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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 219: Building an Empire: Theory and Practice under the Mamluk Sultanate, 1250-1517, II

Monday 7 July 2014, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies / ERC-Starting Grant Project, 2009-14: 'The Mamlukisation of the Mamluk Sultanate', Universiteit Gent
Organiser:Malika Dekkiche, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen: Het Nabije Oosten en de Islamwereld, Universiteit Gent
Moderator/Chair:Kristof D'Hulster, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen: Het Nabije Oosten en de Islamwereld, Universiteit Gent
Paper 219-aInstrumentalising Religion in 15th-Century Mamluk Politics
(Language: English)
Yasser Daoudi, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen: Het Nabije Oosten en de Islamwereld, Universiteit Gent
Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 219-bTowards the Empire: Use and Means of Mamluk 15th-Century Diplomacy
(Language: English)
Malika Dekkiche, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen: Het Nabije Oosten en de Islamwereld, Universiteit Gent
Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 219-cThe Flux and Reflux of Mamluk State (Trans-)Formation: Reconsidering Notions of Elite, State, and Empire in Late Medieval Syro-Egypt
(Language: English)
Jo Van Steenbergen, Henri Pirenne Institute for Medieval Studies / Department of Languages & Cultures: The Near East & the Islamic World, Universiteit Gent
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 focuses on the Mamluk imperial experience in its historical particularity, by exploring the ways in which these claims were adapted to changing circumstances, translated into new idioms, and communicated in- and externally.