Why was the Mamluk era golden age of Arab encyclopedias?

Imran Abdullah

While the history of encyclopedic writing in medieval Europe has received great attention and interest, most Arabic encyclopedias are still relatively vague and limited in spite of being from earlier periods, and some researchers believe that the writings of Aljahz and Ibn Qutaiba can be considered the first Arabic encyclopedias.

The Mamluk era in Egypt and the Levant (1250-1517 / 648 AH-923 AH) is described as the golden age of Arab encyclopedic literature, in which the encyclopedias were widely written by prominent scholars close to the royal court, such as Shihab al-Din al-Nuwairi, Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari, and Abu al-Ahmad Ahmad. Ben Ali Qalqashendi and the beauty of religion Bat and others.

Unlike the traditional view of the post-Mongol era as a time of decline, decline and attrition of Arab culture, the study of encyclopedias that flourished during the Mamluk period sheds light on Mamluk literature and alternative knowledge found in Syria and Egypt as an alternative to Baghdad, which was crushed by the Tatar armies and destroyed its libraries.

The Arab heritage was also known as the letters of the Ikhwan al-Safa and Khulan al-Wafa in the tenth century. Their 52 letters dealt with topics in mathematics, nature, psychology, religions and philosophy, written in eloquent literary language and divided into four arranged sections, as well as the Arab heritage knew early encyclopedic works such as the eyes of the news of Ibn Qutaybah and the keys of science to Muhammad Alkhawarizmi.

Al-Jahez (d. 868 CE / 255 AH) wrote his great book "Animal", including animal news and print, and discussed philosophical and scientific topics such as cumin, reproduction, gems and symptoms.In the Manifesto, he presented prose and poetic anthologies indicating the foundations of the statement and philosophy of language.

Together, as well as the works of Abu al-Hasan al-Masudi in the tenth century AD (d. 346 AH), these two books constitute early beginnings of Arab encyclopedic traditions.

Moving centers
The invasion of the Mongols in 1258 AD (656 AH) aroused the fear of scientists to write encyclopedias in order to preserve the heritage of the former, amid a general sense of insecurity and succession of disasters on the Arab urban, including the great plague or the Black Death 1348 AD (756 AH).

The traditional narrative says that after the fall of Baghdad, the Levant and Cairo inherited their role as a cultural center of the Muslim world, and scholars and poets fled Iraq, finding an alternative refuge in the Mamluk cities.

Two and a half centuries after the destruction of Baghdad, Arab encyclopedias - reflecting concern for the destruction of knowledge - were written amidst fear of a fate similar to the books and manuscripts of Baghdad burned or thrown into the Tigris.

Nevertheless, the scholar of comparative literature, Elias Muhanna, relates to the Andalusian traveler Ibn Jubayr (d. 1217 CE / 617 AH) who described Baghdad as having lost many of its meanings and remained "like the shadow of the student, the obscure effect, or the statue of the personal fantasy, there is no good in it stops sight and calls from the satisfied." Rational (mind) (stand) and consider.

Muhanna believed that the term encyclopedia was not popular before the eighteenth century, it was used to refer to the large reference works that enable the transition between different disciplines easily, however, a number of old works were later classified as encyclopedias.

One can refer to the "encyclopedic spirit" that characterized a group of large Arab works, especially in the 14th century, which was considered a golden age of this intellectual tradition.

The tradition of writing Arabic encyclopedias did not begin in the Mamluk period, but the works of the 14th century AD are characterized by their broad substantive scope, organization, systematic arrangement and diversity of sources, which are features that collectively gain the literature of this century distinctive encyclopedic page.

This century was also known for the large number of encyclopedic works created under the patronage of the Mamluk sultans, as the dominant activity of the Egyptian and Shami elites of that era.

Stable Mamluk cities
In the Mamluk cities, there was a kind of stability and security under a young empire.While the Mamluks sought to expand, interest in historical and geographical literature and the description of distant and diverse lands from India to Mali, Ethiopia, and Andalusia increased, and many scholars found jobs in the flourishing Mamluk court, enabling them to meet Travelers and travelers from all over the Islamic and Mediterranean world.

The historian and writer Damascene Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari worked at the court of Sultan al-Qalawun, and headed the construction office that edits the books and letters of the caliph, making it easier to write his encyclopedia "Paths of Sight in the Kingdoms of Lands", which dealt with the geography of tracts, regions and seas, and classes of jurists, linguists, philosophers and doctors. Music, poetry, animal, plant, herbs, minerals, stones, doctrines, religions, history of kings and other subjects.

Al-Omari was not unique. Other writers of that century worked in close proximity to the Mamluk court or as employees. The Mamluk period witnessed a significant increase in the number of educational institutions and religious schools in urban centers. Travelers, travelers and full-time scientific researchers alike spread in cities. Mamluk.

This activity became increasingly institutionalized in the Mamluk period, with the assignment of paid educational positions and functions by Mamluk officials, according to a study by the Lebanese academic Elias Muhanna published in the book "Encyclopedia of Antiquity to the Renaissance" published by Cambridge University Press.

Also in the fourteenth century, Shihab al-Din al-Nuwairi, who was born in the Egyptian Bani Suef and studied in Mamluk Cairo, wrote his huge encyclopedia. Al-Nuwairi was also close to Nasser Qalawun. Literature "in 33 volumes and nearly 4500 pages, and chapters on geography, man, science, animal, plant and history from Adam to his era.

Encyclopedic traditions
The classes of intellectuals in the Mamluk period were known for their scientific traditions that blend different cultures and vast knowledge. Scientists of that era were famous for encyclopedicity and fluency in various fields, and the Mamluk encyclopedias reflected this spirit, which represents a return to the oldest Arab and Greek traditions.

Abul Abbas al-Qalqashandi, who took over the construction office during the reign of the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Barquq, wrote his 14-part encyclopedia, "Subh al-Asha in the Construction Industry," which includes topics and chapters on governance, administration, politics, libraries, traditions and clothing in the Arab Mashreq, the history of bureaus and ministries, and the arts of writing. , Soldiers' clothes and weapons, sports, and aspects of Arab society, as well as calligraphy and its tools.

The Qalqashandi Encyclopedia was considered a comprehensive guide in the art of official writing of the State and the arts of correspondence and written communication, parts of which were translated into European languages.

Increased literacy among the "middle classes" in the Mamluk community resulted in a vibrant book market, which provides alternatives for researchers to earn a living through writing and writing.

By all accounts, this was the time to work in the book and authorship industry, and Noueiri left a prestigious job in the Mamluk administration to work as a copier of popular manuscripts while writing his huge encyclopedia.