Education and training under the Mamluks By Sevak Joseph Manjikian Master’s Thesis, McGill University, 1998 Abstract: This work analyzes the methods the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517) used to train and educate its military and religious elite. Three separate classes of people are examined: the Mamluks, the religious elite (‘ ulama‘) and finally the children of the […]
The great crusader hero: Louis IX or Joinville?
July 28, 2011 By
The great crusader hero: Louis IX or Joinville? Almeida, Adriana (Aluna de Mestrado da Faculdade de Letras do Porto) Revista Medievalista Online, ano 4, número 4 (2008) Abstract Joinville’s Vie de Saint Louis is, in the least, a touching account of a hard campaign in the East, and the humanity and sanctity of a king. There are […]
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism?
July 27, 2011 By
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism? Aigle, Denise (French Institute for the Middle East – Damascus) Inner Asia 7 (2005) Abstract This paper deals with the Great Khans and Ilkhans’ letters, and with the question of their authenticity. Generally, these letters were written in Mongolian, but very few of […]
Homoerotic Liasons among the Mamluk Elite in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria
July 2, 2011 By
Homoerotic Liasons among the Mamluk Elite in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria By Everett K. Rowson Islamicate sexualities: translations across temporal geographies of desire, edited by Kathryn Babayan and Afsaneh Najmabadi (Harvard University Press, 2008) Extract: The French Dominican William of Adam, writing about 1318, explains “In the Saracen sect any sexual act at all […]
The Feudal Revolution and Europe’s Rise: Institutional Divergence in the Christian and Muslim Worlds before 1500 CE
June 28, 2011 By
The Feudal Revolution and Europe’s Rise: Institutional Divergence in the Christian and Muslim Worlds before 1500 CE By Lisa Blaydes and Eric Chaney Published Online (2011) Abstract: This paper investigates the political origins of Europe’s economic rise by examining the emergence of increasing ruler durability in Western Europe when compared with the Islamic world. While […]
The Prince, the Assassin and the Mongols
May 16, 2011 By
On a night in June 1272, in the Crusader city of Acre, the English prince Edward and his wife Eleanor were asleep when a spy came asking to meet with Edward.
Some notes on the Portuguese and Frankish pirates during the Mamluk period (872-922AH./1468-1517AD.)
April 18, 2011 By
Some notes on the Portuguese and Frankish pirates during the Mamluk period (872-922AH./1468-1517AD.) By Wan Kamal Mujani Journal of General Studies, Vol.8 (2007) Introduction: In Islamic history the word ‘Mamluk’ means a slave, more specifically a white slave, used in the military establishment. In the Ayyubid kingdom, the Mamluks served in the armies and later […]
Revolt on the Nile: Economic Shocks, Religion and Institutional Change
February 11, 2011 By
Revolt on the Nile: Economic Shocks, Religion and Institutional Change By Eric Chaney Published Online (2010) Abstract: This paper uses over 700 years of Nile flood data to investigate the effect of economic shocks on political outcomes in Islamic Egypt. Results show that while deviant Nile floods increased political instability, these shocks decreased the likelihood […]
Military Intelligence in Arabo-Byzantine Naval Warfare
February 8, 2011 By
Military Intelligence in Arabo-Byzantine Naval Warfare By Vassilios Christides To empolemo Byzantino – Byzantium at War, edited by Nicolas Oikonomides (Athens: Institute for Byzantine Studies, 1997) Introduction: During the long Arab-Byzantine struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean Sea from the seventh to the fourteenth century an unexplored factor, or paramount importance, was their military naval […]
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start?
January 29, 2011 By
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start? By Frédéric Bauden Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The period from al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s death (741/1341) until the emergence of the Circassian dynasty under al-Ẓāhir Barqūq (784/1382) witnessed the unbridled succession to the throne of Egypt and Syria of the […]
Rotting Ships and Razed Harbors: The Naval Policy of the Mamluks
January 17, 2011 By
Rotting Ships and Razed Harbors: The Naval Policy of the Mamluks By Albrecht Fuess Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.5 (2001) Synopsis: This article will review the three most important components of Mamluk naval policy and assess the effectiveness of that policy in securing the coast. This three-part review will be followed by a discussion of why […]
The historiography of protest in late Mamluk and early Ottoman Egypt and Syria
June 27, 2010 By
The historiography of protest in late Mamluk and early Ottoman Egypt and Syria By Amina Elbendary IIAS Newsletter, Vol.43 No.9 (2007) Introduction: History in its various forms – chronicles, biographies and biographical dictionaries – was a favourite genre in late medieval Egypt and Syria. One of the salient features of these histories is their breadth […]
Is Anyone my Guardian …? Mamluk Under Age Rule and the Later Qalawunids
June 14, 2010 By
‘Is Anyone my Guardian …?’ Mamluk Under Age Rule and the Later Qalawunids By Jo Van Steenbergen Al-Masaq, Vol. 19, No. 1 (2007) Abstract: Succession to the Mamluk sultanate is one of those thorny issues that keep bothering historians. Within an environment that did not generally favour heredity of military/political status, a frequent tendency towards […]
Development of construction techniques in the Mamluk domes of Cairo
April 2, 2010 By
Development of construction techniques in the Mamluk domes of Cairo By Barbara Cipriani Master’s Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005 Abstract: This dissertation reconstructs the building features, the construction methods and the esthetic and structural changes of the Mamluk Mausolea in Cairo (1250-1517 A.D.); a special attention is dedicated to the domes that cover all […]
Shajar al-Durr: A Case of Female Sultanate in Medieval Islam
February 18, 2010 By
While women were occasionally able to influence matters of rule in Medieval Islam, it is likely that only three reached a formal position of power.
The role of agriculture in Mamluk-Jordanian power relations
December 14, 2009 By
The role of agriculture in Mamluk-Jordanian power relations By Bethany J. Walker Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales, Vol.57, Suppl. (2008) Introduction: Power politics between rulers and ruled need not always take the form of open conflict. Particularly in rural society, the exercise of and response to state power can express themselves in multiple, nuanced ways and through multiple channels, […]
Ayn Jalut: Mamluk Sucess or Mongol Failure?
December 7, 2009 By
Ayn Jalut: Mamluk Sucess or Mongol Failure? By John Masson Smith, Jr. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 44:2 (1984) Introduction: The battle of Ayn Jalut, where the Mamluks of Egypt defeated the invading Mongols on 3 September 1260, is usually presented as the turning point in the tide of Mongol conquest. This, it is usually […]
Courtly Patronage of Ancient Sciences in Post-Classical Islamic
December 4, 2009 By
Courtly Patronage of Ancient Sciences in Post-Classical Islamic By Sonja Brentjes Al-Qanṭara, Vol.29:2 (2008) Abstract: In this paper I study evidence for courtly patronage for the ancient sciences in specific post-classical societies in the Arab and Persianate worlds. I show that there are plenty of historical sources for seriously challenging the widely held belief that courtly patronage […]
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start?
October 18, 2009 By
The Sons of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start? By Frédéric Bauden Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The period from al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s death (741/1341) until the emergence of the Circassian dynasty under al-Ẓāhir Barqūq (784/1382) witnessed the unbridled succession to the throne of Egypt and Syria of the scions of […]
Military Slavery in the Islamic World: 1000 Years of a Social-Military Institution
October 15, 2009 By
From its first clear appearance in the early ninth century of the Common Era, to the extinguishing of its last embers in the nineteenth century, military slavery has played a significant – even decisive role – in the military, political, economic, social and even cultural history of the region from Central Asia to Egypt, and perhaps beyond.
The Financial Reforms of Sultan Qāytbāy
October 6, 2009 By
The Financial Reforms of Sultan Qāytbāy By Igarashi Daisuke Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The expansion of the Ottoman Empire from the middle of the ninth/fifteenth century redrew the power map in northern Syria and eastern Anatolia, threatening the hegemony of the Mamluk sultanate over the region. It also threatened the security of the sultanate, which […]
Symbiotic Relations: Ulama and the Mamluk Sultans
October 6, 2009 By
Symbiotic Relations: Ulama and the Mamluk Sultans By Yaacov Lev Mamluk Studies Review, Vol.13:1 (2009) Introduction: The ulama played a vital role in the political and social life of the Mamluk state. Ira Marvin Lapidus, for example, makes the following observation about the urban society of the Mamluk period: In Mamlūk cities no central agency for […]
Legitimizing a low-born, regicide monarch. The case of the Mamluk sultan Baybars and the Ilkhans in the 13th century
July 29, 2009 By
Legitimizing a low-born, regicide monarch. The case of the Mamluk sultan Baybars and the Ilkhans in the 13th century By Denise Aigle Representing power in ancient Inner Asia : Legitimacy, transmission and the sacred, Charleux, I., Hamayon, R. and Delaplace, G. (eds), (Western Washington University, 2009) Introduction: Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, Syria-Palestine and Egypt were […]
The Egyptian Specie Market and the Gold Crisis of the Fifteenth Century
December 17, 2008 By
The Egyptian Specie Market and the Gold Crisis of the Fifteenth Century By Ian Blanchard Lecture presented at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris, 1985) Introduction: The years 1375-1434 witnessed an acute dislocation of European gold markets which assumed crisis proportions during the period 1392-1412. After half a century of remarkable stability in […]
Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treaties of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
December 14, 2008 By
Gunpowder Composition for Rockets and Cannon in Arabic Military Treaties of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries By Ahmad Y. al-Hassan ICON (International Committee for the History of Technology) Journal, Vol. 9 (2003) Abstract: In some documented histories of warfare and weapons in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance there is a noticeable gap in the […]
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