Tomb of Khawand Tulbay (No.80) A.D. 1363-4 / 765 A.H.

Although there is some confusion regarding her identity, Khawand (Princess) Tulbay, sometimes spelled Tulbiya, was according to most accounts the principal wife of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalaun. She was of Uzbek origin and a descendant of Genghis Khan. Reportedly not much favoured by the Sultan, who married her for political reasons, she was nevertheless great friends with his beloved wife Khawand Tughay and requested that her mausoleum be built next to that of her friend. She outlived her husband by twenty-three years and died in 1364.

 

Her tomb is the smaller and less sumptuous of the two. The original complex has been replaced with later buildings, so it is not certain how it looked. Within the enclosure wall and just north of the domed tomb stands a double open-canopy structure with pyramidal roofs, dating from Ottoman times. The cemeteries of Cairo were full of such tombs when the French expedition recorded them in 1798-1799, but only a few, including the nearby tomb of Qadi Muhammad Mawahib are preserved now.