public
sentiment not only by debauchery, but by having his image stamped on his
coins. On the 23rd of May 1412, after being defeated and shut up in
Damascus, he was compelled by Sheik Mahmudi to abdicate, and an Abbasid
caliph, Mosta'in, was proclaimed sultan, only to be forced to abdicate
on the 6th of November of the same year in _Sheik's_ favour, who took
the title _Malik al-Mu'ayyad_, his colleague Newruz having been
previously sent to Syria, where he was to be autocrat by the terms of
their agreement. In the struggle which naturally followed between the
two, Newruz was shut up in Damascus, defeated and slain. Sheik himself
invaded Asia Minor and forced the Turkoman states to acknowledge his
suzerainty. After the sultan's return they soon rebelled, but were again
brought into subjection by Sheik's son Ibrahim; his victories excited
the envy of his father, who is said to have poisoned him. Sheik himself
died a few months after the decease of his son (January 13th, 1421), and
another infant son, _Ahmad_, was proclaimed with the title _Malik
al-Mozaffar_, the proclamation being followed by the usual dissensions
between the amirs, ending with the assumption of supreme power by the
amir _Tatar_, who, after defeating his rivals, on the 29th of August
1421 had himself proclaimed sultan with the title _Malik al-Zahir_.
This usurper, however, died on the 30th of November of the same year,
leaving the throne to an infant son _Mohammed_, who was given the title
_Malik al-Salih_; the regular intrigues between the amirs followed,
leading to his being dethroned on the following 1st of April 1422, when
the amir appointed to be his tutor, _Barsbai_, was proclaimed sultan
with the title _Malik al-Ashraf_. This sultan avenged the attacks on
Alexandria repeatedly made by Cyprian ships, for he sent a fleet which
burned Limasol, and another which took Famagusta (August 4th, 1425), but
failed in the endeavour to annex the island permanently. An expedition
sent in the following year (1426) succeeded in taking captive the king
of Cyprus, who was brought to Cairo and presently released for a ransom
of 200,000 dinars, on condition of acknowledging the suzerainty of the
Egyptian sultan and paying him an annual tribute. Barsbai appears to
have excelled his predecessors in the invention of devices for exacting
money from merchants and pilgrims, and in juggling with the exchange.
This led to a naval demonstration on the part of the Venetians, who