A Blog Post By Bogdan Smarandache [i]
If only we could have one source to tell it all. Instead, we must rely on scattered official documents and narrative sources that attest to diplomatic contact in piecemeal fashion. Some Arabic accounts record the dispatch and arrival of foreign embassies fairly consistently, especially when it serves to show the prestige and political clout of a certain sultan, but even these contain gaps, so we cannot know for sure just how often embassies came and went. That’s one of the challenges that the DiplomatiCon project will be able to address. Of course, putting together disparate sources to see what they can say together is also an exciting exercise. In this blog, I will introduce four sources from the MamlÅ«k period covering the period from the reign of the sultan of Cairo, al-Manṣūr QalÄwÅ«n (1279–1290) to the reign of Sultan BarsbÄy (1422–1438). I will discuss their references to diplomatic encounters with Latin Christians, particularly Italian merchants and representatives of the Crown of Aragon, and venture some explanations for why some authors chose to record or omit certain encounters. Spoiler alert: so far there isn’t a certain or consistent explanation!
Let’s begin with the earliest source in this sample, MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n ibn Ê¿Abd al-ẒÄhir (d. 1223). MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n was born in Cairo on 12 February 1223. He entered into the chancery service of Damascus under its AyyÅ«bid ruler, al-á¹¢Äliḥ IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l (1237, 1239–1245). He later relocated to Cairo, where he became the head of the chancery for Baybars al-BunduqdÄrÄ« (1260–1277) and his sons’ usurper, QalÄwÅ«n (1279–1290).
[i]
During his career, he became known as al-QÄá¸Ä« al-FÄá¸il (“The Excellent Judgeâ€), since his skill at composition recalled the writings of an earlier chancery scribe known by the same descriptive name (laqab): none other than á¹¢alÄḥ al-DÄ«n’s prolific chancery secretary, Ê¿Abd al-Raḥīm ibn Ê¿AlÄ« al-BaysÄnÄ«.
[ii]
MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n was known to have drafted several officials documents, including QalÄwÅ«n’s diploma of investiture.
[iii]
Muḥyī al-Dīn also formed part of an embassy to the Latin Christian leaders of Acre in 1268.
[iv]
Nowadays, MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n is best known for his regnal histories of three Turkic sultans, Baybars al-BunduqdÄrÄ«, al-Manṣūr QalÄwÅ«n, and the latter’s son, al-Ashraf KhalÄ«l (1290–1293).
[v]
The manuscripts containing the latter histories are missing some, which poses an additional challenge for knowing how consistently he recorded diplomatic encounters.
[vi]
For the period in question, three references to embassies from the Crown of Aragon, the Italian merchant communes, and the Papacy were found in MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n’s two regnal histories of QalÄwÅ«n and al-Ashraf KhalÄ«l.
[vii]
Let us have a look at the first one, titled TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm wa l-Ê¿uṣūr fÄ« sÄ«rat al-Malik al-Manṣūr (“The Exaltation of Days and Epochs by Way of the SÄ«ra of the Sultan al-Malik al-Manṣūr [QalÄwÅ«n]â€).
[viii]
In this work, MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n documents negotiations between QalÄwÅ«n and envoys from the Crown of Aragon in 1282 and in 1290, when representatives from the two sides collaborated to draft a comprehensive treaty with political and commercial terms. MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n also copied this agreement as well as another agreement ratified with Genoa that same year (i.e., 1290) in TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm. He is the only source known to preserve Arabic versions of both agreements, though a nearly identical version of the treaty of 1290, based on a transcript of the treaty updated in 1293, exists in other sources.
[ix]
MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n also records the arrival of a papal embassy dispatched from Naples in 1285. In his regnal history of al-Ashraf KhalÄ«l, Al-Alá¹Äf al-khafiyya min al-sÄ«ra al-sharÄ«fa al-sulá¹aniyya al-Ashrafiyya (“The Benevolences Manifest Through the Noble SÄ«ra (Life) of the Sultan al-Malik al-Ashrafâ€
[x]
), Muḥyī al-Dīn records the arrival of a Venetian embassy in Alexandria in 1290.
[xi]
Let’s move on to the next source. Relatively little is known about AbÅ« Bakr ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ«. He was one of the awlÄd al-nÄs (“sons of the [mamlÅ«k] peopleâ€), meaning a freeborn Muslim and second-generation immigrant whose parent or parents had been purchased.
[xii]
His family had served the sultanate of Cairo in various capacities. His father worked as an administrator for the governor of Damascus, Sayf al-DÄ«n BalabÄn al-RÅ«mÄ« al-ẒÄhirÄ«.
[xiii]
His grandfather had himself served as lord of Salkhad and was a patron of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa (d. 1270), a physician and author of a famous biographical dictionary of medical experts.
[xiv]
Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ« died around 1340 at the age of about 50.
In his Kanz al-durar wa-jÄmiÊ¿ al-ghurar (“Treasure of Pearls and Trove of the Radiantâ€), Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ« records a fascinating series of negotiations between a merchant operating privately named Segurano Salvago (SikurÄn in Arabic) and the sultan al-NÄá¹£ir Muḥammad, between 1315 and 1318.
[xv]
Salvago appears to have been a broker in deals involving mamlÅ«ks purchased from Muḥammad Uzbeg KhÄn, ruler of the Golden Horde. This role of mediation, which facilitated the upkeep of Cairo’s military forces, earned him the ire of a friar, who called Salvago caput peccati (“top sinnerâ€). In fact, several Latin and Arabic sources mention the activities of this merchant, commercial and diplomatic, but Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ« appears to be the only source documenting Salvago’s arrival in Egypt in ca. 1313, shortly after the restoration of relations between Genoa and the Golden Horde, and again in 1320, to broker a deal involving some 2,000 mamlÅ«ks transported from the Golden Horde.
[xvi]
It is certainly curious that Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ« decided to record Salvago’s activities. I’ll return to this question further below.
Next, let’s have a look at one of the most prolific authors of the Mamlūk period, Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī (d. 1442). The scholarship on this figure is vast, so I will only point to a handful of works in the notes.
[xvii]
Al-MaqrÄ«zÄ« worked as a chancery scribe, qÄá¸Ä«, muḥtasib (market inspector), and madrasa professor, before devoting himself to history-writing. He lived in Mecca for several years before returning to Cairo, where he spent his last days. During his lifetime, he met numerous famous scholars, such as Ibn KhaldÅ«n, al-Ê¿AynÄ«, and Ibn Ḥajar al-Ê¿AsqalÄnÄ«.
[xviii]
He authored over 20 works, which included a history of the FÄá¹imids, a history of Cairo, and an extensive chronicle that begins with the AyyÅ«bid period, called Al-SulÅ«k fÄ« maÊ¿rifat al-duwal wa l-mulÅ«k (“The Path to Knowledge of Dynasties and Kingsâ€).
[xix]
This work is the focus of the present survey.
600th birth anniversary of al-Maqrizi stamp, Egypt, 1965. Al-Maqrizi was one of the most prolific authors of the Islamic world. Image source: Colnect.com.
Of the authors surveyed to date, which include several authors not discussed at present, al-Maqrīzī’s work is by far the most comprehensive in terms of recording diplomatic encounters with the Faranj.
[xx]
He notes six episodes of negotiation between the kings of the Crown of Aragon and the sultans of Cairo, including the abovementioned treaty negotiations that took place in 1290 between the representatives of King Alfonso III of Aragon and QalÄwÅ«n. The last of the negotiations with the Crown of Aragon recorded by al-MaqrÄ«zÄ« occurred in 1434. He also records three Venetian embassies dispatched to Cairo between 1344 and 1416, and nine embassies from Genoa between 1285 and 1411. These records point to a meticulous approach to gathering evidence and recording events that he considered significant for the life of Cairo.
[xxi]
Finally, we come to AbÅ« al-MaḥÄsin JamÄl al-DÄ«n YÅ«suf ibn TaghrÄ« BirdÄ«, author of another extensive historical work, the Al-NujÅ«m al-zÄhira fÄ« mulÅ«k Miá¹£r wa l-QÄhira (“The Shining Stars among the Rulers of Egypt and Cairoâ€). Ibn TaghrÄ« BirdÄ« was born in Cairo in ca. 1411 and died in 1470. As in the case of Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ«, Ibn TaghrÄ« BirdÄ« was also one of the awlÄd al-nÄs. His father had been a mamlÅ«k, purchased by the sultan al-ẒÄhir BarqÅ«q (1382–1389 and 1390–1399), who rose in the ranks to become the commander-in-chief (atÄbak al-Ê¿asÄkir) of the Egyptian army.
[xxii]
For his part, Ibn TaghrÄ« BirdÄ« was more interested in study than in warfare. His presence at a reading of al-Ê¿Aynī’s work at the court of Sultan BarsbÄy might have inspired his own interest in writing history. His magnum opus, Al-NujÅ«m al-zÄhira, is a universal history that begins with the Arab conquests of the seventh century and extends up to his own time.
[xxiii]
In terms of contacts with Latin Christian counterparts, Ibn Taghrī Birdī records only one of the last two Aragonese embassies mentioned by al-Maqrīzī, one that met with utter failure. However, on the other hand, he was well informed and interested in two sets of negotiations that took place between the Sultanate of Cairo and the Lusignan rulers of Cyprus in 1426 and 1432, of which al-Maqrīzī recounts only the first episode.
[xxiv]
To summarize, we can tabulate the findings to aid in identifying overlaps and discrepancies:
A few observations can be made. First of all, the authors appear to have borrowed very little. Indeed, there is no clear indication that any of the later authors relied on MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n ibn Ê¿Abd al-ẒÄhir’s works. Therefore, subtracting any one source, apart from Ibn TaghrÄ« BirdÄ«, would cause a significant lacuna in our knowledge of diplomatic contact across the Mediterranean. Yet, there are some 30 Arabic sources that document diplomatic activity in this period, not to mention evidence in other languages (Latin, Catalan, Italian vernaculars, etc.), so at this early stage it is still unclear just how indispensable any one source is.
We can also venture some preliminary explanations for discrepancies in records of negotiations. First, MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n’s inclusion of two diplomatic agreements in his TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm may reflect his involvement in the drafting of these agreements and particular interest in the course of negotiations, in which he had played a role, and perhaps in facilitating diplomacy with foreign powers in general.
[xxv]
In this regard, the incompleteness of the work suggests that some diplomatic encounters might be completely lost to oblivion. As noted by several scholars, TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm is missing sections at the beginning and end, suggesting that MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n might have mentioned the negotiations between Peter III of Aragon and QalÄwÅ«n that took place in 1280, or other encounters that the later sources might have omitted.
As for al-Maqrīzī, his thoroughness in recording information may suggest that any omissions were due to difficulties accessing information. His chronicle by far documents more embassies—arriving from Ethiopia, Nubia, Byzantium, the neighbouring Latin lordships, the Hohenstaufens, the Mongol Khan, the Qara-Khitay, India, Armenia, Georgia, Nubia, the Papacy, France, the Bulgars, not to mention the caliph and other parts of the sultanate—, than any other, which may have served as a testament to the importance of Cairo in his eyes.
[xxvi]
Ibn al-DawÄdÄrÄ« appears to have been especially interested in negotiations involving the Golden Horde, the trade in mamlÅ«ks, and the appearance of the maverick trader, Salvago. Could this be a reflection of an interest in documenting events which his father, as a purchased mamlÅ«k, might have experienced first-hand? Here, personal or intergenerational trauma might have inspired a special interest in documenting the structures and encounters that shaped lived experiences of slavery and dependency. Finally, in Ibn TaghrÄ« Birdī’s case, the humiliation of the Lusignans of Cyprus and the complex negotiations that turned the island into a tributary state appears to have attracted this author’s attention as well as select diplomatic episodes that took place during his time.
These are all preliminary observations on how the nature of the sources, the interests of their authors, and access to information might explain the significant discrepancy between four sources that are each detailed and valuable in their own ways. Details on diplomatic encounters collected for the DiplomatiCon database from additional sources will provide ample data for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Evidently, there is a huge potential for applying tools of Social Network Analysis to a larger dataset, which promises to provide a fuller picture of the intense diplomatic activity that characterized the Mediterranean as much in the medieval period as it did in ancient and early modern times.
[i]
Gowaart Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles of Sultanship: Historiography, the Chancery, and Social Practice in Late Medieval Egypt (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2023), pp. 27, 117-18; Van Den Bossche, “MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n Ibn Ê¿Abd al-ẒÄhirâ€, in Arabic Textual Sources for the Crusades, ed. Alex Mallett (Leiden: Brill, 2024), pp. 35-36; Paulina B. Lewicka, Å ÄfiÊ» ibn Ê»Alī’s Biography of the Mamluk Sultan QalÄwÅ«n (Warsaw: Academic Publishing House, 2000), p. 111.
[ii]
Van Den Bossche, “MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«nâ€, 53.
[iii]
See MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n ibn Ê¿Abd al-ẒÄhir, TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm wa’l-Ê¿uṣūr fÄ« sÄ«rat al-Malik al-Manṣūr, ed. Murad Kamil (Cairo, 1961), pp. 31-4, 58-9; Linda S. Northrup, From Slave to Sultan: The Career of Alâ€Manṣūr QalÄwÅ«n and the Consolidation of Mamluk Rule in Egypt and Syria (678â€689 A.H./1279â€1290 A.D.) (Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1998), p. 172; Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles, 89, 120-1; Van Den Bossche, “MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«nâ€, 46.
[iv]
P. M. Holt, Early Mamluk Diplomacy (1260-1290): Treaties of Baybars and QalÄwÅ«n with Christian Rulers (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 70; Van Den Bossche, “MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«nâ€, 46.
[v]
Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles, 28.
[vi]
Northrup, Slave to Sultan, 27; Lewicka, Å ÄfiÊ» ibn Ê»Alī’s Biography, 111; Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles, 33, 35, 95, 98); Van Den Bossche, “MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«nâ€, 54, 59; Bauden, “Diplomatics in the Service of Diplomacy: Was the 692/1293 Truce Negotiated by the Kingdom of Aragon with the Mamluk Sultanate Ever Ratified?â€, MamlÅ«k Studies Review 26 (2023): 8, n. 24.
[vii]
This edition was consulted: MuḥyÄ« al-DÄ«n ibn Ê¿Abd al-ẒÄhir, TashrÄ«f al-ayyÄm wa l-Ê¿uṣūr fÄ« sÄ«rat al-Malik al-Manṣūr, ed. MurÄd KÄmil (Cairo: Al-JumhuÌ„riiyya al-Ê¿Arabiyya al-MuttahÌ£ida/WizaÌ„rat al-ThaqaÌ„fa wa l-IrshaÌ„d al-QawmiÌ„/Al-IdaÌ„ra al-Ê¿AÌ„mma li l-ThaqaÌ„fa, 1961);
[viii]
For discussion of the translation of the title, see Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles, 62-3.
[ix]
See Holt, Early Mamluk Diplomacy, 3 and the new analysis provided by Frédéric Bauden in “Diplomatics in the Service of Diplomacyâ€, 22-31.
[x]
The translation is also borrowed from Van Den Bossche, in Literary Spectacles, 81.
[xi]
The edition consulted was Al-ʿAlṭāf al-Khafiyya min al-sīra al-sharīfa al-sulṭaniyya al-malikiyya al-ʿashrafiyya : min al-djuz’ al-thālith, ed. Axel Moberg, (Lund: Gleerupska universitetsbokhandeln/Hjalmar Möller, 1902).
[xii]
See Mathieu Eychenne, Liens personnels, clientélisme et réseaux de pouvoir dans le sultanat mamelouk (milieu XIIIe-fin XIVe siècle) (Damas-Beyrouth, Presses de l'Ifpo, 2013), p. 175.
[xiii]
Northrup, Slave to Sultan, 48; Eychenne, Liens personnels, 175.
[xiv]
Bernard Lewis, “Ibn al-DawadÄrÄ«â€, in EI2 ; Northrup, Slave to Sultan, 47-8.
[xv]
This edition was consulted: Kanz al-durar, IX: al-Durr al-fākhir fī sīrat al-Malik al-Nāṣir, ed. Hans Robert Roemer (Cairo: Qism al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya, al-Maʿhad al-Almānī l’il-Āthār bi-l-Qāhira/F. Steiner-Verlag, 1960/Cairo: Deutsches Archäologische Institut/Wiesbaden: Steiner in Komm, 1391/1971).
[xvi]
Little, Donald Presgrave, An Introduction to MamlÅ«k Historiography: An Analysis of Arabic Annalistic and Biographical Sources for the Reign of al-Malik an-NÄá¹£ir Muḥammad ibn QalÄ’ūn (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, 1970), pp. 10-11, 18-19; Benjamin Z. Kedar, “Segurano-SakrÄn Salvaygo: un mercante genovese al servizio dei sultani mamalucchi, c. 1303-1322â€, in Fatti e idee di storia economica nei secoli XII-XX. Studi dedicati a Franco Borlandi, eds. Bruno Dini, Vincenzo Giura, Dante E. Zanetti (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1977), pp. 78, 89. I thank Frédéric Bauden for my awareness of the latter work by Benjamin Kedar.
[xvii]
Denoix Sylvie, « Témoin et historien du Caire : al-Maqrîzî », in FÄ« al-taʾrÄ«kh wa l-ḥaá¸Ära al-IslÄmÄ«yya: buḥūth muhdÄh ilÄ al-muʾarrikh wa l-muḥaqqiq al-kabÄ«r Ayman FuʾÄd Sayyid, ed. Ê¿UbÄda Kuḥayla (Beirut: Al-DÄr al-Miá¹£riyya al-LubnÄniyya, 2014); Frédéric Bauden, “Al-MaqrÄ«zÄ«â€, in Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History. Vol. 5 (1350-1500), eds. David Thomas and Alex Mallett (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 380-395; Nasser Rabbat, Writing Egypt. Al-Maqrizi and his Historical Project (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022); and the Bibliotheca Maqriziana edited by Frédéric Bauden: .
[xviii]
Franz Rosenthal, “al-MaḳrÄ«zÄ«â€, in EI2 ; Bauden, « Archéologie du savoir en Islam », 107. On al-MaqrÄ«zī’s affinity to the teachings of al-ẒÄhirÄ«, see Ignác Goldziher, The ẒÄhirÄ«s: Their Doctrine and their History, translated and edited by Wolfgang Behn (Leiden: Brill, 1971), pp. 178-79.
[xix]
Frédéric Bauden, “al-MaqrÄ«zÄ«â€, in Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, ed. R. G. Dunphy (Leiden: Brill, 2010), pp. 1074-76.
[xx]
This edition was consulted: KitÄb al-sulÅ«k li-maÊ¿rifat duwal al-mulÅ«k, eds. MuhÌ£ammad MusÌ£tÌ£afÄ ZiyaÌ„da, SaÊ¿iÌ„d Ê¿Abd al-FattaÌ„hÌ£ Ê¿AÌ„shuÌ„r, 4 vols. (Cairo: Lajnat at-TaʾliÌ„f wa l-Tarjama wa l-Nashr/Association of Authorship, Translation and Publication Press, 1934-1983).
[xxi]
For an analysis of al-Maqrīzī’s method focusing on textuality and manuscript evidence, see Frédéric Bauden, « Vers une archéologie du savoir en Islam: la méthode de travail d’al-Maqrīzī, historien du XVe siècle », Comptes-Rendus des Séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 153.1 (2009): 97-110.
[xxii]
Lewicka, Å ÄfiÊ» ibn Ê»AlÄ«'s Biography, 127; Abbès Zouache, Armées et combats en Syrie de 491/1098 à 569/1174 : analyse comparée des chroniques médiévales latines et arabes (Damascus: Institut français du proche-Orient, 2008), p. 80.
[xxiii]
This was the edition consulted: Al-Nujūm al-zāhira fī mulūk Miṣr wa-al-Qāhira, vols. 13-14, ed. Fahīm Muḥammad Shaltūt (Cairo: Al-Hayʾa al-Miṣriyya al-ʿĀmma li-Taʾlīf wa al-Nashr, 1970).
[xxiv]
On this episode, see Frédéric Bauden, “The Status of Cyprus and of its Tribute: The Mamluk Perspectiveâ€, in
Commerce and Crusade: The Mamluk Empire and Cyprus in a Euro-Mediterranean Perspective, ed. Georg
Christ (Louvain: Peeters, forthcoming), .
[xxv]
This explanation is inspired by an observation that Van Den Bossche makes in Literary Spectacles to the effect that authors, in highlighting their contributions in often subtle ways, tended to include documents that they had drafted in their regnal histories as an exercise in “performative record-keepingâ€. See Van Den Bossche, Literary Spectacles, 129.
[xxvi]
For studies of these exchanges, see Mamluk Cairo, a Crossroads for Embassies. Studies on Diplomacy and Diplomatics, eds. Frédéric Bauden and Malika Dekkiche (Leiden: Brill, 2019).
[i]
I thank Frédéric Bauden for providing corrections and suggestions for an earlier draft of this post. Any errors that remain are mine.
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