Frankish Captives in Mamlūk Cairo

Latin presence in the Middle East came to an end with the fall of Acre in 690/1291. Among the last prisoners, Roger of Stanegrave, who gave testimony of his captivity in Cairo, was released around 715/1315. Therefore, how can we explain that Egyptian chroniclers kept on telling the life and tribulations of “Frankish captives” (asārā min al-Afranj) in Cairo as late as the last decades of the fourteenth century? This article looks first at the conditions of the Latin prisoners in Mamlūk Cairo and at their forced labour on the building sites of the city. It investigates afterwards the astonishing life and business of their descendants, trading wine and dealing with entertainment and prostitution in the city centre of Cairo, before being confronted with repression by Mamlūk authorities and being scattered over the most disreputable areas of the city. The history of Cairo and its urban fabric gives a unique opportunity to bring to light the life of people still referred to as “Frankish captives”, one century after the end of the crusader wars, and to understand how they finally became indigenous.     

The Unratified Treaty between the Mamlūks and the Franks of Acre in 1268

In 1268, after negotiations with Baybars, King Hugh III rejected several of the sultan's terms and did not take the oath to confirm a truce. Baybars' biographer underplayed the refusal, claiming that Hugh's fear of Charles of Anjou prevented him from making a truce. Based on historical and archaeological evidence, this study draws the borders with the Mamlūks and the inner borders between the Frankish regions in 1268, 1272 and 1283, proving that the Frankish areas in 1268 were reduced to almost half of those that obtained in 1272 and 1283. Thus, this study assumes that Hugh could not have take the oath on terms that, inter alia, reduced the Frankish area to an unacceptable size. The Franks seem to have controlled more territory than they were given in the proposed 1268 treaty and it seems that Baybars' lack of interest in an attack on Acre encouraged the king to reject the truce.     

Alexandria in the Ninth/Fifteenth Century: A Mediterranean Port City and a Mamlūk Prison City

Abstract

While modern scholars, medieval European and anachronistic Arab sources paint a portrait of Mamlūk Alexandria as a bustling and thriving international port, contemporary Arabic writings of the second half of the ninth/fifteenth and the first quarter of the tenth/sixteenth centuries present quite a different image. This article analyses Arabic chronicles to demonstrate that, from the Cairene perspective, Alexandria was a frontier city that was utilised as a jail for banished political prisoners. In contrast to other parts of their realm, investment in Alexandria by the Mamlūk regime was largely limited to fortifying it against seaborne threats; the sultans did little to embellish the city for civilian or religious purposes. Thus, the city was marginalised, politically and socially, even while still maintaining its role as a gateway to Egypt.     

Waṭan before Waṭaniyya: Loyalty to Land in Ayyūbid and Mamlūk Syria

This article argues that the term wa?an (“homeland”) was used in new ways in Arabic texts describing Syria from the sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries. The authors of these texts understood wa?an in its older sense as an affective attachment to land but assigned it new meaning as a territorial category of political and religious belonging. By analysing first the use of wa?an in Arabic literature from the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries and then its use in these later texts, this article proposes a re-evaluation of our assumptions about the role played by territory in defining political and religious allegiances in the pre-modern era and, thus, about the relationship between the pre-modern concept of wa?an and the modern concept of wa?aniyya, or “nationalism”.     

Ibn Baṭṭūṭa on Shedding of Blood in the Delhi Sultanate

Ibn Ba??ū?a's longest sojourn (734–748/1333-ca. 1347) in his famous world travels was in the domains of the Delhi sultanate ruled by Mu?ammad b. Tughluq. He presents a vivid picture of court life in Delhi and a portrait of the sultan, whom Ibn Ba??ū?a describes in contrasting terms of generosity and violence. This essay examines the latter phenomenon, first by briefly noting the contribution of two contrasting studies on the complex nature of violence itself (Part One), followed by Ibn Ba??ū?a's depiction of Ibn Tughluq's accession to power (Part Two), and then his perception of the sultan's use of capital punishment during his reign (Part Three). The last section (Part Four) adds further detail on the sultan's policy and then briefly compares Ibn Ba??ū?a's perception of the sultan's violence with that of another contemporary witness, the historian ?iyā? al-Dīn Baranī. The result suggests that Ibn Ba??ū?a's representation of violence is as nuanced as the phenomenon of violence itself.     

The Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm and the Turkmen of the Byzantine frontier, 1206–1279*

This article examines the frontier between the Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm and its Byzantine neighbours in the thirteenth century, concentrating on the place of these frontier districts within the Seljuk state. Scholarship on the frontier, influenced by the ideas of Paul Wittek, has seen it as something of a “no man's land”, politically, economically, culturally and religiously distinct from the urban heartland of the Seljuk sultanate in central Anatolia, dominated by the nomadic Turks, the Turkmen, who operated largely beyond sultanic control. It is often thought that the Seljuk and Greek sides of the border shared more in common with each other than they did with the states of which they formed a part. In contrast, this article argues that in fact the western frontier regions were closely integrated into the Seljuk sultanate. Furthermore, with the Mongol domination of the Seljuk sultanate in the second half of the thirteenth century, the Seljuk and Mongol elites became increasingly involved in this frontier region, where some of the leading figures of the sultanate had estates and endowments.     

Coptic Language and Identity in Ayyūbid Egypt1

Abstract

In the late Fā?imid and Ayyūbid periods of Egyptian history, Coptic Christians finally addressed the reality that most of their community no longer understood the Coptic language but were, in fact, losing their communal identity and “figures of memory” to Arabisation and even Islamisation. A Coptic-Arabic “Renaissance” ensued whereby Coptic liturgy, theology and history were translated into Arabic, the lingua franca by this time of the Coptic populace. This creative energy extended into the artistic realm – such as iconography and painting – and ultimately strengthened the identity of the Coptic community as their situation became increasingly more restricted.     

Sultan Barqūq and his Complaining Subjects in the Royal Stables

In 789/1387, Sultan al-?āhir Barqūq (r. 784–792/1382–89, 793–802/1390–99), the founder of the Circassian Mamluk State, moved the royal ma?ālim sessions for hearing petitions from Dār al-‘Adl, the time-honoured building at the centre of the Cairo Citadel, to the Royal Stables situated in the peripheral and lower enclosure of the Citadel. Thereafter, Barqūq utilised the stable area as a stronghold of his new paternalistic rule. This paper examines the background, political intention, and social meaning of this important change, with special attention to various actions of urban and rural Egyptian people during the two reigns of the sultan.     

A Ṭā’ifa in Exile: Sayf al-Dawla and the Survival of the Banū Hūd

In 1145–1146, Sayf al-Dawla returned to al-Andalus to create an independent kingdom and return the Banū Hūd of Zaragoza to prominence. His task was a difficult one, not least because he’d spent a decade serving the Christian king Alfonso VII. After a year of campaigning, Sayf al-Dawla secured a base of support in Murcia. However, he died shortly after his coronation in a battle with Christian allies who were allegedly sent by Alfonso to help him. In addition to providing an explanation for the battle and his death, the article examines how Sayf al-Dawla promoted the legitimacy of his state through his coinage, adherence to Andalusī traditions, and a network of fellow exiles. It interprets the Zaragozan ?ā’ifa as a moveable faction rather than a fixed geographical entity and connects Sayf al-Dawla’s kingdom to later movements to demonstrate how his actions preserved the Banū Hūd’s prestige in Andalusī imaginations.     

Matteo Ricci： a Bridge between China and West in the Ming Dynasty

##正##The year 2010 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci, an Italian juesuit priest who created the first cultural bridge between China and West. On February 6, 2010,     

Islamic Historians of the Ayyūbid Era and Muslim Rulers from the Early Crusading Period: A Study in the Use of History

This article examines the presentation of Muslim rulers from the early crusading period, 490–540/1097–1146 in six of the main chronicles written during the first half of the seventh/thirteenth century. It discusses the themes, ideas and topoi in each, demonstrating that the historians appear to have been divided into two ‘camps’ over their presentation of these rulers, based on their personal views of the rulers of their time. The article also examines why this division may have occurred, and considers its ramifications for modern scholarship of Arabic historiography, Islamic history and the history of the Crusades, in both the sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries.     

“He Was a Muslim Knight Who Fought for Religion,Not for the World”. War and Religiosity in Islam: A Comparative Study between the Islamic East and West (Twelfth century)

In the second half of the twelfth century, the Maghreb and the Mashriq saw two new political and religious projects taking place, which shared a common reformist spirit. The Almohad movement and the process initiated by Zankī (r. 1127–1146) gave a crucial role to jihād, as well as introducing far-reaching religious reform, doing away with the supposed decadence that had taken hold in the years before. The combination of these two elements gave rise to a greater exchange between religiosity and war. A comparative analysis of Islamic sources from both east and west reveals this increase of religiosity in war in three different fields: the participation of religious elites in the armies; the rise in the use of rituals and religiosity while at war, by means of sermons, speeches and the use of “sacred” objects; and miraculous events related to acts of war.     

Fiḍḍa l-Nūbiyya: The Woman and her Role in Early Shīՙite History

The purpose of the present study is to analyse the role played by an important female figure in early Shī?ite history. The person in question is Fi[ddot][ddot]a l-Nūbiyya, the servant-girl of Fā ?ima, the Prophet's daughter. After a long period of neglect by scholars, who have focused on what to their mind were figures of greater import, we shall here attempt to describe the role played by Fi[ddot][ddot]a in early Shī?ite history by way of analysing her biography and her close relations with Fā ?ima and members of the latter's family (?Alī, [Hdot]asan and [Hdot]usayn). We shall further describe what has been reported of Fi[ddot][ddot]a's personality, her family, her admiration for the Prophet's family, Qur?ānic verses which supposedly mention her, and the great respect in which she was held by Fā ?ima's family.     

“None of the Kings on Earth is Their Equal in ʿaṣabiyya”: The Mongols in Ibn Khaldūn's Works

The rise of the Mongol empire was a shock to the Arab world and led many Arab authors to describe these conquerors in decidedly negative terms. The great historian Ibn Khaldūn also discusses the Mongols' rise and their conquests. As a nomadic people they challenged and defeated sedentary populations and founded their own dynasties. Consequently, the Mongol conquests perfectly fit Ibn Khaldūn's theories on ?a?abiyya – which is superior in nomadic groups – and the rise and fall of dynasties. For the Maghrebi historian, the rise of the Mongols was a natural step in the course of history. This consequently colours his view of the Mongols and affects the way he portrays them, especially regarding the themes of violence and religion – recurring themes in many contemporary works dealing with the Mongols – and in his depiction of the Turco-Mongolian conqueror Timur, who is presented in a more favourable light by Ibn Khaldūn than he is in many contemporary works.     

“ʿAlā fūr Tuṭīla”: Jews and Muslims in the Administrative Culture of Post-Conquest Tudela,c.1118–1220

The early history of the Jewish and Muslim communities living under Christian rule in the Ebro Valleys tends to be overlooked in favour of the source-rich thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, the nature and organisation of these groups should not be taken as a constant, as they underwent a significant transformation over the course of the twelfth century. Through the case study of Tudela, this article proposes to re-examine the dynamics of administration and judicial practice that developed in the immediate aftermath of the Navarro-Aragonese conquest. This town has a rich corpus of charters that allows us to contrast the administrative layout enshrined in the franchise charters known as fueros with the legal practice reflected in some particular bilingual interlineated purchase-sale contracts. A comparison of both sets of documents emphasises the use of the fuero in inter-communal negotiation, both in framing encounters and in guaranteeing each group's autonomy, during a key period in the gestation of Jewish and Muslim administrative and judicial practices under Christian rule.

Abbreviations: DAr = Mercedes García-Arenal, “Documentos árabes de Tudela Y Tarazona”, Al-Qan?ara: Revista de Estudios Árabes 3 (1982): 27–72; FdN = Luis Javier Fortún Pérez de Ciriza, “Colección de ‘fueros menores’ de Navarra y otros privilegios locales (I)”, Príncipe de Viana 165 (1982): 273–348