Polity Religion List
A viewset for viewing and editing Polity Religions.
GET /api/general/polity-religions/?ordering=religion
{ "count": 44, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/general/polity-religions/?ordering=religion&page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 35, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Bektasi", "polity": { "id": 173, "name": "TrOttm1", "start_year": 1299, "end_year": 1402, "long_name": "Ottoman Emirate", "new_name": "tr_ottoman_emirate", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The polity of the Ottomans was originally one of many small Turkish principalities on the border of the Byzantine realm §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 429) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. §REF§ against whom their ghazi chieftain launched raids for territory and plunder. Through both warfare and diplomacy with farmers, townspeople and Christian nobles, they eventually forced the submission of the western Balkans and then annexed their rival Turkish principalities in western Anatolia. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 429) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. §REF§ The massive expansion of the Ottoman polity (18,000 km2 in 1320 CE to 690,000 km2 by 1400 CE) came to an abrupt halt with the invasion of Timur in 1402 CE who conquered the Ottomans and made its ruler a vassal. There was then a civil war for control of the Ottoman state which ends the first period (1290-1402 CE).<br>As the polity rapidly expanded, the Ottoman government was run out of a succession of capitals: Sogut (1299-1325 CE), Bursa (1326-1364 CE), and Adrianople (1364-1413 CE) all provided a base for a period. The title of Sultan was introduced in 1383 CE by Murat I (1362-1389 CE). His government was an extension of his court and the top officials were directly appointed, and increasingly powerful through the period. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 148) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ An Imperial Council (divan) §REF§ (Imber 2002, 154) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ issued his decrees and made less important and administrative policy decisions. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 154) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ Viziers in the government were able to make some appointments in the name of the Sultan at the very least by the fifteenth century. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 156) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ The date when the Grand Vizier became the most powerful official in the state is disputed; some scholars believe this occurred c1360 CE §REF§ (Shaw 1976, 22) Stanford J Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808. Cambridge University Press. §REF§ while Ottoman tradition has it when Mehmed II stopped attending meetings in early 15th century. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 156) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ <br>Provinces with governors probably did not exist until the 1380s CE. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 177) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ The rapid increase in size of the Ottoman state meant that the winner of the Ottoman civil war would gain control of territory that held 5 million people.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 11, "name": "Konya Plain", "subregion": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "longitude": "32.521164000000", "latitude": "37.877845000000", "capital_city": "Konya", "nga_code": "TR", "fao_country": "Turkey", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 43, "name": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "subregions_list": "Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 37, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Bektasi", "polity": { "id": 174, "name": "TrOttm2", "start_year": 1402, "end_year": 1517, "long_name": "Ottoman Empire I", "new_name": "tr_ottoman_emp_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "During the fifteenth century the Ottomans reconstructed the state following the damaging civil war (which ended 1412 CE) and the devastating Mongol invasion under Timur (in 1402 CE). The period ends with the Ottoman conquest of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, which began a \"stronger Islamisation of the Empire.\" §REF§ Personal communication. Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. 2016. Institute for Medieval Research. Division of Byzantine Research. Austrian Academy of Sciences. §REF§ <br>Ottoman government had an elaborate set of institutions but was ultimately highly autocratic, run out of the court of the Sultan §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 437) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. §REF§ who would frequently execute men of high rank in rituals of death that \"symbolised the absolute power of the sultan within his own household, and the abject status of even his most powerful counsellors.\" §REF§ (Imber 2002, 156) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ The court often \"by-passed formal structures of government such as in diplomatic negotiations\" and Colin Imber notes that there was an informal aspect to policy making that depended a great deal on the personality of the Sultan \"and the individuals or factions who had his ear.\" §REF§ (Imber 2002, 154) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ <br>The main institution of government was the Imperial Council (divan) which was under the presidency of the Grand Vizier. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 154) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ In the regions provinces were run by governors (beylerbeyi). §REF§ (Imber 2002, 177-178) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ The Ottoman army was financed by land grants: between 1400-1590 CE army officers were assigned timar holdings from which they could raise revenue as a form of salary. Numbering 27,500 in 1527 CE they \"formed the most important element in the Ottoman army.\" §REF§ (Imber 2002, 256-257) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 440) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. §REF§ <br>At this time the Ottoman Empire was very heterogeneous in language and culture and while Islam predominated as the state religion the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches retained some influence within the Ottoman government and served large concentrations of Christians. After their expulsion from Spain in 1492 CE there were also many Jews, in addition to Maronites and Druzes. §REF§ (Imber 2002, 1-2) Colin Imber. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. §REF§ After the final conquest of Byzantine Constantinople in 1453 CE, the city became the Ottoman capital, now called Istanbul, and boomed in size again from about 50,000 to perhaps as many as 400,000 residents.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 11, "name": "Konya Plain", "subregion": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "longitude": "32.521164000000", "latitude": "37.877845000000", "capital_city": "Konya", "nga_code": "TR", "fao_country": "Turkey", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 43, "name": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "subregions_list": "Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 32, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Byzantine Orthodox", "polity": { "id": 76, "name": "TrByzM3", "start_year": 1073, "end_year": 1204, "long_name": "Byzantine Empire III", "new_name": "tr_byzantine_emp_3", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Byzantine period (1073-1204 CE) began with Michael VII Ducas (r.1071-1078 CE §REF§ (Haussig 1971, Chronological Table) H W Haussig. J M Hussey, trans. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. §REF§ and ended in disintegration with court in-fighting over the regency agenda for Manuel's heir Alexios II §REF§ (Holmes 2008, 276) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ , which preceded the devastating 1204 CE conquest of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade. §REF§ (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences §REF§ The state had controlled about 500,000 km2 territory and upwards of 6 million people.<br>In ideology the Byzantine Empire carried the Roman worldview of its rightful domain of influence. Byzantine Emperors \"recognized neither the western Frankish Empire nor the Bulgarian Emperor\" and \"never gave up its claims to universal rule. It claimed to be at the apex of the family of kings; it was the father, they were the sons.\" §REF§ (Haussig 1971, 201) H W Haussig. J M Hussey, trans. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. §REF§ The reality was that, although the state could maintain a professional army of over 100,000 soldiers, §REF§ (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) §REF§ increasingly the Byzantine state was dependent on allies for the the projection of military power. \"Emperors from the time of Basil II found it cheaper to call upon allies and dependents, such as Venice, to supply warships, than to pay for an expensive standing fleet at Constantinople.\" §REF§ (Haldon 2008, 560) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ <br>Nevertheless the Byzantine government was, in terms of sophistication, with its legion of professional officials employed on state salary, a cut-above that which was present in the western states of the middle ages. §REF§ (Haussig 1971, 54) Haussig, H W. trans Hussey, J M. 1971. History of Byzantine Civilization. Thames and Hudson. §REF§ §REF§ (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences) §REF§ The Emperor headed a complex imperial government that was led by a Mesazon (Prime minister) who had secretaries and an official called Master of Petitions who took feedback from the people. Provinces were governed by doukes (provincial governors) who had provincial administrations staffed with multiple levels of fiscal administrators. §REF§ (Haldon 2008, 550) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 4, "name": "Crete", "subregion": "Southeastern Europe", "longitude": "25.144200000000", "latitude": "35.338700000000", "capital_city": "Heraklion", "nga_code": "GR", "fao_country": "Greece", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 43, "name": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "subregions_list": "Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 31, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Byzantine Orthodox", "polity": { "id": 75, "name": "TrByzM2", "start_year": 867, "end_year": 1072, "long_name": "Byzantine Empire II", "new_name": "tr_byzantine_emp_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The phase of the Byzantine Empire from 867-1072 CE is commonly known as the Macedonian Dynasty (867-1056 CE), which the dates approximate. The Byzantine culture of the period was a military and aristocratic one with palaces serving \"not only as imperial residences but also as administrative centres. They were placed prominently in the centre of cities and surpassed all other public buildings in scale and ostentation.\" §REF§ (Bakirtzis 2008, 374) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ <br>In the previous period the Byzantines responded to the Arab conquests with the creation of themes, whose local commander governors could raise taxes, that enabled the Byzantine elites and their thematic armies to respond more rapidly to external threats with the result of less centralized control. In this era the powers of the themes were drawn back: the number of officials within the thematic administrations increased and by the end of the period the strategos, military governor, was replaced by a krites (judge). §REF§ (Cheynet 2008, 522) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ In the early eleventh century Basil II brought in a professional army directed from Constantinople called the tagmata, which lead to the disappearance of the thematic armies. §REF§ (Cheynet 2008, 521) E Jeffreys. J Haldon. R Cormack. eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. §REF§ <br>The professional Byzantine civil service and palace staff was \"relatively small, and mostly composed of humble clerks or custodians\", although there were some very rich bureaucrats and dignitaries. §REF§ (Treadgold 1997, 552) Warren Treadgold. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. Stanford. §REF§ In the 10th CE the most important official was the Grand Chamberlain, who worked in the Great Palace, and was especially influential during periods of regency or when the Emperor was on military campaign. §REF§ (Treadgold 1997, 550) Warren Treadgold. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. Stanford. §REF§ <br>A significant codification of Byzantine law occurred in this period when Leo VI (886-912 CE) in six volumes and sixty books (variously called the Exavivlos or the Vasilika (Basilika)) presented in the Greek language \"virtually all the laws in the Justinian Corpus, arranged here (as it had not been before) in a systematic manner.\" §REF§ (Gregory 2010, 253-254) Timothy E Gregory. 2010. A History of Byzantium. Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell. Chichester. §REF§ A resurgence of literature began, in the early ninth CE, after the Iconoclasm had motivated copying and reading of religious literature. Intellectuals began to receive government positions under \"iconoclast emperors\". Emperor Theophilus founded Magnaura Palace school, \"the empire's first known public school since the reign of Heraclius.\" §REF§ (Treadgold 1997, 559-561) Warren Treadgold. 1997. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press. Stanford. §REF§ <br>The peak of Byzantine military power and international prestige was under Emperor Basil II who conquered the Bulgarian Empire and continued Byzantine expansion into Syria and Armenia. §REF§ (Preiser-Kapeller 2015) Johannes Preiser-Kapeller. Institute for Medieval Research, Division of Byzantine Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-08T15:48:32.982101Z", "home_nga": { "id": 11, "name": "Konya Plain", "subregion": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "longitude": "32.521164000000", "latitude": "37.877845000000", "capital_city": "Konya", "nga_code": "TR", "fao_country": "Turkey", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 43, "name": "Anatolia-Caucasus", "subregions_list": "Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 6, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 232, "name": "EgMamBh", "start_year": 1260, "end_year": 1348, "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate I", "new_name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Mamluk Sultanate has two possible start dates: 1250 CE, when the last Ayyubid ruler in Egypt was deposed, or ten years later, once a period of disorder that included an attack from the Mongols had ended. Baybars (sultan from 1260 to 1277 CE) killed the first two Mamluk sultans after victories on the battlefield and, as a statesman and organizer, was 'the real founder of the Mamluk state'. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The sultans of the Bahri Dynasty or 'Dawlat al-Atrak' (Empire of the Turks) §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 41) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ - so-called because the rulers were of Turkish origin - oversaw a new climax of sociopolitical development, wealth and splendour in Egypt, which peaked under the reign of Sultan Nasiri §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 137) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ before plague arrived in Alexandria in 1347 CE. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ We end our early Mamluk Sultanate period in 1348 CE, a year when crisis struck Egypt.<br>The traditional chronological division of the Mamluk Sultanate into Bahri (Turkish) and Burji (Circassian) periods is not followed here because, according to the historian André Raymond, these periods 'correspond to no fundamental changes in the organization of the Mamluk state'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ We have chosen to split the sultanate in 1348 and 1412 CE instead in recognition of the crisis period following the Bahri period of prosperity. After the 'great plague epidemic' of 1348, Mamluk troops were defeated by the Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane (Timur) at the end of the 14th century, and, in 1403, the sultanate faced another political crisis and the 'disastrous reign of Faraj'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The final Burji period began in 1412 CE and, while known for 'a return to normality and periods of brilliance', was marked by demographic decline. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Since the children of mamluks could by law never become mamluks, §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 16) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ the Mamluk Sultanate was in every generation ruled by a foreign 'slave-elite' that had to be constantly replaced by new 'slave' recruits imported, educated, promoted, and manumitted specifically for the role. Manumission was essential because under Islamic law no slave could be sovereign. The sultan performed a ritual manumission at his inaugural ceremony but the legal manumission would usually have occurred when he was about 18 years old, following the mamluk training. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In the Bahri period the Mamluks were of Turkish origin (like those recruited by the last Ayyubid sultan), but later sultans recruited mostly Circassians from the Caucasus. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 112) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Mamluk recruits were employed in the central government, the military and as governors in the provinces. While promotion to the highest echelons of the government and military was 'granted according to precise rules', succession to the highest position - the Sultanate itself - was often a chaotic contest in which 'seniority, merit, cabal, intrigue, or violence' all jostled for prominence. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 113-14) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Nevertheless, the deck was stacked such that from 1290 to 1382 CE, the sultanate was inherited by 17 different descendants of Sultan Qalawun. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 114) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br>The Mamluk sultan ruled from Cairo and during his absence from the capital, Egypt was governed by his viceroy, the <i>na'ib al-saltana</i>. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 152) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The bureaucracy did not tightly control the countryside. Rather, influence was projected informally through<i> 'iqta</i> holdings (allotments of land along with the right to their tax revenue) - first used in Egypt during the preceding Ayyubid Dynasty period. These were assigned as a way to remunerate the slave soldiers of the centrally organized professional military, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 250) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ as well as more formally through the na'ib, governor of a <i>mamlaka</i> administrative district. §REF§ (Drory 2004, 169) Joseph Drory. 2004. 'Some Remarks Concerning Safed and the Organization of the Region in the Mamluk period', in <i>The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society</i>, edited by Michael Winter and Amalia Levanoni, 163-90. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ The Mamluk elite controlled the appointment of 'judges, legal administrators, professors, Sufi shaykhs, prayer leaders, and other Muslim officials. They paid the salaries of religious personnel, endowed their schools, and thus brought the religious establishment into a state bureaucracy'. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 249) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In Cairo, Islamic law was kept by three traditional magistracies called <i>qadi</i> (pl. <i>qudah</i>), whose courts had a wide remit over civil law. A law-enforcement official called the chief of the sergeant of the watch oversaw <i>wulah</i> (sg. <i>wali</i>) policemen who kept watch at night and also fought fires. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 153) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br><i>Revenue and Resources</i><br>The Bahri Dynasty was highly effective at drawing revenue. In the 14th century CE, the annual revenue was 9.5 million dinars, which was 'higher than at almost any other time since the Arab conquest'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ This paid for the Al-Barid postal system initiated by Baybars (1260‒1277 CE), which was extremely expensive to set up. Horses were used for first time on routes such as Cairo to Qus in Upper Egypt; and Cairo to Alexandria, Damietta and Syria. §REF§ (Silverstein 2007, 173) A. J. Silverstein. 2007. <i>Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The Syrian region of the Mamluk Sultanate was run by a chief governor, who had governors below him. §REF§ (Drory 2004, 169) Joseph Drory. 2004. 'Some Remarks Concerning Safed and the Organization of the Region in the Mamluk period', in <i>The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society</i>, edited by Michael Winter and Amalia Levanoni, 163-90. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ Imperial communications via Palestine were reportedly so efficient that 'Baybars boasted that he could play polo in Cairo and Damascus in the same week, while an even more rapid carrier-pigeon post was maintained between the two cities'. §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 17) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Mamluk rulers continued the tradition of dedicating much effort and resources to what might be termed public works projects, for which they largely used corvée labour. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 152) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death In The Middle East</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In addition to a permanent medical staff, lecture halls and laboratories, a hospital established by Sultan Qalaun (1279‒1290 CE) included a library stocked with books on medicine, theology and law. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 177) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death In The Middle East</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ The Mamluks followed Ayyubid precedents when they embarked on an 'intense period of construction' in the first century of their rule, with building projects initiated by governors, generals, generals, rich merchants and judges. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 248) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ André Raymond has identified 54 mosques and madrasas built in the 1293‒1340 CE period alone. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 120) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The Mamluks also built many 'tombs for venerated Muslim ancestors and for deceased rulers'. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 249) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>Private wealth was extensive at this time and the Karimi merchant and banking families operated fleets and agencies from China to Africa. §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 19) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Cairo's population was probably under 200,000 in the mid-14th century (only Constantinople could claim a great population in Western Eurasia), §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 136-37) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ and the sultanate as a whole reached about 6-7 million people. §REF§ (McEvedy and Jones, 1978, 138-47, 227) Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. 1978. <i>Atlas of World Population History</i>. London: Allen Lane. §REF§ This would have fluctuated, however, as severe bouts of famine struck Egypt in 1284, 1295, 1296 and 1335 CE. §REF§ (Nicolle 2014, 11-12) David Nicolle. 2014. <i>Mamluk 'Askari 1250-1517</i>. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 7, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 239, "name": "EgMamBu", "start_year": 1412, "end_year": 1517, "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate III", "new_name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_3", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "During the Burji period of the Mamluk Sultanate, Egypt was ruled by an elite 'slave' military caste of Circassian origin. These rulers had replaced the earlier Bahri Dynasty, of Turkish origin, in 1382 CE during the preceding 'crisis phase'. With the assassination of Sultan Faraj in 1412 CE, Mamluk Egypt entered a 'relative recovery' with 'periods of brilliance', although problems such as demographic stagnation did not disappear. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The most renowned of the rulers were the Sultans Barsbay and Qaytbay, but they did little to prevent the deterioration of the Mamluk institutions and the economic collapse and disorder that preceded the Ottoman takeover. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 165) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ We begin our Burji Mamluk period in 1412 and end it with the fall of the dynasty to Ottoman forces in 1517. §REF§ (Winter 1992, xiii) Michael Winter. 1992. <i>Egyptian Society under Ottoman Rule, 1517‒1798</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Since the children of mamluks could by law never become mamluks, §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 16) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ the Mamluk Sultanate was in every generation ruled by a foreign 'slave-elite' that had to be constantly replaced by new 'slave' recruits imported, educated, promoted, and manumitted specifically for the role. Manumission was essential because under Islamic law no slave could be sovereign. The sultan performed a ritual manumission at his inaugural ceremony but the legal manumission would usually have occurred when he was about 18 years old, following the mamluk training. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In the Bahri period the Mamluks were of Turkish origin (like those recruited by the last Ayyubid sultan), but later sultans recruited mostly Circassians from the Caucasus. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 112) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Mamluk recruits were employed in the central government, the military and as governors in the provinces. While promotion to the highest echelons of the government and military was 'granted according to precise rules', succession to the highest position - the Sultanate itself - was often a chaotic contest in which 'seniority, merit, cabal, intrigue, or violence' all jostled for prominence. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 113-14) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Nevertheless, the deck was stacked such that from 1290 to 1382 CE, the sultanate was inherited by 17 different descendants of Sultan Qalawun. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 114) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br>The Mamluk sultan ruled from Cairo and during his absence from the capital, Egypt was governed by his viceroy, the <i>na'ib al-saltana</i>. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 152) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The bureaucracy did not tightly control the countryside. Rather, influence was projected informally through<i> 'iqta</i> holdings (allotments of land along with the right to their tax revenue) - first used in Egypt during the preceding Ayyubid Dynasty period. These were assigned as a way to remunerate the slave soldiers of the centrally organized professional military, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 250) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ as well as more formally through the na'ib, governor of a <i>mamlaka</i> administrative district. §REF§ (Drory 2004, 169) Joseph Drory. 2004. 'Some Remarks Concerning Safed and the Organization of the Region in the Mamluk period', in <i>The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society</i>, edited by Michael Winter and Amalia Levanoni, 163-90. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ The Mamluk elite controlled the appointment of 'judges, legal administrators, professors, Sufi shaykhs, prayer leaders, and other Muslim officials. They paid the salaries of religious personnel, endowed their schools, and thus brought the religious establishment into a state bureaucracy'. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 249) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In Cairo, Islamic law was kept by three traditional magistracies called <i>qadi</i> (pl. <i>qudah</i>), whose courts had a wide remit over civil law. A law-enforcement official called the chief of the sergeant of the watch oversaw <i>wulah</i> (sg. <i>wali</i>) policemen who kept watch at night and also fought fires. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 153) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br>Although struck by plague and famines during the crisis period, Cairo was never short of people: a lower-bound estimate of its resident population places it at about 150,000 people. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 152) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The population of the sultanate perhaps recovered slightly in this period, reaching about 6 million in 1500 CE. §REF§ (McEvedy and Jones, 1978, 138-47, 227) Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. 1978. <i>Atlas of World Population History</i>. London: Allen Lane. §REF§ <br><i>Infrastructure and Public Services</i><br>Like previous Mamluk rulers, the Burji Sultans expended considerable resources on public works projects - both directly and indirectly via patronage. They built and restored schools, hostels, bathhouses and mosques, and, under Sultan Qayt Bey (reigned 1468‒1496) in particular, arts and architecture flourished. §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 21) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The El Muayyad Mosque (1420 CE), the Mosque of Barsbay (1425 CE), §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 173-74) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ and the mausoleum complex of Sultan Qaitbay (1468‒1496 CE) all date from this period. Cairo also had a water supply system, paid for by its users, that conducted water from the Nile to the city's streets and houses. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 154) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <i>Waqf</i> (religious foundations) were set up through initial endowments in property with the intention that they would become self-funding. Many public baths, caravanserais and shops were built by charitable and religious foundations, §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 174) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ often in combination with initial patronage from the sultan or other Mamluk aristocrats. Sultan Qaytbay built many <i>urbu</i> (multi-storey apartments) and used the revenues to fund a charitable foundation for the inhabitants of Medina. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 174) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ However, despite the continued financing of elaborate construction projects, increasingly the government could not afford the upkeep of essential infrastructure such as canals, dams and irrigation systems. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>These public works were matched by lavish private buildings for the sultan and his retainers. Sultan Ghuri notably built an ornate palace and garden, with soil and trees imported from Syria and an aqueduct to water it. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 180) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Mamluks treated themselves and foreign dignitaries to entertainment in hippodromes and to polo tournaments on the <i>maydan</i> (public square). §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 112) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ In the royal pavilion (<i>maqad</i>), 'incense burned and wine flowed, while musicians played and poets recited to a court society clad in silk and sprinkled with rosewater, the beards of its male luminaries perfumed with the musk of civet'. §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 21, 24) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 23, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 289, "name": "KgKarKh", "start_year": 950, "end_year": 1212, "long_name": "Kara-Khanids", "new_name": "kg_kara_khanid_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Karakhanids were a Buddhist nomadic tribe from Kashgar who converted to Islam sometime in the 950s CE §REF§ (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton. §REF§ After their conversion, the Karakhanids \"accepted the nominal authority of the Abbasid caliphs and directly or indirectly promoted the spread of Islam among the populace of Transoxania, Kashgar, and the Tarim basin.\" §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 230) Lapidus, Ira M. 2012. Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. §REF§ <br>Starr (2013) describes their polity as \"no state at all but a loose confederation of appendages, the ruling houses of which were linked by blood ties.\" §REF§ (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton. §REF§ In the mid-11th century the state was formally divided into two separate Khanates, with Western and Eastern halves. §REF§ (Davidovich 1997, 144-145) Davidovich, E A. in Asimov, M S and Bosworth, C E eds. 1997. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part I. UNESCO. §REF§ <br>Despite the decentralized system of government being the dominant characteristic of the Karakhanid Khanate, literature suggests there may have been a central government with a vizier §REF§ (Starr 2013) Starr, S. Frederick. 2013. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. Princeton. §REF§ , and during the reign of Ibrahim in the mid-11th century \"a single system of coinage with different denominations circulated throughout the Western Karakhanid Khanate, creating good, stable market conditions.\" §REF§ (Davidovich 1997, 136) Davidovich, E A. in Asimov, M S and Bosworth, C E eds. 1997. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part I. UNESCO. §REF§ <br>Never entirely an independent polity, after the regress of the Abbasid Caliphate the Western Karakhanids became \"dependent on the Seljuqs\" who \"placed on the Karakhanid throne in Samarkand whichever members of the dynasty they required. The vassal status of the Western Karakhanids is also reflected in the coinage, some of which bears the names of Seljuq sultans.\" §REF§ (Davidovich 1997, 138) Davidovich, E A. in Asimov, M S and Bosworth, C E eds. 1997. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part I. UNESCO. §REF§ <br>Central Asia is considered to have reached its 'golden age' in its civilizational achivement during the Karakhanid period. Davidovich describes the complexity of life in its populous cities, which may have exceeded 300,000 inhabitants:<br>\"To the best of our knowledge, strenuous efforts were made to keep the towns clean. It was forbidden to throw rubbish into the streets and alleyways, which were considered to be public property. Deep wells for rubbish and sewage, covered by earthenware or wooden lids, were provided in private courtyards as well as in public places, houses and palaces, according to the archaeological evidence. Archaeologists have discovered ceramic water pipes and segments of paved streets and courtyards dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Blown window glass was also in use at the time.\" §REF§ (Davidovich 1997, 148) Davidovich, E A. in Asimov, M S and Bosworth, C E eds. 1997. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume IV. Part I. UNESCO. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 23, "name": "Sogdiana", "subregion": "Turkestan", "longitude": "66.938170000000", "latitude": "39.631284000000", "capital_city": "Samarkand", "nga_code": "UZ", "fao_country": "Uzbekistan", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 13, "name": "Turkestan", "subregions_list": "Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 2, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 134, "name": "AfGhurd", "start_year": 1025, "end_year": 1215, "long_name": "Ghur Principality", "new_name": "af_ghur_principality", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Ghurids were an Islamic Turkish dynasty that ruled the Persian Principality of Ghur between 1025-1215 CE. The peak of their power occurred with their defeat of the Ghaznavid Empire in 1186 CE. For the majority of its existence the Ghurid rulers were in a state of vassalage of the Ghaznavids and the sultans of the Seljuk Turks, to whom they sent tribute. §REF§ (Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a> §REF§ <br>While \"the early history of the Sansabani family had been full of feuds and disputes\" the successful rebellion against the Ghaznavids resulted in a legacy of at least a degree of cooperation. §REF§ (Bosworth 2012) Edmund C Bosworth. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a> §REF§ Bosworth (2012) talks of a polity with two power-bases: one at the newly-acquired Firuzkuh, at Gazna; the other at Bamian. §REF§ (Bosworth 2012) Edmund C Bosworth. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a> §REF§ <br>When Mo'ezz-al-Din, conquered Gazna he took the title of sultan. §REF§ (Bosworth 2012) Edmund C Bosworth. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a> §REF§ Government was based on the Persian model with a professional vizier who oversaw civil affairs. We also know of a treasurer (khazin), an overseer of public morality and inspector of the markets (muhtasib), and qadis who enforced the Shari'a law. §REF§ (Jackson 2003, 25) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>Literary and artistic activities under the Ghurids were Persian in style and literature was sponsored by Ghurid sultans. §REF§ (Bosworth 2012) Bosworth, Edmund C. 2012. GHURIDS. Encyclopaedia Iranica. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids</a> §REF§ One of the major cultural achievements of the Ghurid period was the building of the double-helical Minaret of Jam c1190 CE.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T16:25:02.654099Z", "home_nga": { "id": 13, "name": "Kachi Plain", "subregion": "Indo-Gangetic Plain", "longitude": "67.628836000000", "latitude": "29.377664000000", "capital_city": "Mehrgarh", "nga_code": "PK", "fao_country": "Pakistan", "world_region": "South Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 8, "name": "Afghanistan", "subregions_list": "Afghanistan", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 15, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 484, "name": "IqAbbs2", "start_year": 1191, "end_year": 1258, "long_name": "Abbasid Caliphate II", "new_name": "iq_abbasid_cal_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Second Abbasid Period (1191-1258 CE) was mostly remarkable for the city of Baghdad which is usually estimated to have had about 1 million inhabitants at the time of the Mongol sack in 1258 CE.<br>With the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 CE \"the culture, science and learning for which Baghdad had been known for centuries simply disappeared in a period of a week.\" §REF§ (DeVries 2014, 209) Kelly DeVries in Morton, N. John, S. eds. 2014. Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. §REF§ The city was defended by a garrison of just 10,000 soldiers. §REF§ (DeVries 2014, 207) Kelly DeVries in Morton, N. John, S. eds. 2014. Crusading and Warfare in the Middle Ages: Realities and Representations. Essays in Honour of John France. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. §REF§ <br>In 1200 CE the Abbasids held Iraq and part of western Iran south of the Caspian, the territories holding perhaps 3.9 million inhabitants. The governance system was still Perso-Islamic with a vizier chief bureaucrat who oversaw government departments. §REF§ (Shaw 1976, 5) Stanford J Shaw. 1976. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 1, Empire of the Gazis: The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280-1808. Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The reign of al-Nasir (1180-1225 CE) was notable for being absolutely repressive \"the caliph's spies were so efficient and the caliph himself so ruthless that a man hardly dared to speak to his own wife in the privacy of his home.\" §REF§ (Bray 2015, xxi) Shawkat M Toorawa ed. 2015. Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. NYU Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 8, "name": "Southern Mesopotamia", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "44.420000000000", "latitude": "32.470000000000", "capital_city": "Babylon (Hillah)", "nga_code": "IQ", "fao_country": "Iraq", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 62, "name": "Mesopotamia", "subregions_list": "Iraq, Kuwait", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 8, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "religion", "religion": "Hanafi", "polity": { "id": 236, "name": "EgMamCP", "start_year": 1348, "end_year": 1412, "long_name": "Egypt - Mamluk Sultanate II", "new_name": "eg_mamluk_sultanate_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Between 1348 and 1412 CE, a 'great crisis' struck Mamluk Egypt and Syria under the Bahri Dynasty sultan, precipitating the rise of the Burji (Circassian) Dynasty from 1382 CE. Instead of the traditional chronological division of the Mamluk Sultanate into two dynasties, we have therefore included a crisis period encapsulating the end of the Bahri and beginning of the Burji periods. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Indeed, the crisis period persisted until the assassination of Sultan Faraj in Damascus in 1412 CE. In addition to the plague of 1348 CE, which for many Egyptians brought a period of spectacular prosperity to an end, other natural disasters in this period included an abnormally high Nile flood in 1354, famine in 1375, the return of the plague between 1379 and 1381, a low Nile flood and grain shortage in 1394 and again in 1403 CE, followed by yet another famine between 1403 and 1404 CE. In the midst of these environmental crises, and perhaps sparked by them, the region also experienced civil war in 1389 CE, §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116-17, 138-46) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ effectively ending the period of Turkish rule in Egypt.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Since the children of mamluks could by law never become mamluks, §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 16) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ the Mamluk Sultanate was in every generation ruled by a foreign 'slave-elite' that had to be constantly replaced by new 'slave' recruits imported, educated, promoted, and manumitted specifically for the role. Manumission was essential because under Islamic law no slave could be sovereign. The sultan performed a ritual manumission at his inaugural ceremony but the legal manumission would usually have occurred when he was about 18 years old, following the mamluk training. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In the Bahri period the Mamluks were of Turkish origin (like those recruited by the last Ayyubid sultan), but later sultans recruited mostly Circassians from the Caucasus. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 112) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Mamluk recruits were employed in the central government, the military and as governors in the provinces. While promotion to the highest echelons of the government and military was 'granted according to precise rules', succession to the highest position - the Sultanate itself - was often a chaotic contest in which 'seniority, merit, cabal, intrigue, or violence' all jostled for prominence. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 113-14) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Nevertheless, the deck was stacked such that from 1290 to 1382 CE, the sultanate was inherited by 17 different descendants of Sultan Qalawun. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 114) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br>The Mamluk sultan ruled from Cairo and during his absence from the capital, Egypt was governed by his viceroy, the <i>na'ib al-saltana</i>. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 152) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The bureaucracy did not tightly control the countryside. Rather, influence was projected informally through<i> 'iqta</i> holdings (allotments of land along with the right to their tax revenue) - first used in Egypt during the preceding Ayyubid Dynasty period. These were assigned as a way to remunerate the slave soldiers of the centrally organized professional military, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 250) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ as well as more formally through the na'ib, governor of a <i>mamlaka</i> administrative district. §REF§ (Drory 2004, 169) Joseph Drory. 2004. 'Some Remarks Concerning Safed and the Organization of the Region in the Mamluk period', in <i>The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society</i>, edited by Michael Winter and Amalia Levanoni, 163-90. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ The Mamluk elite controlled the appointment of 'judges, legal administrators, professors, Sufi shaykhs, prayer leaders, and other Muslim officials. They paid the salaries of religious personnel, endowed their schools, and thus brought the religious establishment into a state bureaucracy'. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 249) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In Cairo, Islamic law was kept by three traditional magistracies called <i>qadi</i> (pl. <i>qudah</i>), whose courts had a wide remit over civil law. A law-enforcement official called the chief of the sergeant of the watch oversaw <i>wulah</i> (sg. <i>wali</i>) policemen who kept watch at night and also fought fires. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 153) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ <br><i>Revenue and Public Services</i><br>The Bahri Dynasty was highly effective at drawing revenue. In the 14th century CE, the annual revenue was 9.5 million dinars, which was 'higher than at almost any other time since the Arab conquest'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 116) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ This paid for the Al-Barid postal system initiated by Baybars (1260‒1277 CE), which was extremely expensive to set up. Horses were used for first time on routes such as Cairo to Qus in Upper Egypt; and Cairo to Alexandria, Damietta and Syria. §REF§ (Silverstein 2007, 173) A. J. Silverstein. 2007. <i>Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The Syrian region of the Mamluk Sultanate was run by a chief governor, who had governors below him. §REF§ (Drory 2004, 169) Joseph Drory. 2004. 'Some Remarks Concerning Safed and the Organization of the Region in the Mamluk period', in <i>The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society</i>, edited by Michael Winter and Amalia Levanoni, 163-90. Leiden: Brill. §REF§ Imperial communications via Palestine were reportedly so efficient that 'Baybars boasted that he could play polo in Cairo and Damascus in the same week, while an even more rapid carrier-pigeon post was maintained between the two cities'. §REF§ (Oliver and Atmore 2001, 17) Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore. 2001. <i>Medieval Africa, 1250-1800</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Black Death reached Alexandria in Egypt, probably from the Crimea, in the autumn of 1347 CE before slowly spreading throughout northern Egypt in 1348 and peaking in the autumn and winter of that year. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 154-55) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death In The Middle East</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ As a result of the epidemic, the Egyptian population, previously between 4.2 and 8 million, 'may have declined by about one-quarter to one-third' by the mid- to late 14th century. §REF§ (Dols 1977, 218) M. W. Dols. 1977. <i>The Black Death In The Middle East</i>. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. §REF§ The total population of the sultanate fell from perhaps 6-7 million to 4.8 million during this period. §REF§ (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 227) Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones. 1978. <i>Atlas of World Population History.</i> London: Allen Lane. §REF§ <br>The troubled times did little to prevent the Mamluk ruling class from carrying out extravagant construction projects, for which they mostly used corvée labour. §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Between 1341 and 1412 CE, 49 mosques were built in the southern zone of Cairo. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 145) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ One of them was the 'gigantic' Sultan Hasan Mosque (built 1356‒1361 CE), which cost an astonishing 20 million dirhams and has been called 'one of the most remarkable monuments of the Islamic world'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 141) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ Sultan Sha'ban Mosque, built in 1375 but destroyed in 1411, may have been comparable. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 144) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The Mamluk-period mosques added to a city already studded with public baths, §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 65) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ caravanserais, §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 65) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ libraries, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 248) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ madrasas §REF§ (Hrbek 1977, 39-67) Ivan Hrbek. 1977. 'Egypt, Nubia and the Eastern Deserts', in <i>The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3: From c. 1050 to c. 1600</i>, edited by Roland Oliver, 10-97. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ and hospitals. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 52) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 5, "name": "Upper Egypt", "subregion": "Northeastern Africa", "longitude": "32.714706000000", "latitude": "25.725715000000", "capital_city": "Luxor", "nga_code": "EG", "fao_country": "Egypt", "world_region": "Africa" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 4, "name": "Northeast Africa", "subregions_list": "Egypt and Sudan (the Nile Basin)", "mac_region": { "id": 2, "name": "Africa" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }