m his
daughter in marriage. His own wife, unable to endure such perfidy, had
him murdered in his bath (April 10, 1257).

[Illustration: 032b]

When Beybars first ascended the throne, he assumed the name of Sultan
Kahir (the over-ruler), but afterwards, when he was informed that this
name had always brought misfortune to its bearer, he changed it to that
of Sultan Zahir (the Glorious).

Now that he was absolute master of Syria and Egypt, Beybars tried to
obliterate the remembrance of the misdeeds he had formerly been guilty
of by means of undertakings for the general good and for the furtherance
of religion. He had the mosques repaired, founded pious institutions,
designed new aqueducts, fortified Alexandria, had all the fortresses
repaired and provisioned which the Mongols had razed to the ground, had
a large number of great and small war-ships built, and established a
regular post between Cairo and Damascus. In order to obtain a semblance
of legitimacy, since he was but a usurper, Beybars recognised a nominal
descendant of the house of Abbas as caliph, who, in the proper course
of things, ought to invest him with the dominions of Syria and Egypt.
Beybars bade his governors receive this descendant of the house of the
Prophet with all suitable marks of honour, and invited him to come to
Egypt. When he approached the capital, the sultan himself went out to
meet him, followed by the vizier, the chief cadi, and the chief emirs
and notabilities of the town. Even the Jews and Christians had to take
part in the procession, carrying respectively the Tora and the Gospel.
The caliph made his entrance into Cairo with the greatest pomp, rode
through the town amidst the shouts of the multitude, and proceeded to
the citadel, where Beybars had appointed him a magnificent dwelling.
Some days afterwards the caliph had a reception of the chief cadi, the
most celebrated theologians and lawyers of Egypt, and many notables of
the capital. The Arabs who formed his escort and an eunuch from Baghdad
testified to the identity of the caliph's person, the chief cadi
recognised their assertion as valid, and was the first to do homage to
him as caliph. Thereupon the sultan arose, took the oath of allegiance
to him and swore to uphold both the written laws of the Koran and
those of tradition; to advance the good and hinder the evil, to fight
zealously for the protection of the faith only, to impose lawful taxes,
and to apply the taxes only to law