Crecelius, Daniel

ʿAlī Bey al-Kabīr (c. 1140–87/1728–73), an Egyptian mamlūk of Georgian origin, rose to become one of the most powerful political figures of Egypt. According to his contemporary biographer Sauveur Lusignan, he was born in Abkhazia, then a small province in northwestern Georgia. S…

Ismāʿīl Bey al-Kabīr (the Elder, d. 1205/1791) was one of the most prominent amīr s of the Qazdūghlī faction that dominated the Ottoman province of Egypt during the second half of the eighteenth century. He was among the cadre of young mamlūk s (military slaves) of Georgian desc…

Ibrāhīm Bey (c.1148–1228/1735–1813), who experienced an unusually long career in Mamlūk politics in Ottoman Egypt, played a central role in virtually all the major events that engulfed that province during the last three decades of the eighteenth century. Born Abram Shinjikashvi…

Muḥammad Bey Abū l-Dhahab (d. 11 Rabīʿ II 1189/10 June 1775), a mamlūk who rose to power in Egypt, was almost certainly of Abkhaz-Georgian origin, like his master ʿAlī Bey. He was acquired by ʿAlī Bey Buluṭ Qāpān (d. Ṣafar 1187/May 1773) shortly before ʿAlī Bey became sh…