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 Zayn-ad-Din 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 Zayn-ad-Din 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 Zayn-ad-Din, 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.
Zayn-ad-Din 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 Zayn-ad-Din'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.
