The death of Sultan al-Zahir Baybars
al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari — hero of ʿAyn Jalut, subduer of the Crusaders and the Mongols, and one of the greatest Mamluk sultans, who restored the standing of the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo — died in Damascus.
Baybars was a Turkic Mamluk sold in the slave markets as a boy, then rose by his courage and cunning until he became a commander of armies. He took part in defeating the Seventh Crusade and in the capture of Louis IX at al-Mansura.
He was among the heroes of the Battle of ʿAyn Jalut that broke the Mongols in 658 AH; then the sultanate came to him. He spent seventeen years in continuous jihad, wresting from the Crusaders their great strongholds such as Antioch, Arsuf and Safad.
Baybars revived the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo after the fall of Baghdad, and organized the postal service, the army and the judiciary, until he died in Damascus on 28 Muharram 676 AH, buried where the Zahiriyya Library stands today.
Note — differing reports on the date: His death is famously placed on 28 Muharram 676 AH; some say the 27th of it.