Al-Mutawakkil III

Al-Mutawakkil III المتوكل على الله الثالث
54th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate Last Abbasid Caliph in Cairo
Reign	1508–1516,1517
Predecessor	Al-Mustamsik
Successor	Selim I (as a Sultan of Ottoman Empire)
Died	1543
Father	Al-Mustamsik
Religion	Islam

Al-Mutawakkil III (Arabic: المتوكل على الله الثالث‎‎) (died 1543) was caliph from 1508 to 1516, and again in 1517. He was the last caliph of the later, Egyptian-based period of the Abbasid dynasty. Since the Mongol sack of Baghdad and the execution of Caliph Al-Musta'sim in 1258, the Abbasid caliphs had resided in Cairo, nominal rulers used to legitimize the actual rule of the Mamluk sultans.

Al-Mutawakkil III was deposed briefly in 1516 by his predecessor Al-Mustamsik, but was restored to the caliphate the following year. In 1517, Ottoman sultan Selim I had managed to defeat the Mamluk Sultanate, and made Egypt part of the Ottoman Empire. Al-Mutawakkil III was captured together with his family and transported to Constantinople. He formally surrendered the title of caliph as well as its outward emblems—the sword and mantle of Muhammad—to Ottoman sultan Selim I. Ottoman rulers before him, beginning with Fatih Sultan Mehmed however, had already begun to claim caliphal authority.

Bibliography

Al-Mutawakkil III Abbasid dynasty Cadet branch of the Banu Quraysh Born:  ? Died: 1543
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Al-Mustamsik	Caliph of Cairo 1508–1516	Succeeded by Al-Mustamsik
Preceded by Al-Mustamsik	Caliph of Cairo 1517	Vacant Caliphate surrendered to Selim I