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In the Sultanâs Salon: Learning, Religion, and Rulership at the Mamluk Court of QÄniá¹£awh al-GhawrÄ« (r. 1501â1516) (2 vols)
Series: - Islamic History and Civilization, Volume: 169
Author:
Christian Mauderâs In the Sultanâs Salon builds on his award-winning research and constitutes the first detailed study of the Egyptian court culture of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250â1517). Based mainly on understudied Arabic manuscript sources describing the learned salons of the Mamluk Sultan al-GhawrÄ«, In the Sultanâs Salon presents the first theoretical conceptualization of the term âcourtâ that can be fruitfully applied to premodern Islamic societies. It uses this conceptualization to demonstrate that al-GhawrÄ«âs court functioned as a transregionally interconnected center of dynamic intellectual exchange, theological debate, and performance of rule that triggered novel developments in Islamic scholarly, religious, and political culture.
Christian Mauder, Ph.D. (2017), University of Göttingen, is Associate Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Bergen. His numerous publications on the religious, intellectual, and cultural history of the Islamic world include the monograph Gelehrte Krieger: Die Mamluken als Träger arabischsprachiger Bildung nach al-Ṣafadī, al-Maqrīzī und weiteren Quellen (Olms, 2012).
"In the Sultanâs Salon offers a paradigm-shifting analysis of the court of the penultimate sultan of Cairo. Driven by a well-informed theoretical reflection, Mauderâs thorough study of three courtly majÄlis works invites us to radically rethink Egyptâs royal court as a nexus of cosmopolitanism, innovation and transregional elite formation. A must-read!" - Jo Van Steenbergen, Research Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Ghent University
"Christian Mauderâs book is a fascinating study of late Mamluk court life. A breathtaking variety of sources are used to provide a pioneering, carefully documented and highly readable account of the scholarly salons of the Mamluk Sultan al-GhawrÄ«. The study is a model for the integration of social, political, intellectual and religious history." - Khaled El-Rouayheb, James Richard Jewett Professor of Islamic Intellectual History, Harvard University
"Theoretically and philologically informed, this book invites us to rethink late Mamluk history and elegantly puts the rulerâs court on our agenda. A pleasure to read!" - Konrad Hirschler, Professor of Middle Eastern History, Freie Universität Berlin
"Christian Mauderâs book is a fascinating study of late Mamluk court life. A breathtaking variety of sources are used to provide a pioneering, carefully documented and highly readable account of the scholarly salons of the Mamluk Sultan al-GhawrÄ«. The study is a model for the integration of social, political, intellectual and religious history." - Khaled El-Rouayheb, James Richard Jewett Professor of Islamic Intellectual History, Harvard University
"Theoretically and philologically informed, this book invites us to rethink late Mamluk history and elegantly puts the rulerâs court on our agenda. A pleasure to read!" - Konrad Hirschler, Professor of Middle Eastern History, Freie Universität Berlin
Acknowledgments
List of Tables, Maps and Figures
Note on Transliteration, Style and Periodization
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
â1.1âTopics and Research Questions
â1.2âWhat Is a Court? Theoretical and Terminological Considerations
2 Historical Context and State of Research
â2.1âHistorical Context: The Standard Narrative
â2.2âState of Research
3 Arabic, Turkic and Other Sources
â3.1âArabic Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
â3.2âOther Arabic Sources
â3.3âTurkic Sources
â3.4âSources in European Languages
â3.5âMaterial and Epigraphic Sources
â3.6âSynopsis of Sources Utilized
4 Learning and the Transmission of Knowledge at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â4.1âAl-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis as Historical Events
â4.2âThe Topics of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
â4.3âAl-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis as Salons
â4.4âOther Educational and Scholarly Activities at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â4.5âCourtly Education and Scholarship in Its Late Mamluk Context
5 Religious Life at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â5.1âEvents, Influences, and Topics of Religious Life at the Sultanâs Court
â5.2âThe Sultanâs Role in Religious Life
â5.3âThe Significance of Religious Communication at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
List of Tables, Maps and Figures
6 Rulership, Representation, and Legitimation of Rule at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â6.1âThe Crisis of Late Mamluk Legitimacy
â6.2âRulership and Political Theory in the majÄlis and at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â6.3âCommunicative Strategies of Courtly Representation and Legitimation of Rule
â6.4âThe Political Communication at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court between Tradition and Innovation
7 Conclusion
â7.1âSummary
â7.2âResearch Results and Outlook
Appendix 1: Works Cited in the Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Appendix 2: Participants in al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Appendix 3: Parallel Passages in the Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Bibliography
Index
List of Tables, Maps and Figures
Note on Transliteration, Style and Periodization
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
â1.1âTopics and Research Questions
â1.2âWhat Is a Court? Theoretical and Terminological Considerations
2 Historical Context and State of Research
â2.1âHistorical Context: The Standard Narrative
â2.2âState of Research
3 Arabic, Turkic and Other Sources
â3.1âArabic Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
â3.2âOther Arabic Sources
â3.3âTurkic Sources
â3.4âSources in European Languages
â3.5âMaterial and Epigraphic Sources
â3.6âSynopsis of Sources Utilized
4 Learning and the Transmission of Knowledge at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â4.1âAl-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis as Historical Events
â4.2âThe Topics of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
â4.3âAl-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis as Salons
â4.4âOther Educational and Scholarly Activities at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â4.5âCourtly Education and Scholarship in Its Late Mamluk Context
5 Religious Life at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â5.1âEvents, Influences, and Topics of Religious Life at the Sultanâs Court
â5.2âThe Sultanâs Role in Religious Life
â5.3âThe Significance of Religious Communication at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
List of Tables, Maps and Figures
6 Rulership, Representation, and Legitimation of Rule at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â6.1âThe Crisis of Late Mamluk Legitimacy
â6.2âRulership and Political Theory in the majÄlis and at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court
â6.3âCommunicative Strategies of Courtly Representation and Legitimation of Rule
â6.4âThe Political Communication at al-GhawrÄ«âs Court between Tradition and Innovation
7 Conclusion
â7.1âSummary
â7.2âResearch Results and Outlook
Appendix 1: Works Cited in the Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Appendix 2: Participants in al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Appendix 3: Parallel Passages in the Accounts of al-GhawrÄ«âs majÄlis
Bibliography
Index
Everyone interested in the intellectual, religious, and political history of the Islamic world in general and the Mamluk Sultanate in particular as well as specialists in comparative studies of courts.