The other Mongol kingdom of that period was that of Chingīz Khān’s dynasty. Their king was the Khan of the ‘Golden Horde’, Altin Ordu, whose rule extended over Siberia and the southern part of Russia. The two Mongol kings were long-standing rivals. The King of the ‘Golden Horde’ offered the hand of friendship to the Sultan of Egypt so that he might be an ally against their enemy of the Hūlāgū dynasty.11
During the Mamluk rule, Armenia was repeatedly attacked by Egyptian troops who captured many Armenian fortresses. The Armenians agreed a compromise on the payment of jizyah to the Egyptian Sultan, but very soon reneged and helped the Mongols against the Sultan. Ultimately, the Armenians were defeated and consented to pay taxes.12
Political relations between the Sultan of Egypt and most of the European kings were good. The court of Nāsịr developed into a place which diplomats and ambassadors from different countries visited frequently with presents and letters from their kings and rulers. The European kings and bishops, disappointed after their crusades, offered Nāṣir friendship, requesting him to treat Christians with generosity and make various concessions to them. Pope John XXII sent a letter to Nāṣir in 1327, asking him to treat the Christians of the East with benevolence and care. Nāṣir agreed to his request.13
A similar letter was sent in the same year by Charles IV (1322–28), the King of France, about the welfare of the Christians residing in his sultanate.14
A treaty was concluded between the Emperor of Constantinople and Sultan Nāṣir to defend their territories from the Ottoman Turks who were an ever-growing menace at that time in Asia Minor.15
In the first years of Mamluk rule, the danger of Christian and Mongol invasion threatened the stability and safety of their kingdom. But after defeating their enemies in many battles, the Mamluks were able to establish a strong kingdom and turn their attention to more constructive tasks.
2. Administration in Egypt and Syria under the Mamluks
The Sultan as head of state was assisted by different Nā’ib al-Salṭanah or viceroys, below whom was the vizier, a traditional post, inherited from the Abbasid caliphate. This post lost its importance in the Mamluk period, the vizier’s duties consisting, for all practical purposes, in executing the orders of the Sultan and his nā’ibs. Indeed, in 1327, Sultan Nāṣir abolished the post, though it was re-established by his successor in 1343.16 Among the high ranking officials, there were a number of governors. Egypt was divided into different provinces and each province was looked after by a wālī or governor (pi. wulāt), the most important such official being the wālī of Cairo. Only Alexandria, due to its strategic importance, was governed by a nā’ib al-salṭanah.17
Syria was divided into seven provinces, namely, Aleppo, Hamah, Damascus, Safad, Kark, Gaza and Tripoli, each with a nā’ib al-salṭanah. The nā’ib of Damascus was so important that he was sometimes called nā’ib al-Shām, i.e. the viceroy of Syria.18
(a) The army
The army had a very important role in this age. The regular force was divided into three categories: (a) the Royal Mamlūks, who were freedmen of the reigning sultan or of his predecessor; (b) the Amir’s Mamlūks; (c) Ajnād al-Ḥalqah – a corps of free, i.e. non-Mamluk, cavalry. The strength of the army in the whole Mamluk kingdom was as follows: the Royal Mamluks 10,000; the Amir’s Mamluks 8,000; Ajnād al-Ḥalqah 24,000.19
Apart from this regular force, there were auxiliary troops of natives, e.g. Turkoman and Kurdish shepherds; Bedouin tribes; Syrio-Palestinian and Lebanese tribes.20
(b) Justice
The Mamluk sultans paid great attention to the institution of justice, and organized it in many departments. There were public courts to which four qāḍīs (judges) were appointed, representing the four schools of jurisprudence. All civil and criminal cases where witnesses were needed were dealt with in these courts. A similar structure existed in most Muslim states of the time.
For the army, there were separate qāḍīs or quḍāt al-‘askar (judges of army). They dealt with cases within the army and with those between the military and civilian sectors.
There was another court, the maḥkamah al-maẓālim or court for grievances, where the Sultan himself presided. Its principal function seems to have been that of a court of appeal, but disputes between officials and public were also decided in this court. Court sessions were held every Monday and Thursday, all four qāḍīs being present to assist the Sultan.21 Nāṣir began this practice, and himself conducted the open sessions.22
Petty disputes were mostly decided by the muḥtasib (inspector-general), especially cases of a very urgent nature and where not much investigation was needed.23 A basic difference between the roles of qāḍī and muḥtasib was that the former issued a decree when a person filed suit in his court, whereas the muḥtasib or his assistant patrolled the streets and took note of any objectionable incident, which he usually decided on the spot.
(c) Internal political condition
The general internal state of the Mamluk Sultanate was one of instability. This had been brought about by the Mongol invasion, which had led to a sort of anarchy, and the many changes of sultan. Since there was no accepted rule or system of succession, after the death of every sultan a number of ambitious Mamluks and Amirs struggled for power and new disturbances took place.24 Only Baibars, Qalāwūn and, during his rule from 1309 to 1341 Nāṣir, were able to provide stable governments. Mainly for this reason their reigns witnessed academic and economic progress.
The Mamluk society was stratified into many classes: first, there were the Mamluks themselves who now assumed that they were born to rule and whose chief preoccupation was government and wars. They looked with contempt upon those who worked the land and hardly mixed with them, always preferring to marry in their own social class. There was thus a gulf between the rulers and the rest.
Besides the Mamluks, there was another class of people called ahl al-‘imāmah or ‘turban men’, employed in different offices, like secretaries, jurists, ‘ulamā’ and men of letters. This group provided the link between the ruling Mamluks and their subjects. The Mamluks respected the ‘ulamā’, since they learned religion from them, and sometimes they feared them because of their influence with the public.25 These ‘ulamā’ were never sparing of their criticism when they saw a breach of clear religious injunction.26
The third class was that of traders and merchants. Due to intense trading activity in this period, these were very rich, though at the same time a prey to different taxes and also, sometimes, to confiscation.
Apart from these upper classes, all large towns of the period had many labourers, craftsmen, small shopkeepers, and poor people. The fallāḥīn (farmers or landtillers) were in the majority, but their condition was the worst, as they were subject to multiple taxes.27 A collective tax imposed on a village irrespective of income level, was called by Ibn Taimīyah al-maẓālim al-mushtarakah, i.e. joint or common injustice.28
(a) Guilds29
Generally, craftsmen of one and the same trade lived in the same quarters: in Cairo, there were many quarters occupied by particular groups of craftsmen.30 But there were