Ashraf Barsbay and the conquest of Cyprus

Cypriot provocations
The Cypriots used their island as a base from which to raid Muslim ports in the eastern Mediterranean and threaten Muslim trade. Peter I of Lusignan, King of Cyprus, launched his crusade against Alexandria in 767 AH / 1365 AD. Shops, inns, and hotels were burned, mosques were desecrated, and Cypriots hung crosses on them. Women were raped, and children and the elderly were killed. They remained in the city for three days, wreaking havoc, then left for their island when the Mamluks moved in, taking with them nearly five thousand prisoners. Europe rejoiced, and its kings congratulated each other, as did the Pope. A similar crusade was repeated against Tripoli in Syria in 796 AH / 1393 AD.
The Cypriot raids on the Muslim ports continued unabated, and the Mamluk sultans' attempts to repel and eliminate this threat were unsuccessful. The Cypriots' disdain for the prestige of the Mamluk state and their arrogance about their strength led some of their pirates to attack an Egyptian ship in 826 AH / 1423 AD, and take captive those on board. Sultan Barsbay's attempts to conclude a treaty with Janus, King of Cyprus, to guarantee that Muslim merchants would not be attacked were unsuccessful.
The Cypriots went too far in their arrogance, seizing two merchant ships near the port of Damietta and capturing their crew, who numbered more than a hundred men. They then went beyond that and seized a ship laden with gifts that Sultan Barsbay had sent to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II. At that point, Barsbay had no choice but to move to repel this danger and respond to these insults that the Cypriots were constantly directing at the Mamluk state. The desire for jihad and the feeling of responsibility were kindled within him, so he prepared three campaigns to invade Cyprus, in three consecutive years.

The three campaigns
The first campaign set out in 827 AH / 1424 AD. It was a small campaign that landed in Cyprus, attacked the port of Limassol, burned three Cypriot ships that were preparing to pirate, and captured a large amount of spoils. The campaign then returned to Cairo.

This victory encouraged Barsbay to prepare a more powerful campaign than the previous one to invade Cyprus. The second campaign set out in Rajab 828 AH / May 1425 AD, consisting of forty ships, and headed to the Levant, and from there to Cyprus, where it succeeded in destroying the Limassol fortress, killing about five thousand Cypriots. It returned to Cairo carrying a thousand prisoners, in addition to the spoils that were carried on camels and mules.

In the third campaign, Barsbay aimed to conquer the island and subject it to his authority. He prepared a campaign that was greater than the previous two, more numerous and better equipped. One hundred and eighty ships sailed from Rashid in 829 AH / 1426 AD, and headed to Limassol. It was not long before they surrendered to the Egyptian forces on the 26th of Sha’ban 829 AH / July 2, 1426 AD. The campaign moved north to the island of Cyprus. The king of the island tried to push the Egyptian forces back, but he failed and was taken prisoner. The Egyptian forces seized the capital, Nicosia, and thus the island entered the obedience of the Mamluk state.
Cairo celebrated the return of the victorious campaign, bearing the wreaths of victory. The campaign made its way through the streets of Cairo, where the people gathered to welcome the heroes on the 8th of Shawwal 829 AH / the 14th of August 1426 AD. Crowds of 3,700 prisoners marched behind the procession, including King Janus and his princes.

Barsbay received the King of Cyprus at the castle, and in his presence were delegations from different places, such as: the Sharif of Mecca, messengers from the Ottomans, the King of Tunis, and some Turkmen princes. Janos kissed the ground in Barsbay’s hands, and begged him to release him. The Sultan agreed to pay two hundred thousand dinars as a ransom, with a pledge that Cyprus would remain subject to the Mamluk Sultan, and that he would be his deputy in ruling it, and that he would pay an annual tribute. From that time, the island of Cyprus remained subject to Egypt, until the year 923 AH / 1517 AD, when the Mamluk state fell at the hands of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I.

Why We Were Great
The book (Unforgettable Countries) by Tamer Badr