Articles
Arabic sources on history and culture of the Mamluk Sultanate in the Leiden collection of manuscripts
Milana Ilyushina
Vostok/Oriens '2016, №2
The article starts with a short review of history of a collection of the Arab manuscripts at the Leiden University Library. The special attention is paid to Yacob Golius (1596–1667), Levinus Warner (1619–1665), Johann-Jacob Reiske (1716–1774) and their contribution to the studying of Arabic manuscripts in Leiden. The most significant hand-written compositions on history of the Mamluk Sultanate are listed. The article looks closer at little-known sources on history and culture of the Mamluk Sultanate. These sources include the anonymous collection of letters, including diplomatic correspondence between sultans of Egypt and emir of Karaman in the end of the fourteenth century. Remarkable is ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sakhawi (1427–1497) autobiography. Along with various materials, it has correspondence between al-Sakhawi and sultan Qaitbey (1468–1496), as well as three makamas about events witnessed by al-Sakhwvi. Treatises on furusiya and some other rare sources on Mamluk history and culture are characterized.
Keywords: Arabic manuscripts, Leiden University Library, Mamluk Sultanate, history, culture
Pages: С. 20–29
