SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Cairo of the Mamluks was "a city beyond imagination", wrote the Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldun. The Mamluk sultans originated as a slave-based caste who took advantage of the mid-13th century power vacuum to establish themselves as rulers. They designed their capital to be the heart of the Muslim world. It became the focus of their enormous patronage of art and architecture, the stage for their ceremonial rituals, and a memorial to their achievements. This history of Mamluk architecture examines the monuments of the Mamluks in their social, political and urban context during the period of their rule between 1250-1517. The book displays the multiple facets of Mamluk patronage, and also provides a succint discussion of sixty monuments built in Cairo by the Mamluk sultans. This is a richly illustrated volume with colour photographs, plans and isometric drawings. It will form an essential reference work for scholars and students of the art and architecture of the Islamic world as well as art historians and historians of late medieval Islamic history.