The Capture of Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

refers to the capture of the capital of the Mamluk Sultanate

Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...

  in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 by the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 in 1517.

Background

The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was a Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 dynasty in Egypt (1250–1517). The Mamluks were not Egyptians. They constituted a class of privileged slaves of either Turkic or Circassian origin. After a coup in 1250 they began ruling in Egypt and they annexed Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

  to their realm. Initially the relations between Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and Balkans were friendly. But during the last years of the 15th century, the competition to control south Turkey (Çukurova

Çukurova

Çukurova , historically known as Cilicia, is a geographic, economic and cultural region in south-central Turkey, covering the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay...

 ( Cilicia of the antiquity) deteriorated the relations. Furthermore, during Ottoman-Safavid (Persia) war the Dulkadirids which was a Mamluk vassal supported Safavids. After the battle of Chaldiran

Battle of Chaldiran

The Battle of Chaldiran or Chaldoran occurred on 23 August 1514 and ended with a victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire of Persia . As a result, the Ottomans gained immediate control over eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq...

 in 1514, Ottoman vizier (later grand vizier

Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...

) Hadim Sinan Pasha

Hadım Sinan Pasha

Hadım Sinan Pasha, Hadım Pasha Boroviniç was an Ottoman grand vizier. - Early years :He was a devshirme from the Bosnian noble family named Borovinić. In 1514 he was the Beylerbey of Anatolia. In the battle of Chaldiran against Safavid Persia he was in charge of right flank...

 retaliated by annexing Dulkadirid territory (most of South East Anatolia) to Ottoman realm.The war between the two great powers was inevitable. Ottoman Sultan Selim I

Selim I

Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...

 (the inflexible) won two decisive battles Battle of Marj Dabiq

Battle of Marj Dabiq

The battle of Marj Dābiq was a decisive military clash in Middle Eastern history, fought on 24 August 1516, 44 km north of Halab , Syria.- Battle preparations :...

 in 1516 and Battle of Ridaniya in 1517.

Conquest of Cairo

After the batte of Ridaniya (23 January 1517) Selim encamped on the island of Vustaniye (or Burac) facing Cairo (at 30°04′N 31°13′E), the capital. But he didn't enter Cairo. Because Tumanbay II the sultan of Mamluks as well as Kayıtbay another leader of Mamluks had managed to escape and Selim decided to concentrate on arresting the leaders before entering Cairo. Thus he sent only a vanguard regiment to Cairo on 26 January. Although the regiment was able to enter the capital without much fighting, the same night Tumanbay also secretly came to the capital. With the help of Cairo citizens he raided the Ottoman forces in the capital and began controlling Cairo. After hearing the news of Tumanbay's presence in Cairo, Selim sent his elite troops to the city. After several days' fighting the Ottoman forces entered the city on 3 February 1517 . Selim entered the city and sent messages to other rulers about the conquest of Cairo. Nevertheless, the leaders of Mamluks were still on the loose.

Aftermath

Tumanbay escaped from Cairo and tried to organize a new army composed of Egyptians together with what was left out of the Mamluk army. His army was no match for the Ottoman army. But he was planning to raid Selim's camp on Vustatiye island. However Selim heard about his plan and sent a force on Tumanbay to forestall his plans. After some small scale clashes Tumanbay was arrested on 26 March 1517. Selim's initial decision was to send Mamluk notables to İstanbul. But after a while, he changed his decision. Tumanbay and the other notable Mamluks were executed on 13 April 1517 by a former Mamluk commander who had switched sides.