Al-Nasir Hasan

Al-Nasir Badr ad-Din Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Qalawun (1334/35–17 March 1361), better known as al-Nasir Hasan, was the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, and the seventh son of al-Nasir Muhammad to hold office, reigning twice in 1347–1351 and 1354–1361. During his first reign, which he began at age 12, senior Mamluk emirs formerly belonging to al-Nasir Muhammad, dominated his administration, while al-Nasir Hasan played a ceremonial role. He was toppled in 1351 when he attempted to assert executive authority to the chagrin of the senior emirs. He was reinstated three years later during a coup against his brother Sultan al-Salih Salih by emirs Shaykhu and Sirghitmish.

During his second reign, al-Nasir Hasan maneuvered against the leading emirs, gradually purging them and their supporters from the administration through imprisonment, forced exile and execution. He replaced many mamluks (manumitted slave soldiers) with awlad al-nas (descendants of mamluks), who he found to be more reliable, competent and amiable with the public. Al-Nasir Hasan was killed by one of his own mamluks, Yalbugha al-Umari, who headed a faction opposed to al-Nasir Hasan's elevation of the awlad al-nas. Throughout his second reign, al-Nasir Hasan commenced the Sultan Hasan Mosque-Madrasa complex in Cairo, as well as other architectural works, namely religious structures, in Cairo, Jerusalem, Gaza and Damascus.