. Al-Nasir led an army of 20,000 from Egypt to deal with the invasion. Meanwhile, back in Cairo, there was a conspiracy to bring Kitbugha back to power after killing Salar and al-Jashnakir. The attempt failed, but Salar and al-Jashnakir believed that al-Nasir was behind it.

Al-Nasir and Ghazan encountered each other at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar (illustrated), to the detriment of al-Nasir. Although Ghazan's army took heavier casualties than al-Nasir's, al-Nasir retreated in disarray, limping back to Egypt in parts. Al-Nasir actually made Kitbugha a governor and then sent Salar and al-Jashnakir with the army to eliminate Ghazan's army.

Salar and al-Jashnakir clearly had a lot of political power and popular support, and al-Nasir realized he would never have total control as sultan with them around. He tried to have them arrested in 1309, but the attempt failed. He figured his best option was to go to the Levant, make alliances there, and eventually return to Egypt. In his absence, Baibars al-Jashnakir made himself Sultan of Egypt with Salar as his vice-Sultan.

Baibars al-Jashnakir ruled less than one year, ultimately being forced by the people of Egypt to resign and bring back al-Nasir, who was now 24 years old. His third reign began 5 March 1310 and lasted three decades. This time he was better at dealing with rivals, and had the time to make changes to the kingdom. More on that next time.

Al-Nasir Muhammad, First Reign

The current structure referred to as the Tower of David was built by Al-Nasir Muhammad, a Mamluk sultan who lived from 1285 to 1341. He reigned as sultan of Egypt for three separate periods, once for one year, once for 10 years, and finally (after dealing with the hindrances of the first two reigns) for 31 years.

Al-Nasir was born in Cairo, the third son of Sultan Qalawun and a Mongol mother. He was raised in Mongolia, and he acted like a Mongol until he was 29. When he was five years old, his father died and the throne went to Al-Nasir's older brother, Al-Ashraf Khalil.

When Al-Ashraf died (assassinated) in 1293, Al-Nasir was made sultan, but he was only nine years old. His regent and vice-sultan was a man named Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha, a Mongol in the army of Hulagu Khan. Al-Nasir's vizier, al-Shuja‘i, and Kitbugha did not get along, and their rivalry turned to outright civil war, with each attempting to arrest the other with the help of different sections of the military.

After Kitbugha prevailed, he assembled all the nobles and emirs and told them that Al-Nasir was too young to manage a kingdom that was so prone to civil strife, and they agreed to depose the young sultan and install Kitbugha, who ruled from December 1294 until 7 December 1296. He failed to address shortages of water and food, and gave too much favor to the non-Egyptian Oirats who were led by a son of Hulagu Khan.

Kitbugha fled the opposition, but eventually recognized their replacement, a man named Lajin, who had participated in the assassination of Al-Ashraf Khalil and had been Kitbugha's vice-sultan. Lajin ruled from December 1296 until 16 January 1299, when he was killed by the same emirs who had put him in power.

Al-Nasir, now 14 years old, was chosen to return as Sultan of Egypt, with Sayf al-Din Salar, an Oirat Mongol, as vice-Sultan and Baibars al-Jashnakir as advisor. This time, his reign was a little longer. Once again, however, the problem came from his closest advisors. We'll continue his story tomorrow.