- 1. What were the approximate years of the Burji dynasty?
A) 1382–1517
B) 1300–1400
C) 1517–1600
D) 1250–1382
- 2. Which foreign leader did the Mamluks fight during the Burji period?
A) Saladin
B) Napoleon Bonaparte
C) Timur Lenk
D) Selim II
- 3. Which island did the Mamluks conquer during the Burji dynasty?
A) Cyprus
B) Sicily
C) Crete
D) Rhodes
- 4. When did the Ottoman Sultan Selim I capture Cairo?
A) 20 January 1517
B) 20 December 1516
C) 1 January 1500
D) 15 March 1517
- 5. After the Ottoman conquest, where was the new center of power transferred to?
A) Cairo
B) Istanbul
C) Damascus
D) Alexandria
- 6. Which group remained the Egyptian ruling class under Ottoman rule?
A) The Ottomans
B) The Mamluks
C) The Timurids
D) The local peasants
- 7. What major health crisis repeatedly ruined Egypt during the Burji dynasty?
A) Famine
B) Cholera outbreaks
C) Smallpox
D) Plague epidemics
- 8. What factor contributed to the inability of the Mamluks to resist the Ottomans?
A) Lack of weaponry
B) Conversion to a new religion
C) A massive earthquake
D) Constant political bickering
- 9. What was the political status of Egypt after the Ottoman conquest?
A) Colony
B) Vassal
C) Independent kingdom
D) Republic
- 10. Which family regained much of their influence after the Ottoman takeover?
A) The Fatimid family
B) The Burji family
C) The Seljuk family
D) The Abbasid family
- 11. What was the origin of the Mamluk sultans?
A) Hereditary noble families
B) Foreign merchants
C) Local Egyptian farmers
D) Freed slaves
- 12. How long did the Bahri dynasty last?
A) 100 years
B) 150 years
C) 200 years
D) 132 years
- 13. How many sultans ruled during the Bahri dynasty?
A) 50
B) 5
C) 10
D) 25
- 14. Who was the first sultan of the Bahri dynasty?
A) Qutuz
B) Baybars
C) Aybak
D) Barkuk
- 15. Who did Aybak marry to solidify his position?
A) The widow of Hulagu Khan
B) Shajar al-Durr
C) A Mongol princess
D) A Byzantine noblewoman
- 16. In what year was Aybak assassinated?
A) 1257
B) 1250
C) 1260
D) 1291
- 17. Which battle did Qutuz win against the Mongols?
A) Battle of Baghdad
B) Battle of Acre
C) Battle of Ain Jalut
D) Battle of Cairo
- 18. In what year did the Battle of Ain Jalut take place?
A) 1260
B) 1382
C) 1250
D) 1258
- 19. Who ruled Egypt from 1260 to 1277?
A) Qutuz
B) Barkuk
C) Baybars
D) Aybak
- 20. What city was captured by al-Ashraf Khalil in 1291?
A) Damascus
B) Baghdad
C) Cairo
D) Acre
- 21. Why did Cairo become the central city of the Islamic world in 1258?
A) The discovery of new trade routes
B) The sack of Baghdad by the Mongols
C) The construction of the Great Mosque
D) The decline of the Crusader states
- 22. What caused significant destruction to the Egyptian population and economy starting in 1347?
A) A massive flood
B) The Black Death
C) Internal civil war
D) A Mongol invasion
- 23. What type of material were many of Cairo's early remaining mosques built from?
A) Mud brick
B) Stone
C) Marble
D) Wood
- 24. Which group took over the government in 1377?
A) Circassians
B) Mongols
C) Romans
D) Crusaders
- 25. Who was proclaimed sultan in 1382, ending the Bahri dynasty?
A) Baybars
B) Aybak
C) Barkuk
D) Qutuz
- 26. What was the main reason Mamluk sultans failed to form lasting dynasties?
A) They were constantly exiled
B) They lacked wealth
C) They left behind infants who were usually overthrown
D) They refused to have children
- 27. What title did Saladin take following the death of Nur al-Din?
A) Emir
B) Sultan
C) Caliph
D) Vizier
- 28. Which city served as the major city of Saladin's empire instead of Cairo?
A) Jerusalem
B) Damascus
C) Baghdad
D) Aleppo
- 29. In what year was Saladin's rule over Egypt and North Syria consolidated?
A) 1174
B) 1193
C) 1200
D) 1183
- 30. Who governed Egypt while Saladin was busy fighting in Syria?
A) Al-Kamil
B) Othman
C) Karaksh
D) Al-Adil I
- 31. Who succeeded Saladin in Egypt in 1193?
A) Al-Adil I
B) Othman
C) Al-Kamil
D) Najm al-Din
- 32. During which conflict did al-Adil I die in 1218?
A) The Mongol invasion
B) The Fifth Crusade
C) The Seventh Crusade
D) The Sixth Crusade
- 33. How did al-Kamil stop the Crusaders from advancing to Cairo in 1221?
A) Flooding the Nile
B) Recruiting foreign mercenaries
C) Negotiating a treaty
D) Using fire ships
- 34. To which leader did al-Kamil give up cities in Palestine and Syria?
A) Frederick II
B) Louis IX
C) Richard the Lionheart
D) Nur al-Din
- 35. What major city was recaptured in 1244 during Najm al-Din's reign?
A) Jerusalem
B) Damascus
C) Cairo
D) Damietta
- 36. Who led the Seventh Crusade in 1249?
A) Frederick II
B) Nur al-Din
C) Al-Adil
D) Louis IX
- 37. Who defeated Louis IX and expelled the Crusaders from Egypt after Najm al-Din died?
A) Karaksh
B) Al-Kamil
C) Othman
D) Turanshah
- 38. Which subjects were highly valued by the Mamluk society?
A) Geography and medicine
B) Architecture and music
C) Philosophy and theology
D) Literature and astronomy
- 39. What item was considered a status symbol in Mamluk culture?
A) Exotic spices
B) Private libraries
C) Fine jewelry
D) Military horses
- 40. What contributed to the end of the Mamluk period?
A) Internal religious strife
B) Famine and disease
C) Religious conversion
D) Lack of trade
- 41. In what year did Caliph al-Mu'tazz give charge of Egypt to the Turkish general Bakbak?
A) 872
B) 868
C) 870
D) 866
- 42. Who was sent by Bakbak to serve as the resident governor of Egypt?
A) Khumarawayh
B) Ahmad ibn Tulun
C) Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib
D) Ibn al-Mudabbir
- 43. What was the name of the palace city built by Ibn Tulun to the northeast of Fustat?
A) Samarra
B) al-Qata'i
C) Tarsus
D) Damascus
- 44. Who was the fiscal agent that became known as the most hated man in Egypt for doubling taxes?
A) Bakbak
B) Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Madhara'i
C) Al-Muwaffaq
D) Ibn al-Mudabbir
- 45. Who founded the bureaucratic dynasty that managed Egypt's finances for 70 years starting in 879?
A) Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Madhara'i
B) Harun ibn Khumarawayh
C) Ibn al-Mudabbir
D) Ahmad ibn Tulun
- 46. What was the total reserve in dinars accumulated by Ibn Tulun by the end of his reign?
A) Ten million
B) Twenty million
C) One million
D) Five million
- 47. Who was the brother of Caliph al-Mu'tamid and the de facto Abbasid regent?
A) Al-Mu'tazz
B) Bakbak
C) Al-Mu'tadid
D) Al-Muwaffaq
- 48. Which son did Ibn Tulun name as his heir after imprisoning his eldest son, Abbas?
A) Harun
B) Jaysh
C) Mudar
D) Khumarawayh
- 49. Where did Ibn Tulun die in 884?
A) Tarsus
B) Fustat
C) Samarra
D) Damascus
- 50. What was the outcome of the Battle of Tawahin?
A) The Abbasids captured Egypt
B) Khumarawayh was killed
C) Khumarawayh preserved his authority
D) The Tulunids surrendered all territory
- 51. Who led the Abbasid reconquest of Egypt and Syria in 905?
A) Al-Muwaffaq
B) Al-Mu'tadid
C) Bakbak
D) Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Katib
- 52. In what year did Amr invade Egypt to secure it for the Umayyads?
A) 658
B) 664
C) 661
D) 656
- 53. Which group supported Ibn al-Zubayr's governor in Egypt during the Second Fitna?
A) Kharijites
B) Turkish soldiers
C) The jund
D) Copts
- 54. Who did Marwan I install as governor of Egypt after reconquering it in 684?
A) Abd al-Aziz
B) Abd al-Malik
C) Musa ibn Nusayr
D) Amr ibn al-As
- 55. What language became the official language of the government in 706?
A) Coptic
B) Persian
C) Greek
D) Arabic
- 56. What was the primary cause of the Coptic revolts during the Umayyad period?
A) Land disputes
B) Increased taxation
C) Religious persecution
D) Foreign invasion
- 57. In what year was a colony of 3,000 Arabs established near Bilbeis?
A) 706
B) 727
C) 750
D) 715
- 58. What reform did Caliph al-Mu'tasim implement in 834 regarding the jund?
A) Forced them to migrate to Baghdad
B) Increased their salaries
C) Discontinued paying them the ata
D) Appointed them as tax collectors
- 59. Which group began to receive the ata payments after the jund were removed from the registers?
A) Turkish troops
B) Coptic rebels
C) Arab settlers
D) Fatimid soldiers
- 60. What was the period of turmoil in the Abbasid state called?
A) The Great Revolt
B) Anarchy at Samarra
C) First Fitna
D) Second Fitna
- 61. What religious group did many Egyptians support in the 10th century due to alienation from Baghdad?
A) Fatimids
B) Zubayrids
C) Kharijites
D) Alid pretenders
- 62. In what year did the Islamic conquest of Egypt begin?
A) 750
B) 641
C) 658
D) 639
- 63. Which Byzantine army was defeated by Arab forces in 640?
A) Askar
B) Babylon
C) Heliopolis
D) Alexandria
- 64. Why was the settlement named Fustat?
A) After the Caliph
B) After the governor
C) After a local tribe
D) After Amr's tent
- 65. Who was the Caliph that appointed a single governor for all of Egypt in 643/4?
A) Umar
B) Constans II
C) Uthman
D) Mu'awiya I
- 66. Which city served as a major naval base and frontier fortress against the Byzantines?
A) Damascus
B) Alexandria
C) Fustat
D) Askar
- 67. Which tribes dominated Egyptian affairs for the first two centuries of Muslim rule?
A) Byzantine
B) Qays
C) Yamani
D) Ottoman
- 68. What was the name of the military force staffed by Arab settlers?
A) Nomoi
B) Wali
C) Ribat
D) Jund
- 69. What tax were Christian inhabitants primarily responsible for in early Islamic Egypt?
A) Property tax
B) Jizya
C) Military tax
D) Trade tax
- 70. In what year did the Fatimids gain control of Egypt?
A) 1174
B) 1171
C) 969
D) 868
- 71. Who recaptured Jerusalem in 1244?
A) Ahmad ibn Tulun
B) Najm al-Din
C) The Abbasid Caliph
D) Amr ibn al-As
- 72. What was the capital of Egypt during the Umayyad and Abbasid transition?
A) Damascus
B) Fustat
C) Askar
D) Alexandria
- 73. How many men were in the jund (army) by the time of Mu'awiya I?
A) 5,000
B) 15,500
C) 4,000
D) 40,000
- 74. Who acted as the virtual ruler of Egypt for 22 years before assuming power in his own right in 966?
A) Kafur
B) Al-Muizz
C) Unujur
D) Al-Aziz
- 75. Who founded the city of Cairo in 969?
A) Saladin
B) Shawar
C) Al-Muizz
D) Jawhar as-Siqilli
- 76. What religious sect did the Fatimids represent?
A) Judaism
B) Sunnism
C) Coptic Christianity
D) Shiism
- 77. Which religious group besieged Cairo in 971?
A) Byzantines
B) Carmathians
C) Crusaders
D) Seljuks
- 78. Which Caliph arrived in Alexandria on May 31, 973?
A) Al-Zafir
B) Al-Aziz
C) Al-Muizz
D) Al-Hakim
- 79. Which city was the key to Iraq that Al-Aziz failed to capture?
A) Aleppo
B) Damascus
C) Baghdad
D) Bilbeis
- 80. In what year did Al-Hakim destroy the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?
A) 1009
B) 969
C) 1068
D) 1171
- 81. Which group took control of Baghdad in 1059?
A) Seljuks
B) Byzantines
C) Fatimids
D) Carmathians
- 82. What was the famous group that rose to prominence during the late Fatimid period?
A) Abbasids
B) Hashshashin
C) Ortokids
D) Zirids
- 83. At which battle was the Fatimid force defeated in 1099?
A) Ascalon
B) Farama
C) Bilbeis
D) Babain
- 84. Who was assassinated in a street of Cairo in August 1121?
A) Al-Zafir
B) Saladin
C) Shawar
D) Al-Afdal Shahanshah
- 85. Who was the Kurdish general known as 'the Lion' who led expeditions to Egypt?
A) Nur al-Din
B) Amalric I
C) Shirkuh
D) Saladin
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