The Historiography of Islamic Egypt (C. 950-1800) (Medieval Mediterranean)

History writing in Islamic Egypt was highly developed and no country in the Middle East has a richer or more developed tradition. This book is a collection of essays by leading scholars in the field, examining different authors, their works and the intellectual climate in which they flourished. Due prominence is given to the great historians of the Mamluk period (c.1260-1517) but also to the less well-known writers of the Ottoman period. The essays are also enlivened by insights into personalities and customs of the time. This book will be of interest to historians of the Islamic world in mediaeval and modern times, and to all those who are concerned with history writing as an intellectual discourse. Lingua Franca In The Mediterranean : John Wansborough And The Historiography Of Mediaeval Egypt / Michael Brett -- Egypt And Aleppo In Ibn Al-ʻadīm's Bughyat Al-ṭalab Fī Taʼrikh Ḥalab / David Morray -- Al-nuwayrī As A Historian Of The Mongols / Reuven Amitai -- Baybars Al-manṣūrī's Zubdat Al-fikra / Donald Richards -- ʻalī-al-baghdādī And The Joy Of Mamluk Sex / Robert Irwin -- Representing The Mamluks In Mamluk Historical Writing / Nasser Rabbat -- L'évolution De La Composition Du Genre De Khiṭaṭ En Egypte Musulmane / Ayman Fuʻad Sayyid -- Al-maqrīzī's Account Of The Transition From Turkish To Circassian Mamluk Sultanate : History In The Service Of Faith / Amalia Levanoni -- Al-maqrīzī And Ibn Taghrī Birdī As Historians Of Contemporary Events / Irmeli Perho -- Al-biqāʼī̄'s Chronicle : A Fifteenth Century Learned Man's Reflection On His Time And World / Li Guo -- Al-maqrīzī, The Master, And Abū Ḥāmid Al-qudsī, The Disciple--whose Historical Writing Can Claim More Topicality And Modernity? / Ulrich Haarmann -- Disruptive Others As Depicted In The Chronicles Of The Late Mamlūk Period / Carl F. Petry -- Attitudes Toward The Ottomans In Egyptian Historiography During Ottoman Rule / Michael Winter -- The Egyptian-yemeni Symbiosis As Reflected (or Unreflected) In Ottoman-era Chronicles / Jane Hathaway -- Al-jabartī's ʻajāʼib Al-athār Fi Al-tarājim Waʼl-akhbār And The Arabic Histories Of Ottoman Egypt In The Eighteenth Century / Daniel Crecelius -- The Chronicles Of Ottoman Egypt : History Or Entertainment / Nelly Hanna -- Egyptian History In The Modern Egyptian Novel / Paul Starkey. Edited By Hugh Kennedy. The Papers Collected In This Volume Were Given At A Conference On 'the Historiography Of Islamic Egypt' Held In The University Of St. Andrews, 28-31 August, 1997 Under The Auspices Of The School Of History, University Of St. Andrews--p. [vii]. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of Abbreviations 12 The Fatimid and Ayyubid periods c. 969–1260 14 1. Lingua Franca in the Mediterranean: John Wansborough and the Historiography of Mediaeval Egypt 14 2. Egypt and Aleppo in Ibn al-ʿAdīm’s Bughyat al-ṭalab fī taʾrīkh Ḥalab 26 The Bahri Mamluk period (1250–1390) 36 3. Al-Nuwayī as a Historian of the Mongols 36 4. Baybars al-Manṣūrīs Zubdat al-Fikra 50 5. ʿAlī al-Baghdādī and the Joy of Mamluk Sex 58 6. Representing the Mamluks in Mamluk Historical Writing 72 Al-Maqrīzī (d. 1442) and His World 90 7. l’Evolution de la composition du genre de Khiṭaṭ en Egypte musulmane 90 8. Al-Maqrīzī’s account of the Transition from Turkish to Circassian Mamluk Sultanate: History in the Service of Faith 106 9. Al-Maqrīzī and Ibn Taghrī Birdī as Historians of Contemporary Events 120 Historians of the Circassian Mamluk Period (1382–1517) 134 10. Al-Biqāʾī’s Chronicle: a Fifteenth Century Learned Man’s Reflection on his Time and World 134 11. Al-Maqrīzī, the Master, and Abū Hāmid al-Qudsī, the Disciple—Whose Historical Writing Can Claim More Topicality and Modernity? 162 12. Disruptive “Others” as Depicted in the Chronicles of the Late Mamlūk Period 180 The Historiography of Ottoman Egypt (1517–1798) 208 13. Attitudes toward the Ottomans in Egyptian Historiography during Ottoman rule 208 14. The Egyptian-Yemeni Symbiosis as Reflected (or Unreflected) in Ottoman-era Chronicles 224 15. Al-Jabartī’s ‘Ajāʾib al-athār fī al-Tarājim wa’l-akhbār and the Arabic Histories of Ottoman Egypt in the Eighteenth Century 234 16. The Chronicles of Ottoman Egypt: History or Entertainment 250 Postscript 264 17. Egyptian History in the Modern Egyptian Novel 264 Index 276 The Medieval Mediterranean Peoples, Economies and Cultures, 400–1453 283 "History writing in Islamic Egypt was highly developed and no country in the Middle East has a richer or more impressive tradition. This book is a collection of essays by leading scholars in the field, examining different authors, their works and the intellectual climate in which they flourished. Due prominence is given to the great historians of the Mamluk period (c. 1260-1517) but also to the less well-known writers of Ottoman times. The essays are also enlivened by insights into personalities and customs of the time." "This book will be of interest to historians of the Islamic world in mediaeval and modern times, and to all those who are concerned with history writing as an intellectual discourse."--Jacket This collection of essays discusses the rich and varied tradition of history writing in mediaeval and early modern Egypt, providing new insights into the works and the lives and outlooks of their authors.