Between Baybars and Qalāwūn: Under-age Rulers and Succession in the Early Mamlūk Sultanate

Abstract

While royal minorities are often portrayed as times of instability and to be avoided at all costs by those in power, a look at the experience of the early Mamlūk Sultanate shows another aspect to the role of child rulers. In a period where rules of succession were subject to competing forces – heredity versus ability – the nominal, and temporary, rule of a minor could be used to provide an element of stability until a new strongman could emerge from among the ruling...