IMC 2014: Sessions
Session 119: Building an Empire: Theory and Practice under the Mamluk Sultanate, 1250-1517, I
Monday 7 July 2014, 11.15-12.45
| Sponsor: | Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies / ERC-Starting Grant Project, 2009-14: 'The Mamlukisation of the Mamluk Sultanate', Universiteit Gent |
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| Organiser: | Kristof D'Hulster, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen: Het Nabije Oosten en de Islamwereld, Universiteit Gent |
| Moderator/Chair: | Jo Van Steenbergen, Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies / Department of Languages & Cultures: The Near East & the Islamic World, Universiteit Gent |
| Paper 119-a | Mapping the Mamluk Sultanate: From Cartographic Borders to Socio-Spatial Networks (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Political Thought |
| Paper 119-b | Street Credibility: The Articulation of Universal Authority in the Mamluk Urban Space, c. 1260-1360 (Language: English) Index terms: Architecture - Religious, Epigraphy, Islamic and Arabic Studies |
| Paper 119-c | The Early Mamluk Empire in Light of Historical Sociology and Comparative Politics (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Abstract | For more than 250 years, the Mamluk sultanate ruled over Egypt and Syria, extending its influence as far as the Hijaz and Anatolia. Despite their servile origins, the Mamluks were able to raise themselves to the highest rank of the Islamic hierarchy, by becoming the Saviors and Protectors of the Muslim Community, and thus, heirs to the Abbasid Caliphate. Yet, these inherited claims of universality needed to be reconciled both with the claimants's background, and with the changed world in which they found themselves. This session seeks to explore the usefulness of 'empire' as an explanatory concept for the Mamluk phenomenon. |