Muslim Fortresses in the Levant: Between Crusaders and Mongols (55 page)

The most complete list is that provided by Ibn Shaddād, who divided the sites and fortresses captured by Baybars into six categories: (1) sites conquered from the Franks; (2) sites in which revenues were shared between the Franks and the Mamluks; (3) sites taken from the Armenians; (4) places taken from Muslim rulers; (5)
strongholds; (6) sites taken from the Mongols. The list is not arranged in a strict chronological or geographical order. Although most of the important sites are noted some, such as
are missing, and a number of Armenian strongholds in Cilicia are ignored. Interesting additions are sites where Baybars had reached an agreement with the Franks according to which certain fortresses were left in their ownership and the revenues shared.
⁴⁰

Ibn al-Furāt gives a similar account, basing himself on Ibn Shaddād; however, he did not copy the work word for word and omitted important sites such as Karak, Shawbak and the
strongholds.
⁴¹
Since none of these lists gives a full account that might reveal the sultan’s priorities, the only way to gauge the preferences of Baybars and his successors is by conducting a chronological survey of his conquests and the reconstruction work that followed.

The first fortresses to be rebuilt by Baybars were along the frontier with the Īlkhānid state, which was clearly given precedence over other regions in the Sultanate.

Table 3.1
Baybars’ conquests according to Ibn Shaddād