Bøger i Mamluk Studies serien

A unique Mamluk manuscript tells the story of a Damascene jurist. Ibn al-Zamlakani's story revolves around a dramatic episode in the life of his master, the great judge Taj al-Din al-Subki, who is the central figure (hero) of the tale. The composer justly names his document maqamah. In rhyming prose, it narrates several episodes. Transmitted by a narrator (or at least his voice), who distances himself from the event, it is a story about an escape from hardship of a hero who is supported by good characters and face some evil enemies. Yet, it is not a biography, but a dramatic plot that transmits a moral lesson. The maqamah illuminates the relations between the Mamluk ruling military aristocracy and the religious establishment, as well as the competition that divided the Damascene urban elite.

The only Arabic voice to have witnessed the Ottoman conquest of Cairo, Ibn Iyas is an eminent historical source for the late Mamluk period. This book is the first to take stock of the author's complete works, approaching him through an examination of his narrative voice and writing strategies. Tracing Ibn Iyas's working process by compilation analysis, it shows how the author adapted his representations of Egyptian history to his writing projects and audience. Ibn Iyas's ways of worldmaking are shaped deeply by beliefs, biases and intellectual trends as well as the impact of the social and historical context the author wrote in. Knowing these conditioning factors allows to understand his presentation of history as an individual voice of his time.

The Mamluk Sultanate represents an extremely interesting case study to examine social, economic and cultural developments in the transition into the rapidly changing modern world. On the one hand, it is the heir of a political and military tradition that goes back hundreds of years, and brought this to a high pitch that enabled astounding victories over serious external threats. On the other hand, as time went on, it was increasingly confronted with "modern" problems that would necessitate fundamental changes in its structure and content. The Mamluk period was one of great religious and social change, and in many ways the modern demographic map was established at this time. This volume shows that the situation of the Mamluk Sultanate was far from that of decadence, and until the end it was a vibrant society (although not without tensions and increasing problems) that did its best to adapt and compete in a rapidly changing world.