| Al-nasr Muhammad |
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Information AboutAl-nasr Muhammad |
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Extraordinary public works were set in motion. He redug the canal once again connecting Alexandria with the Nile: it was opened to traffic in 1311 and required workforces on a Pharaonic scale. He also erected an aqueduct to conduct water from the Nile to the citadel of Cairo. He built thirty mosques, among the most splendid examples of Islamic Architecture , in addition to Madrasa s and magnificent public baths. His own mosque in the Citadel (1318) was decorated with stone brought in triumph from the ruined cathedral of Akko , the Crusaders' "Acre", which had fallen to Qalawun's forces in 1291. Perhaps the greatest and most vicious of the Mamluk sultans, al-Nasr Muhammad was revered as a powerful leader. In 1366 he added to his father's complex of structures Cairo's first ''sabeel'', a fountain for the use of all, especially welcome to the poor who might not have access to a well. His prominence was such that he received a Mongol princess and the great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan , Tulubiyya, in marriage. His eldest son and chosen successor, Anuk, predeceased him in 1339. al-Nasr Muhammad skipped over the next son, Ahmad (whose mother was a dancing girl named Bayad), considering him too frivolous. His choice fell on his son Al-Mansur Abu Bakr . Ultimately however, no less than 8 of his sons would become sultans: 1. Al-Mansur Abu Bakr 2. Al-Ashraf Kuchuk 3. Al-Nasr Ahmad 4. Al-Salih Ismail 5. Al-Kamil Shaban 6. Al-Muzzafar Hajji 7. Al-Nasr Hasan 8. Al-Salih Salih SEE ALSO REFERENCE
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