THE MOSQUES OF EGYPT \ 5.THE MAMLUK PERIOD, 648 - 923H. (1250- 1517 A.D.) .   37- THE MOSQUE AND MAUSOLEUM OF SULTAN INAL (IN THE MAMLUK CEMETERY) 855- 860H.(1451- 56). AL- MALIK AL- ASHRAF INAL was originally a Circassian Mamluk who had been bought by al- Malik az- Zahir Barquq. Having been inherited by Farag ibn Barquq, after the death of Barquq, he was set free. He was promoted to several high government posts during the reign of al- Ashraf barsbay and az- Zahir Abu Sa'id Jaqmaq, until he attained the rank of Atabek al- 'Asakir (Commander- in- Chief) during the latter's reign. He held this last post until the death of az- Zahir Jaqmaq. The latter was succeeded by his son al- Mansur 'Uthman, but the troops revolted against the new king and agreed to nominate Inal to the throne in 857H. (1453). Inal then took the title al- Ashraf Inal. His rule lasted eight years, and he died in 865H. (1461). This group of buildings is one of the most important in the Mamluk Cemetery from the archaeological point of view. It consists of a mausoleum, a mosque (madrasa) and a khanqa. Although the lapse of time has left its traces upon these buildings, yet what remains of their original features suffices to show how magnificent they must once have been. The lack of organic connection between the mausoleum and the rest of the group, shows that it was finished first, and its actual date is given by the inscription on the entrance, which says that its construction was completed in 855H. (1451) when Inal was Commander- in- Chief, in the days of al- Malik Abu Sa'id Jaqmaq. The khanqa and the mosque, however, were built after his accession, the former in 858H. (1454) , the latter in 860H. (1456). The faade of this monumental group faces the Sultan Ahmad Street. Next to it, to the south, is the faade of the Mosque and Mausoleum of the Amir Qurqumas, which were built in 913H. (1507). The Mausoleum of Inal is at the northern end of the faade. It has a square base, surmounted by a zone of transition with pyramidal corners. On each side of this zone, is a group of three arched windows, surmounted by three circular ones. Above this zone is a drum pierced with arched windows and a come above, decorated with chevrons. Next to the mausoleum is the faade of the mosque, at the southern end of which is the entrance, with its beautiful stalactite hood. After that comes the minaret, the first storey of which is square, the second octagonal, and the third circular corwned with a pavilion. It is richly decorated and has beautiful stalactites, and is one of the most beautiful Mamluk minarets. The mosque was built according to the cruciform madrasa plan. It consists of an open sahn surrounded by four iwans which were once covered with timber roofs. The walls of the walls of the qibla iwan and the mausoleum were once lined with a marble dado, of which traces only remain. In the centre of the qibla wall is a mihrab, decorated with ornament carved in the stone, similar to its fellow in the mausoleum. Underneath the mosque floor are students' cells opening on to a courtyard, surrounded by the remains of the khanqa buildings, many of which have disappeared. The most important of these remains is the entrance doorway in the northern faade. Plate 122.
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