Ala 'ad-Din Aydekin

Ala 'ad-Din Aydekin al-Bunduqdar († after November 1261) was a Mameluk in the 13th century.

Aydekin was a leading amīr of the al-Salihi Mameluks and apparently the commander of the bow and crossbowmen of the Ayyubid Emir al-Salih Ayyub of al-Jazira . It was he who bought the slave Rukn ad-Din Baibars cheaply from the Emir of Hama after he discovered his talent at the bow despite a visual impairment. His master as-Salih Ayyub rose to be Sultan of Egypt in 1240. After the fall of the Ayyubid dynasty, Aydekin remained a leading officer in the Mamluk army. On January 7, 1251 he was entrusted by Sultan al-Mu'izz Aybak with the reign of Egypt, while the Sultan embarked on the campaign of al-Kura . Aydekin himself took part in the battle of ʿAin Jālūt and in the capture of Damascus (September 1260).

In October 1260, Baibars murdered the Sultan Qutuz and usurped the throne of Egypt. Thereupon the Mameluk governor in Damascus, Sangar al-Halabi , declared himself to be the independent ruler. In January 1261, a delegation from the Baibars arrived in Damascus, whereupon the majority of the Mameluks in Damascus expressed their loyalty to him. Aydekin took command of the troops and defeated the followers of Sangar al-Halabi on January 15, 1261. Two days later he was able to move into Damascus and install the Taybars al-Waziri appointed by Baibars in his governorship. In March 1261, Aydekin received the order from the Sultan to arrest several officers, from whom, however, Aqqush al-Burli was able to escape his grip.

Aqqush al-Burli seized the city of Aleppo and made himself lord there. In October 1261, Sultan Baibars personally entered Damascus. Aydekin has now also been appointed governor of Aleppo and charged with subjugating the rebel. At the end of October he was able to move into Aleppo with his troops, but after a counter-attack by the Aqqush he had to give up the city again in November.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ibn as-Suqa'i, Tali kitāb wafayāt al-a'yān , pp. 16-18
2. ↑ Ibn Wasil , Mufarrij al-kurub fi akhbar bani Ayyub , BnF Paris, ms. arabe 1703, fol. 103r

literature

• Stefan Heidemann : The Aleppine Caliphate (AD 1261). From the end of the caliphate in Baghdad via Aleppo to the restorations in Cairo (= Islamic history and civilization. 6). Brill, Leiden et al. 1994, ISBN 90-04-10031-8 (also: Berlin, Free University, dissertation, 1993: Al-Hakim bi-Amrillah and Aqqus al-Burli the Aleppine caliphate 659 H. 1261 AD ).