Sultan Baybars’ Qur’an

Of all the British Library’s collection of Qur’ans, this is the most magnificent. Each of its seven volumes is written in gold and has a superb frontispiece combining intricate geometric patterns with ornamental script. It was made in Cairo between 1304 and 1306 (704-5 in the Islamic calendar) for a high-ranking court official called Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Jashnagir, who later became Baybars II, ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate. This manuscript is the earliest dated Qur’an from the Mamluk period.

And if you you wondering about Sultan Baybars, he was the Mamluk Sultan who defeated Mangols in the famous battle of Ayn Jalut in 1260. As a child he saw his parents killed during a Mangol invasion of Damascus and he fled to Egypt. As a Mamluk Sultan he defeated Mangols in battle of Ayn Jalut and stopped their invasion of Middle East once and for all. This battle is considered by many historians to be of great macrohistorical importance (greatest battle in the history of Mangols indeed), as it marked the highwater of Mongol conquests, and the first time they had been decisively defeated. (where they had previously been defeated, they had always returned and avenged the loss -- this marked the first occasion they were unable to do so) Hulagu Khan never was able to advance into Egypt, and the IlKhanate he established in Persia was never able to defeat the Mamelukes.



The text was copied out by a highly talented calligrapher called Muhammad ibn al-Wahid. Sadly, this Qur’an is the only known surviving example of his work. He wrote in gold, using the ‘thuluth’ style of script usually reserved for ornamental headings. Thuluth is characterised by curved letters with barbed heads, often linking and intersecting in complex flowing forms. Its use throughout a whole Qur’an is very rare – an indication of the high status of this commission.