Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri

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Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri (Arabic: الأشرف قانصوه الغوري), also known as Qansuh II al-Ghawri, lived around 1441/1446–1516. He was the second-to-last Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria, ruling from 1501 to 1516. Born into the Mamluk system, he was trained in Cairo and earned the nickname al-Ghuri. He held important posts in Upper Egypt, Aleppo, Tarsus, and Malatya before becoming sultan after a revolt against Tuman Bay II, though he was reluctant to take the throne.

In power, Ghuri moved quickly to remove supporters of the previous sultan. To fill the treasury, he imposed heavy taxes on many kinds of property, which caused unrest. He strengthened the army and began producing cannons on a large scale, aiming to defend the kingdom against the growing Portuguese threat in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. He also worked to protect Mecca and secure maritime routes.

Ghuri’s relations with the Ottoman Empire worsened after Selim I became sultan. When Selim I prepared a major invasion of Egypt from Syria, Ghuri led his forces to confront the Ottomans. On 24 August 1516, at the Battle of Marj Dabiq near Aleppo, he was defeated. Reports differ on exactly how he died, but his defeat marked the end of Mamluk rule in Egypt and Syria, and the region soon came under Ottoman control.

Ghuri had several wives, including Khawand Baysiwar (Khawand-i-Kubra) and Khawand Fatima, and a Circassian wife, Jan-i-Sukkar, who was his favored consort and a noted poet. He left descendants who lived in Aleppo and Lebanon.