Mamluk Studies Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The question of jihad is fundamental to Ibn Taymiyya since he is one of the theologians of the Mamluk period-and probably of the entire medieval period-who wrote the most on this subject. Jihad was an essential part of the life of the... more

The question of jihad is fundamental to Ibn Taymiyya since he is one of the theologians of the Mamluk period-and probably of the entire medieval period-who wrote the most on this subject. Jihad was an essential part of the life of the famous theologian of Damascus, who took part in the Mamluk war effort as a volunteer in various expeditions. Over the last decades, scholars have been interested in the issue of jihad in Ibn Taymiyya and have highlighted several elements. These works have helped us learn more about the ideology of jihad in Ibn Taymiyya. However, it should be noted that those works focus on the jihad against a particular enemy (Mongols, heretics of the Kisrawān, Shi'ites) in a particular context and do not deal much with Ibn Taymiyya's general conception of jihad, for which several grey areas remain. This article will discuss Ibn Taymiyya and his general conception of jihad. My method is broken down into two steps to provide new elements and research perspectives. In the first instance, I will identify the maximum of Ibn Taymiyya's writings and passages related to jihad, making the beginning of a type of inventory. Then I will analyze their content and cross-check them to bring to light general aspects of Ibn Taymiyya's conception of jihad.

A partir de l'étude du chapitre 38 de l'ouvrage du savant mecquois al-Fâsî (m. 1429), Shîfâ' al-gharâm bi-akhbâr al-balad al-harâm, consacré à l'histoire du hajj, cet article tente d'identifier les modes de représentation du pouvoir... more

A partir de l'étude du chapitre 38 de l'ouvrage du savant mecquois al-Fâsî (m. 1429), Shîfâ' al-gharâm bi-akhbâr al-balad al-harâm, consacré à l'histoire du hajj, cet article tente d'identifier les modes de représentation du pouvoir mecquois dans l'oeuvre d'al-Fâsî. Il suggère que le récit récurrent des fitnas qui déchirèrent la cité sainte au moment du pèlerinage était une manière de
mieux en neutraliser les effets et les traces, à un moment où s'affirmait un nouveau pouvoir local fort, autour du chérif Hasan b. 'Ajlân.

Penultimate proofs The twelfth to fourteenth centuries marked a period of cross-continental exchange on an unprecedented scale between East, Central, and West Asia. Textiles woven with script or script-like elements shed some light on... more

Penultimate proofs
The twelfth to fourteenth centuries marked a period of cross-continental
exchange on an unprecedented scale between East, Central,
and West Asia. Textiles woven with script or script-like elements
shed some light on this cross-continental movement, as inscribed
textiles were produced across Asia. These woven inscriptions, likely
derived from the West Asian tradition of ṭirāz and connected to
practices of honorific robing, appear in both pseudo and readable
scripts. Their appearance in East Asia hints at the semiotic significance
ṭirāz-style inscriptions had, even outside the Islamic world.
The trend of employing foreign scripts as a decorative motif on
robes appears to have reached its apex during the Mongol period
(ca. 1206–1368). However, evidence for such decoration has been
unearthed from the centuries prior to the Mongol conquests as well.
Tracing the routes that inscribed textiles took across the continent
reveals the kinds of cultural, political, and technological exchange
occurring throughout Asia during these 300 years.

أعمال الأمير قجماس الإسحافي بمدينة الأسكندرية في ضوء
وثيقة جديدة تنشر لاول مرة

As the published outcome of Christ’s PhD research, Trading Conflicts formulates extremely valuable insights into the Venetian presence in Alexandria, into late medieval Alexandrian socio-economic practice, and into local actors’ mediation... more

As the published outcome of Christ’s PhD research, Trading Conflicts formulates extremely valuable insights into the Venetian presence in Alexandria, into late medieval Alexandrian socio-economic practice, and into local actors’ mediation “on the ground” in the many flows that connected Venice and Cairo in the early decades of the fifteenth century.

The Mamluks, at various ocaasions, organized entertainments, festivals and ceremonies accompanied by the singers and musicians. The female slaves who were bought at early age and skillfuly practised with their male or female master... more

The Mamluks, at various ocaasions, organized entertainments, festivals and ceremonies accompanied by the singers and musicians. The female slaves who were bought at early age and skillfuly practised with their male or female master musicians named ustat/reis and reise participated into the various entertainments and ceremonies or high officials’ weddings and circumcision feasts or religious and local holidays. In that era, there were salaried court singers and musical groups performing their duties at the palaces together with the public singers as well as musicians. The most famous concubine is Ittifaq who talented in playing common instruments such as the ud, tanbur, çenk, def, mizmar, santur and kanun. This concubine with a dark skin mentioned in the sources played the ud realy well and enjoyed a life like fairy tale while marrying three different sultans. Except for anonymous ones, Zuhra and Hubi with their wonderful voices together with their beauties also became the most attractive singers in that era; and these two are also regarded as the well-known singers in the history of Mamluks. In this article, the information about the female singers and musicians in the palace and society of Mamluks will be given and the acquisition as well as training of the above-mentened concubines will be analyzed.

The paper describes – according the little information that is found in the Arabic sources – the early stages in the young mamluk’s life, from his arrival in the lands of the Mamluk Sultanate until he became an amīr (officer).

in Hakan T. Karateke, H. Erdem Cipa, and Helga Anetshofer, eds., *Disliking Others: Loathing, Hostility, and Distrust in Premodern Ottoman Lands* (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2018), 22-42

sorry - the previously uploaded version was missing the plates

3 Fellowships are available for 2019-20
Deadline: 3 June 2019
Starting date: 1 October 2019
Grant value: 1.350 Euro/month

The relations between the Mamluk State in Egypt and various Mongol states are discussed practically in any research, which deals either with the foreign policy of the Mamluk state or its comprehensive development. It is caused by the fact... more

The relations between the Mamluk State in Egypt and various Mongol states are discussed practically in any research, which deals either with the foreign policy of the Mamluk state or its comprehensive development. It is caused by the fact that in the discussed period it was the Mongols who represented the only competing force in the Middle East, while the Ilkhanate state was the Mamluks’s main enemy.

Recent work has shown that Islamicate philosophers engaged meaningfully with Ibn Sīnā's transformation of Aristotelian physics, particularly his new understanding of motion at an instant and his new category of positional motion. Although... more

Recent work has shown that Islamicate philosophers engaged meaningfully with Ibn Sīnā's transformation of Aristotelian physics, particularly his new understanding of motion at an instant and his new category of positional motion. Although Ibn Sīnā considered medicine a derivative science of physics, little work has been done to determine the impact of the new Avicennan physics on medicine. In this paper, I shall examine the discussions on motion contained in the sections on pulse within seven medical commentaries produced between 1200 and 1520 CE. The examination will reveal that Ibn al-Nafīs's novel, non-Galenic application of the Avicennan category of * I would like to thank Asad Ahmed, Sonja Brentjes and the editors for their helpful comments and suggestions.

In the crowded center of Historic Cairo lies a covered market lined with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the Egyptian appliqué art known as... more

In the crowded center of Historic Cairo lies a covered market lined with wonderful textiles sewn by hand in brilliant colors and intricate patterns. This is the Street of the Tentmakers, the home of the Egyptian appliqué art known as khayamiya. The Tentmakers of Cairo brings together the stories of the tentmakers and their extraordinary tents—from the huge tent pavilions, or suradeq, of the streets of Egypt, to the souvenirs of the First World War and textile artworks celebrated by quilters around the world. It traces the origins and aesthetics of the khayamiya textiles that enlivened the ceremonial tents of the Fatimid, Mamluk, and Ottoman dynasties, exploring the ways in which they challenged conventions under new patrons and technologies, inspired the paper cut-outs of Henri Matisse, and continue to preserve a legacy of skilled handcraft in an age of relentless mass production. Drawing on historical literature, interviews with tentmakers, and analysis of khayamiya from around the world, the authors reveal the stories of this unique and spectacular Egyptian textile art.

in Egyptian Archaeology Journal n°52, Egypt Exploration Society, London, 2018, pp. 15-19.

Waqfs - charitable institution- were significant foundations in city life in regard, both, to social and economic aspects. Thanks to waqfs, the governments in Islamic States had not much obligations, in carrying out the religious service,... more

Waqfs - charitable institution- were significant foundations in city life in regard, both, to social and economic aspects. Thanks to waqfs, the governments in Islamic States had not much obligations, in carrying
out the religious service, administrating and maintaining the religious foundations. Their benefits to state were not limited with these. They provide essential contributions to habitation and construction of
cities. The waqf institutions especially identified with külliye that was formed by a mosque in the center and religious, social and commercial buildings around it, constructions and habitation. The influence in the
fulfillment of public service necessitated for processing city life harmoniously cannot be ignored as the effect in organization of cities. Public services such as education, cultural, medical, security, transportation and cleaning were performed by waqf.
Ayntâb was a city that had old waqfs and religious, social and public services were done by them. The waqf that had existed before Ottomans maintained their existence, also, supplied the needs of people by continuing their services. In the first years of Ottoman sovereignty the new waqfs were founded and the old ones which carried on their legal entity preserved their status. The waqf institution, contributed not only development in physical structure of the city of Ayntâb but also improvement in social, economic and cultural area. Thus, their social contribution in Ayntâb were tried to be evaluated with regard to their functions.

The battle of ʿAyn Jālūt between the Mamlūks and Mongols in northern Palestine (3 September 1260) has received much attention among researchers and popular writers, and efforts have been made to explain the Mamlūk victory and its impact... more

The battle of ʿAyn Jālūt between the Mamlūks and Mongols in northern Palestine (3 September 1260) has received much attention among researchers and popular writers, and efforts have been made to explain the Mamlūk victory and its impact on the history of the region. This paper offers some new evidence for the conduct of the battle and its results, as well as looking again at its significance for both contemporaries and modern observers. It begins with a short rendition of what is already known about the battle, based mostly on the author’s previous studies. This is followed by three sections, each dealing with a passage that has hitherto not received the attention that it deserves. The first is from the recently published and translated short history of the Mongols in Iran attributed to the well-known scholar Quṭb al-Dīn Shīrāzī (d. 1311). The second passage is from the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh by Rashīd al-Dīn (d. 1318) regarding some of the units that composed Kedbuqa’s army at the battle. The third passage is an exceptional anecdote in an otherwise banal account found in the chronicle by the famous al-Maqrīzī (d. 1442), showing that this author’s version of events may be a little more complicated than previously thought. The paper concludes with some considerations on the importance of the battle, suggesting that in spite of the relatively small numbers of the troops involved (certainly when compared to future battles between the two sides), it was indeed a crucial encounter, setting the stage for the history – military and otherwise – of the region for many subsequent decades.