Person

Qaitbay

c. 1416–1496 · 15th century · Also known as Al-Ashraf Qaitbay

Qaitbay was Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria from 1468 to 1496, one of the longest and most stable reigns of the Circassian period. He fought the Ottomans to a standstill in a war of 1485–1491 and was a great builder, leaving his funerary complex in Cairo's Northern Cemetery and the Citadel of Qaitbay at Alexandria. Heavy military spending and plague strained his treasury.

Qaitbay
Image: Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo, 16th century · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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Mamluk SultanateImpact

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Qaitbay. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/qaitbay
MLA
“Qaitbay.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/qaitbay. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Qaitbay.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/qaitbay.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Qaitbay’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/qaitbay (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻