Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn and the Establishment of the Hereditary rule of the Qalāwūn Dynasty in Bahri Mamluk Period (648-784/1250-1382)

The common theory is that the Mamluks opposed the hereditary rule, yet the period of Baḥrī Mamluk (644-784) witnessed nearly a century of hereditary reign of the Qalāwūn dynasty. Why and how to establish the hereditary monarchy of the Qalāwūn dynasty is the question that this article seeks to answer. Attempts by the first great Sulṭāns of the Mamluks, Aybak and Baybars, to maintain the monarchy within their dynasty failed; But the other powerful Mamluk king, Qalāwūn, was able to inherit the government from his family. Among the sons of Qalāwūn, Sulṭān Nāṣir Muḥammad, in spite of twice ousting and relinquishing the monarchy, played a greater role in consolidating the hereditary rule of this dynasty. In the third period of his reign, which lasted 31 years, Nāṣir Muḥammad, based on previous experiences and by gradually eliminating powerful rivals and potential claimants to the monarchy, prepared the ground for the acceptance of the pattern of inheritance among the Mamluks. After him, his sons and grandsons ruled Egypt and the Levant (Shām) for more than four decades (741-784). Although the sons of Nāṣir Muḥammad were deposed several times by the Mamluk princes, no emperor violated their dynastic rights until the end of the Mamluk period.