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and extended his state to the Fertile Crescent. In 908 A.H./1503 a.d. he defeated
Mamluks from the conflict circle by encour- established himself in central and south
aging the deterioration of relations between Persia. A few years later he conquered
the Safavids and the Mamluks. After they Mazandaran and Gurgan, the provinces of
had defeated the Safavids, they destroyed the Caspian Sea, extending his realm to
Mamluks themselves were expecting theirCaspian Sea in the north, from the Euphrates
in the west to Transoxania in the east, and
ner, either the Ottomans or the Safavids.2his state thus became an opponent to the
fate to be decided at the hands of the winIn the summer of 906-7 a.h/1501 a.d.
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76 JARCE XV (1978)
more amirs,
welcome in Cairo.
He transmitted
sultans and corrupt
in
additions t
troubles caused by
the presents
the qddis,
and the messages
fuqaM
of his master,
an
which
contained
information
about
the
common people, This was accompanied by
economic decline as a result of the deterioOttoman's intentions concerning Safavid
ration of the iqtct system,5 and frequent
preparations for war. The Ottoman envoy
occurrences of the plague and epidemics
left Cairo in Rajab 908/January 1503 carry-
sion.9
The Ottomans moved at that time to
Sultani Mamluks.12
sent to
Cairo a number of Safavid soldiers'
isolating them in their future struggle
with
the Safavids. The Ottomans pretended
that
heads and a distinguished Safavid prisoner
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In the same month (Shacban 913/Decem- and Syrian cities asking them to write to
ber 1507) Shah Isma'il sent his envoy to their kings to invade Egypt from the sea,
Sultan al-Ghawri with a letter containing an whilst he would invade by land the terri-
Euphrates and for any initiative his troops sultans. In 916/1510 the Mamluk ruler of
may have taken. The Shah emphasized in al-Blra on the eastern Mamluk borders in
his letter that the incident was not intended, Syria captured some Safavid envoys carrythat the Safavid soldiers had lost their way, ing letters addressed to these consular
and that the Shah did not give his personal officials, and sent them to the Mamluk
order for such action or even have any Sultan in Cairo.18 Ibn Tulun adds that, in the
but were not as elegant as the Ottoman these incidents, on 23 Dhu al-Qacda 916/21
envoys."15
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78 JARCE XV (1978)
Safavid envoy to theanyone
Mamluk
Sultan
arrived
whatsoever
from approaching
him,
in Damascus on Safar
917/10
May
15 II,23
and not
to let anyone
of the Safavid
delgaand in Cairo on 18 Rablc
1/
1 5
1511
of
tion go to
market
or June
meet any of
the inha-
is its saddle.
field.
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1513
thatthe
Shah Ismacil had been defeated
found himself in great difficulties
with
many thousands of troops, and that he himOn Thursday 18 Rabic I 918/3 June
1512,
self
had been injured and was in hiding - no
Isma'il would or could not attack the Mamwhile they were rampaging through his
luk Sultanate at that time.34
domain. Sultan al-Ghawri immediately
ordered these heads to be stuck on lances
In fact the only thing which saved the
Mamluk Sultanate from a definite clash
and put on display in the streets of Cairo,
with
and finally to be hung on the gates of Bab the Safavids was the transference of
of the weakened Mamluk Sultanate, beTabriz for two years.31 Two Safavid envoys
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80 JARCE XV (1978)
arrange
peace betweenvictory
Selim and
and Fustat.37 News was
oftothe
Ottoman
the Mamluk
Sultan.42
in such cases, since he was determined
to
wait for confirmation of the news.38 At last
In the absence of more data, one cannot
on 29 Ramadan 920/17 November, 1514
refute or accept such information. In any
an Ottoman envoy arrived in Cairo carrying case, it was two years after the battle of
The reason was obvious later on; no doubtquered the cities of Syria and at last reach-
Cairo
1970), 115-28.
for the Ottoman conquest was that Sultan
3 R.alM. Savory, 'Safavid Persia,' in the Cambridge
Selim had captured al-Bahlawan, one of
History of Islam, I, 398.
Ghawri's men, who was carrying a letter
4 Sharaf Khan al-Bidlisi, Sharafnama, Arabic trans.
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31 Ibid.,
IV, 265 ff.; see above, p. 000.
bi-kashf al-Ghumma (Cairo, 1940), 32-47; Rabie,
op.
32 Ibid., IV, 27 1.
cit, 20-22, 49; M. W. Dols, The Black Death in the
33 Ibid., IV, 270.
Middle East (Princeton, 1977), 143ff.
R. B. Serjeant, The Portuguese off the South Arabian
al-khilldn ft hawddilh al-zamdn, ed. Muhammad Library), no. 1206 Tdrikh, vol. I, fol. 398; Savory,
'Safavid Persia', 399-400; Holt, op.cit., 35-50;
Mostafa (Cairo, 1962), I, 252.
Inalcik, op.cit, 32.
9 Ibid., I, 261.
10 Ibn Iyas (Muhammad ibn Ahmad), Bada*f alZuhur ft waqdcf al-duhur, 2nd ed. by Muhammad
Mostafa, vol IV (Cairo, 1960), 46-47.
1 x Ibn Tulun, Mufakaha, 1,316-17.
Ibn Iyas, Baddhx, Iv, 118; for the Mamluk army,
36Sharaf Khan al-Bidlisi, op.cit, II, 140-41; alGhuzzi, op.cit, I, fols. 398-99; Savory, op.cit, 400-
fol. 18r.
al-Muncim 'Amir (Cairo, 1962), 26ff.; Ibn Abi al21 Ibn Iyas, Badd'f, IV, 184, 265, 271; see below,
Surur al-Bakri, a\-Minah, fol. 21r-v, M. M. Ziada,
p. 000.
22 Ibid., IV, 207.
Nihayat Salatin al-Mamalik, al-Mijalla al-Tarlkhiyya
23 Ibn Tulun, Mufakaha, I, 354.
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