Tuman bay II

Who was Tuman bay II?

Al-Ashraf Tuman bay better known as Tuman bay II succeeded as Sultan of Egypt during the final period of Mamluk rule in Egypt prior to its conquest by the Ottoman Empire. He ascended the sultanic throne after the defeat of his predecessor Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri by Ottoman Sultan Selim I at the Battle of Marj Dabiq in 1516 CE.

As a Circassian, like his predecessors having been in early youth a domestic slave of the palace, he gradually rose to be emir of a hundred, and then prime minister, an office he held until the departure of Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, who left him in charge of Cairo. The Caliph Muhammad Al-Mutawakkil III having remained behind with Selim I after defeat of Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, Tuman bay II was now inaugurated as sultan, but without pomp or ceremony, the royal insignia having been lost in battle. It was a dark and thankless dignity to which, now at the age of 40, he was called; Syria gone, the troops in disorder, the emirs distracted, the Mamluks a mercenary horde. Yet he ruled well for the time he held the throne, and was popular throughout the land. In course of time, the fugitive chiefs, with Emir Janberdi Al-Ghazali, arrived from Damascus; but another month elapsed before an army could be organized.