The Chronicle of Baybars al-Manṣūrī al-Nāṣirī ‘Zubda(t) al-Fikra(t) fī Tārīkh al-Hijra(t)’ in the Studies of the Mamluk State in Egypt in the Early Bahri Period

Research Article

Abstract

The article deals with the place and role of the ‘Zubda(t) al-Fikra(t) fī Tārīkh al-Hijra(t)’ by Baybars al-Manṣūrī (d. in 1325) in the contemporary Mamluk studies, as well as with posssibilty of its wider implementation in Middle East studies. The author of this Chronicle was a prominent amīr and official in the early Bahri period. Despite the importance of the Chronicle in deep understanding of the early Mamluk history, the political development of the Mamluk state, and the transformation of its political institutions under the influence of the Turk legacy of the first Mamluk elite, this source was published according to academic standards relatively late, only in 1998 by Donald Richards. After that, ‘Zubda(t)...’ is commonly cited in almost all academic works devoted to the Bahri period. The article considers the history of academic research on the source, various approaches to its significance, as well as possible implementation in studies beyond the Mamluks state, particularly for studying the history of the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate. The article summarizes the importance of ‘Zubda(t)...’ because of the following considerations: a) it is still insufficiently studied and brings new information into the Mamluk studies; b) Baybars al-Manṣūrī is a very rare example of a member of the highest military and political elites who composed a full historic chronicle. Moreover, he personally participated in many events which are mentioned in his work; c) During to his Turk (presumably Kipchak) origin, Baybars al-Manṣūrī was aware of traditional Turk political and social institutes and made a special emphasis on these elements, while they were unclear and of less importance for later Mamluk authors; d) The Chronicle covers a relatively long period of time (1252-1307 AD), which allows making statistic observations and calculations, as well as to trace the evolution of main political and social institutes within the early Bahri period.