The Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261-1517): History and Tradition in the Mamluk Court

553 Pages·2015·4.55 MB·English

The Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261-1517):
History and Tradition in the Mamluk Court

by

Mustafa Banister

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto

© Copyright by Mustafa Banister (2015)
The Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261-1517):
History and Tradition in the Mamluk Court

Mustafa Banister

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations

University of Toronto

2015

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the two-and-a-half century evolution of Islam’s
most prominent leadership institution, the Abbasid caliphate, after its restoration in Cairo
following the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258. Kept under the supervision of the
Mamluk sultans of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), modern scholars tend to conclude that
this so-called Abbasid “shadow” caliphate merely legitimized Mamluk rulers and little
else within their society. Despite having shed much of its original power by the Mamluk
period, the Abbasid caliphate of Cairo retained a definite measure of religious authority
and enjoyed the reverence of significant sectors of the Cairene population including
religious scholars, chroniclers, chancery scribes, poets, travelers, and, it seems, enjoyed
even wider resonance among the masses of the local Muslim citizenry.
A dynastic study of the Cairo Abbasids combined with analysis of contemporary
opinions of the caliphate and its Mamluk sponsors rendered from juristic writing, advice
literature, historiography, bureaucratic literature, and administrative documents allows
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the present study to move toward a comprehensive delineation of the significance of the
revived office to the society in which it functioned. Although the caliphs as individuals
were largely disposable and powerless, the office they held retained importance
throughout the Mamluk period and contributed to larger civilizational understandings of
“Caliphate” that allowed the inclusion of the Mamluk regime and its various
administrative subdivisions.

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Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you -- they
are actually pledging allegiance to God. The hand of
God is over their hands. So he who breaks his word
only breaks it to the detriment of himself. And he who
fulfills that which he has promised God – will receive
a great reward.

(Qur’ān 48:10)

“Know that faith and knowledge accompany the caliphate, wherever it may be.”

–Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 1505)

The likes of me live by dying, and in passing on, attain their desires. For [the Mamluks]
is a succulent life, while I am left to merry speech. They are the possessors of outright
kingship, while “for Sulaymān is the wind.”

-Words attributed to the third Abbasid caliph of Cairo,
Sulaymān al-Mustakfī billāh (d. 1340)

There are no more virtuous people, or even good people, left to be sought after;
nor is there a generous person remaining to whom I can convey my melancholy.

People of no lineage have become the masters
and I am forlorn for having lived to see these days.

-Verses attributed to the last Abbasid caliph of Cairo,
al-Mutawakkil ‘alā ’llāh III (d. 1543)

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When modern man ceased to accord first place to religion in his own concerns, he
also ceased to believe that other men, in other times, could ever truly have done
so, and so he began to re-examine the great religious movements of the past in
search of interest and motives acceptable to modern minds.

-Bernard Lewis, The Assassins, 136.

For my family

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Acknowledgements

Al-ḥamdu li-llāh.
I owe a great deal of thanks to the many people who have helped me on my long
academic journey.
I am very grateful to my teacher, advisor, and number-one advocate, Professor Linda S.
Northrup, whose caring counsel and guidance over the years (on matters inside and outside
academia) have helped and hit home like a third parent, and whose reputation for thoroughness
and diligence as a scholar I have tried to emulate in my own work. Professor Northrup’s three
graduate seminars on Mamluk historiography, biographical dictionaries, and Arabic legal
documents comprised an integral part of my professional training and my subsequent research
would not have been possible without the tools and organized exposure to Mamluk sources I
acquired in those courses. Without fail, over the course of my research, I found that whenever I
left Professor Northrup’s office, I always felt reinvigorated with fresh excitement for my project.
I would also like to thank the other members of my thesis advisory committee, Maria E.
Subtelny and Victor Ostapchuk, both of the University of Toronto, for their enthusiasm as well as
their tireless generosity with regard to time, resources, and ideas.
Professor Ostapchuk’s course on Ottoman history afforded me the opportunity to explore
the Arabic sources and secondary scholarship on the Ottoman conquest of Syria and Egypt and its
ramifications for the Mamluks and the caliphate of Cairo. I am especially grateful to Professor
Ostapchuk for the time he spent helping me read passages of Ottoman Turkish.
Professor Subtelny graciously allowed me to sit in on a number of her courses and
graduate seminars in Persian historiography and the history of Iran which I benefitted from
immensely. She also opened her personal library to me and regularly allowed me to borrow books
and articles. As a member of my advisory committee, Professor Subtelny’s suggestions for
further reading and exploration always yielded excellent results.
I am equally thankful to Professor Walid Saleh of the University of Toronto who served
as the internal reader for my thesis. Professor Saleh has been a great source of encouragement
with his enthusiasm for the project.
I was delighted to have Professor Frédéric Bauden of the University of Liège come
aboard as an external reader and examiner for my thesis. His comments and questions during the
defense have helped me with some of the fine tuning, opened some new areas of inquiry and also
helped plot the way forward with my study of the Cairo caliphs. I have benefitted greatly from his
expertise in the field, and from his interest in my topic of study.
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I also owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Sebastian Günther of the University of
Göttingen who participated in my coursework and comprehensive exams and, even after his
departure from the University of Toronto, continued to provide me with useful advice and
contacts.
Thanks are due to my M. A. supervisor at the University of Chicago from 2004 to 2006,
Professor John E. Woods, who first introduced me to the vibrant world of medieval Islam and to
the possibilities of studying an Abbasid “shadow” caliphate under Mamluk protection. Professor
Woods also kindly allowed me to read some of his unpublished work and translations which I
found very useful. During my time at Chicago I also enrolled in a graduate seminar on Mamluk
Studies at the Joseph Regenstein library under the instruction of Dr. Bruce D. Craig, which
officially “converted” me from a bemused history major into a young Mamlukist and helped open
many of the doors which led me to Toronto.
I also wish to thank Stephen Humphreys, Mona Hassan, Lisa Golombek, Richard
McGregor, Nahyan Fancy, Ovamir Anjum, Abdel-Khalig Ali, Mohammad Fadel, Thomas
Herzog, Paul Cobb, David Nicolle, Jo Van Steenbergen, Malika Dekkiche, Thomas Bauer,
Yossef Rapoport, Richard Bulliet, and Elliott Bazzano for valuable comments, suggestions, and
in some cases, kindly sharing their own research and findings.
I wish to thank my colleague Noha Abou-Khatwa for sharing her encyclopedic
knowledge of medieval Cairene topography and for always humoring my many questions with
kindness and keen interest.
My thanks also go to the University of Toronto’s Middle East librarian, Mr. Blair Kuntz,
who has been a wonderful friend, employer, and acquirer of Arabic resources these last five
years. I would also like to thank Lyle, Anne Marie, and the amazing and indefatigable staff at the
University of Toronto Libraries Inter-Library Loan program that never failed to quickly and
cheerfully provide me with hard-to-find books in several languages.
I am deeply indebted to the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Department graduate
student coordinator and administrator par excellence, Mrs. Anna Sousa, who, true to her word,
from day one, guided me through the degree requirements process “from A to Z” with sincere
thoughtfulness and tremendous grace. Other members of the NMC faculty also provided a great
deal of administrative assistance along the way, and I thank them: Professors Timothy Harrison
and Alain Bealieu, as well as Jennie Jones, Maria Vivona, Megan Tate, Sandra Bremner, and
Grace Ramirez.
Heartfelt thanks are also due to my graduate student colleagues in the NMC Department
at the University of Toronto for their advice, help, suggestions, and the collective ‘aṣabiyya we
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shared over the years: Adam Ali, Shabir Ally, Mohammadreza Ardehali, Nasrin Askari, Amar
Baadj, Omid Ghaemmaghami, Usman Hamid, Oscar Jarzmik, Lale Javanshir, Joo-Yup Lee, Chad
Lingwood, Maryam Moazzen, Abolfazl Moshiri, Arshavez Mozafari, Sajjad Nejatie, Fadi
Ragheb, Ali Murtaza Rashdi, Hamid Rezaeiyazdi, Hicham Safieddine, Halil Simsek, Kris
Wawrzyniak, Murat Yasar, and Parisa Zahiremami. I wish them all the very best in their
professional and personal lives.
I would also like to thank my colleagues outside the department who aided the process in
their own way: Daniel Brielmeier, Eileen Kim, Christian Knudsen, Adil Mawani, Behnam
Nowruzi-Kia, Arthur David Owen, Amin Azad Sadr, Rubina Salikuddin, Ibrahim Shakoor, and
Bogdan Smarandache.
And of course, it is most difficult to find sufficient words to thank one’s family who are
deserving of the greatest thanks there is. My grandparents, who joyfully witnessed me enter the
doctoral program, but did not live to see me complete it: Dr. Rahman Syed, Dr. Afzalunissa
Syeda, and Ken Banister. My wonderful parents, who provided love and support in every way
imaginable: Suhail and Noor Banister, my sister Aliyah, and my cousin Jennifer Banister. I am
immensely thankful to the Yacoub clan of Brampton who adopted me as their mawla, took me in
as a son and enriched my understanding of medieval Arabic.
And of course- last but never least, I cannot express even a fraction of the gratitude and
deep indebtedness I feel to my dear Shaima who patiently weathered this lengthy process. She
was a constant source of encouragement and a reminder of the life that exists outside the library.
And, of course, where ever would I be without my two lu’lu’s- Abdallah and Ibrahim.

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Note on Transliteration and Style

In the transliteration of Arabic and Persian words, I have adopted the system of the
International Journal of Middle East Studies with some minor modifications. The doubled Arabic
letter yā’ (with shadda) is transliterated by an i followed by two ys, and the Arabic letter tā’
marbūṭa is transliterated with a single a at the end of the word instead of ah. Thus “Taymiyya”
instead of “Taymīyah”. Words which end in tā’ marbūṭa which are also part of an Arabic
grammatical construction, end in –t rather than –a, such as: Dawlat al-‘Abbāsiyya.
Terms that are commonly used in the English language, such as “caliph”, “amir”, or
“qadi” have not been transliterated or italicized. In the bibliography, notes, and in general matters
of style, I have consulted the 16th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Unless otherwise
noted, all translations are my own.
In the case of common Mamluk names for sultans and amirs, I have chosen the most
frequent spellings of those names generally agreed upon by Mamlukists in articles published by
the Mamlūk Studies Review. Thus Qalāwūn not Qala’un and Jaqmaq not Çaḳmaḳ.

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Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... vi
Note on Transliteration and Style ............................................................................................... ix
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... x

Chapter One: Introduction and Sources

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Primary Sources for the Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo .................................................................... 14
A. Mamluk Narrative, Biographical, and Travel Literature .......................................................... 14
Narrative Literature ............................................................................................................... 15
Biographical Literature .......................................................................................................... 25
Travel Literature and Outside Observations ........................................................................... 27
B. Juristic and Advice Literature ................................................................................................... 28
Theoretical Works ................................................................................................................. 29
Advice Literature ................................................................................................................... 29
Secretarial Literature ............................................................................................................. 30
C. Documents ................................................................................................................................ 32
D. Archaeological Evidence .......................................................................................................... 33
Inscriptions ..................................................................................................................................... 33
Coins .............................................................................................................................................. 34

Chapter Two: A History of the Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (659-923/1261-1517)

Prelude to the Cairo Caliphate (656-660/1258-1261) ................................................................... 35
Attempts to Resurrect the Abbasid Caliphate (656-9/1258-61) .................................................... 35
A Caliph for Cairo: The Investiture and Campaign of al-Mustanṣir billāh (659-60/1261) .......... 43
Al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh in Mamluk Cairo (660-701/1261-1302) ................................................. 59
Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad and the Caliphate of Abū Rabī‘a Sulaymān al-Mustakfī billāh (701-
40/1301-40) ................................................................................................................................... 81
The Brief Infamy of al-Wāthiq billāh (740-1/1340-1) .................................................................. 95
The Abbasid Caliphate and the Later Qalawunids: Al-Ḥākim bi-amr Allāh II (741-53/1341-52)
and al-Mu‘taḍid billāh (753-63/1352-62) ....................................................................................... 99
Father of the Caliphs: The Long Career of al-Mutawakkil ‘alā ’l-lāh (763-85/1362-83 and 791-
808/1389-1406) ........................................................................................................................... 111
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