, and
appointed judges belonging to each in Egypt and Syria; he was thus able
to get his measures approved by one school when condemned by another.

Kala'un.

On the 1st of July 1277 Bibars died, and the events that followed set an
example repeatedly followed during the period of the Mamelukes. The
sultan's son _Malik al-Sa'id_ ascended the throne; but within little
more than two years he was compelled to abdicate in favour of his
father-in-law _Kala'un_, a Mameluke who had risen high in the former
sovereign's service. The accession of Kala'un was also marked by an
attempt on the part of the governor of Damascus to form Syria into an
independent kingdom, an attempt frequently imitated on similar
occasions. The Syrian forces were defeated at the battle of Jazurah
(April 26th, 1280) and Kala'un resumed possession of the country; but
the disaffected Syrians entered into relations with the Mongols, who
proceeded to invade Syria, but were finally defeated by Kala'un on the
30th of October 1281 under the walls of Homs (Emesa).

The conversion to Islam of Nikudar Ahmad, the third of the Ilkhan rulers
of Persia, and the consequent troubles in the western Mongol empire, let
to a suspension of hostilities between Egypt and the Ilkhans (see
PERSIA: _History_, S B), though the latter did not cease to agitate in
Europe for a renewal of the Crusades, with little result. Kala'un,
without pursuing any career of active conquest, did much to consolidate
his dominions, and especially to extend Egyptian commerce, for which
purpose he started passports enabling merchants to travel with safety
through Egypt and Syria as far as India. After the danger from the
Mongols had ceased, however, Kala'un directed his energies towards
capturing the last places that remained in the hands of the Franks, and
proceeded to take Markab, Latakia, and Tripoli (April 26th, 1289). In
1290 he planned an attack on Acre, but died (November 10th) in the
middle of all his preparations. Under Kala'un we first hear of the
Burjite Mamelukes, who owe their name to the citadel (Burj) of Cairo,
where 3700 of the whole number of 12,000 Mamelukes maintained by this
sovereign were quartered. He also set an example, frequently followed,
of the practice of dismissing all non-Moslems from government posts:
this was often done by his successors with the view of conciliating the
Moslems, but it was speedily found that the services of the Jewish and
Christian clerks were ag