
al-Mansur Qalawun (1222-10 November 1290) was Sultan of the Mamelukes from November 1279 to 10 November 1290, succeeding Solamish and preceding al-Ashraf Khalil.
Biography[]
Qalawun as-Salhi was born to a family of Turkic Kipchaks, and he was enslaved as a mamluk during the 1240s, serving as a member of al-Kamil's household. He rose to be an emir under Sultan Baibars, but Baibars' son al-Said Barakah attempted to send al-Mansur on a one-way invasion of Armenian Cilicia in 1279 with the intent of arresting him on his return home. al-Mansur was alerted to this trap, and he instead deposed Barakah, installing his younger brother Solamish on the throne. A few months later, al-Mansur deposed Solamish as well, seizing power for himself. In 1281, he put down a revolt in Damascus and defeated an invading Mongol army at the Second Battle of Homs. In 1285, he sacked the previously impregnable Hospitaller fortress of Margat in 1285 and then captured and destroyed the castle of Maraclea. He went on to capture Latakia in 1287 and Tripoli in 1289, and he died in Cairo before the siege of Acre could be finished. He was succeeded by his son al-Ashraf Khalil.