Qaitbay

Sultan Abu Al-Nasr Sayf ad-Din Al-Ashraf Qaitbay (Arabic: السلطان أبو النصر سيف الدين الأشرف قايتباي; c. 1416/1418 – 7 August 1496) ruled the Mamluk Sultanate from 1468 to 1496 (872–901 AH in the Islamic calendar). As the eighteenth Sultan of Egypt of the Circassian Burji dynasty, Qaitbay stabilized the Mamluk state and economy. He consolidated the northern boundaries of the Sultanate with the Ottoman Empire after a series of wars between 1485 and 1491, and engaged in trade with other contemporaneous polities. Qaitbay was Circassian by birth, and was purchased by sultan Barsbay (1422–1438) before being freed by Barsbay's successor Jaqmaq (1438–1453). A veteran of sixteen campaigns, Qaitbay was also a great patron of architecture. He commissioned building projects in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Alexandria, and in every quarter of Cairo and endowed the religious works with waqfs. He was also known for his piety.