Egypt And Syria Under Mamluk Rule

In this volume, twelve essays by leading scholars of Mamluk history provide an informative reading and insightful analysis of the political, social and economic systems of Egypt and Syria under Mamluk rule (125-1517).

The Mamluk Sultanate is in many ways the ultimate medieval Muslim state, based on a military force composed almost exclusively of mounted archers, mainly of Eurasian Steppe provenance. Probably no where else was the military and political elite so closely intertwined and even almost identical. In spite of a certain amount of political instability, as a system and state, it lasted for over a quarter of a millennium, with its rulers, the sultans generally enjoying effective power. Few pre-modern Muslim states can present such a claim. On the whole, too, the Mamluks provided relative security and stability to their subjects. They were famed and lauded for their defeats of the Mongols and Crusaders, and long after these enemies disappeared, the Mamluks exploited their achievements to gain legitimacy. Under the Mamluks, cities thrived, as did commerce, and there was a vigorous cultural life in different areas: religious learning; architecture and crafts; literature and historiography; and, science and technology. The papers in this volume reflect the rich and multifaceted nature of the society of the Mamluk Sultanate as well as the vibrant nature of current research on this subject. The international cast of contributors cover a wide array of topics, dealing with such aspects as politics, military affairs, cultural and literary life, everyday life, and Syria and Palestine under Mamluk rule.

The Mamluk Sultanate is in many ways the ultimate medieval Muslim state, based on a military force composed almost exclusively of mounted archers, mainly of Eurasian Steppe provenance. Probably no where else was the military and political elite so closely intertwined and even almost identical. In spite of a certain amount of political instability, as a system and state, it lasted for over a quarter of a millennium, with its rulers, the sultans generally enjoying effective power. Few pre-modern Muslim states can present such a claim. On the whole, too, the Mamluks provided relative security and stability to their subjects. They were famed and lauded for their defeats of the Mongols and Crusaders, and long after these enemies disappeared, the Mamluks exploited their achievements to gain legitimacy. Under the Mamluks, cities thrived, as did commerce, and there was a vigorous cultural life in different areas: religious learning; architecture and crafts; literature and historiography; and, science and technology. The papers in this volume reflect the rich and multifaceted nature of the society of the Mamluk Sultanate as well as the vibrant nature of current research on this subject. The international cast of contributors cover a wide array of topics, dealing with such aspects as politics, military affairs, cultural and literary life, everyday life, and Syria and Palestine under Mamluk rule.

Each volume deals with a wide variety of scholarly subjects, all revolving around the central theme of Syro-Egypt's high and late medieval history. Topics dealt with include archaeology, architecture, codicology, economic, political, and religious history, as well as belles-lettres.

This volume is a collection of studies by leading historians on central aspects of the Mamluk Empire of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), and of Ottoman Egypt (16th-18th century) where the Mamluks survived under the Ottoman suzerainty.

The Mamluk Sultanate is in many ways the ultimate medieval Muslim state, based on a military force composed almost exclusively of mounted archers, mainly of Eurasian Steppe provenance. Probably no where else was the military and political elite so closely intertwined and even almost identical. In spite of a certain amount of political instability, as a system and state, it lasted for over a quarter of a millennium, with its rulers, the sultans generally enjoying effective power. Few pre-modern Muslim states can present such a claim. On the whole, too, the Mamluks provided relative security and stability to their subjects. They were famed and lauded for their defeats of the Mongols and Crusaders, and long after these enemies disappeared, the Mamluks exploited their achievements to gain legitimacy. Under the Mamluks, cities thrived, as did commerce, and there was a vigorous cultural life in different areas: religious learning; architecture and crafts; literature and historiography; and, science and technology. The papers in this volume reflect the rich and multifaceted nature of the society of the Mamluk Sultanate as well as the vibrant nature of current research on this subject. The international cast of contributors cover a wide array of topics, dealing with such aspects as politics, military affairs, cultural and literary life, everyday life, and Syria and Palestine under Mamluk rule.

Spanning the greater part of the thirteenth century, the career of the Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, al-Mansur Qalawun, is of great interest for the light it sheds on the major themes of early Mamluk history: the emergence of a new political and administrative structure, characterized by increased militarization and mamlukization; the role of the caliphate and the nature of sultani authority; the problem of succession; Mamluk factionalism; Egyptian-Syrian relations; relations with Mongols and Crusaders; and the importance, not to mention the strategic and complex nature, of international trade in the Mamluk realm. Not only does this work fill a gap in knowledge of the early Mamluk period, complementing the studies we have of Baybars's and al-Nasir Muhammad's reigns, but it goes further than most in analyzing the institutions of the period, and uses hitherto neglected materials to illuminate theoretical and practical questions of Mamluk rule. With indices. "From Slave to Sultan is well written. The analysis is dense and packed with scholarship; it is one of those books of which specialists will devour the notes with even greater relish than they do the text... Graduate students in particular will be grateful for her first chapter, in which she introduces, describes, and evaluates the various sources." MESA Bulletin "This book a will unquestionably stand as the authoritative work on Qalawun for some time to come." School of Oriental & African Studies "Northrup is to be commended for undertaking this important, and much needed, project with her persistent efforts, meticulous and critical reading of the sources, sound methodology, and diligent presentation. The result is a definitive work on the political legacy of one of the most eminent early Mamluk sultans." Journal of Near Eastern Studies . (Franz Steiner 1998)

This volume is dedicated to the circulation of the book as a commodity in the Mamluk sultanate. It discusses the impact of princely patronage on the production of books, the formation and management of libraries in religious institutions, their size and their physical setting.