27.1 Africa: a.d. 1201 to 1300

Africa

Back to Africa: A.D. 1101 to 1200

Northeast africa

In the highlands of Ethiopia there were several Muslim sultanates. In Lasta, King Labibela, who gave his name to the capital city, is credited with 11 monumental rock-cut churches. Egyptian Coptic refugees were allegedly welcome here, as Labibela attempted to establish a "new Jerusalem". Juniper trees were planted (in place of cedars), a local stream was named the "Jordan River" and a grove of olives became the "Mount of Olives". (Ref. 270 ) Nearer the coast this rejuvenated dynasty line from the old Axumite kings gave way in 1270 to a new family claiming to be a restoration of the old Solomon line, calling themselves the Solomonid Dynasty. These Amharic-speaking people developed a true Ethiopian culture and came in conflict with the Muslim coastal states on the Horn of Africa, notably Adal. The Solomonid ruler became known as the "King of Kings" and had many vassal kings under him. Christianity in this area then began to absorb many Judaic and pagan practices from the mixed peoples living there. (Ref. 43 , 8 , 83 )

Nubia was invaded by Sultan Baibars of Egypt in the middle of the century and a puppet ruler was set up and tribute paid to the Mamluks.

The descendant of the Kurd, Saladin, ruled Egypt in the first third of this century and one of the greatest achievements of the time was the building of the Mansur Hospital in Cairo, a very large institution which had separate wards for different diseases such as fevers, eye problems, female disorders, etc. Ruling the country in about 1238, Sultan al-Salih, to augment his Turkoman army, purchased white slaves from the Mongols as they crossed southern Russia. These slaves were mixtures of Cumans, Circassians and Alans and they became the most powerful cavalry unit in the Egyptian army and were known as mamluks from the Arabic verb "to own". The practice of taking such men as royal bodyguards had been started by the caliphs of Baghdad, who could not trust even their own relatives. The last Egyptian sultan of the Kurd Ayyubin line died in 1249 and after a few murders, one of the white slave Mamluks named Aybak married Queen Shajar al-Durr, founded the Burji Dynasty and became the first Mamluk sultan of Egypt. After seven years Aybak made the mistake of trying to add a new wife, the daughter of the ruler of Mosul, Iraq. Queen Shajar al-Durr murdered him in his bath, but she, in turn, received the same type of death three days later from Aybak's loyal concubines. (Ref. 125 , 5 )

The Mamluk General Baibars (also Baybars) led an army through Palestine, thwarting the last of the Crusaders, and then went on to defeat his former captors in a great battle at Ain Jalut in 1260 and the Mongol advance was stopped. As a result of these victories Baibars was elevated to be sultan and he proceeded to be one of the most cruel, ambitious and yet able of the Mamluks. He traded ambassadors with the Mongol Berke in Russia and persuaded him to wage war against fellow Mongol Hulegu in the Middle East, thus pinching the latter's forces between them. He brought the last Abbasid caliph to Cairo from the destroyed Baghdad, set him up as a puppet and then proceeded to form a strong administration, reconstruct fortresses, roads, bridges and canals, although late in the century the old Necho canal from the Nile to Red Sea was filled in. He had a regular postal service between Egypt and his domains in Syria. At the height of his career, in 1277, he was poisoned. With the subsequent reign of Qalawun (1279-1290) the Bahri