Muslim bureaucracy : an annotated translation and comments on Mamluk administrative institutions in Egypt as potrayed in Subh Al-A`Sha Fi Sina `At Al-Insha of Abu` L-`Abbas Al-Qalqashandi

Abstract

This research examines the bureaucracy during the Mamluk rule in Egypt (1250-1517). Accordingly, it solely concentrates on elucidating the way daily government affairs in various administrative institutions were run. Examining these institutions was mainly presented from a translation of Arabic texts in volume IV (pp28-43) of subh al-a shafi sina at al-insha by Abu al-Abbas al-Qalqasgandi (756 A. H. /1355 A.D.). Al-Qalqasgandi himself was a scholar, compiling his aforementioned multivolume encyclopedia to be used as a manual for clerical and bureaucratic officials. According to him, the chosen texts explain the types of the officials who served in the administration of Egypt during mentioned era. Consequentially, the translation is annotated together with explanatory comments to present the spectrum of the institutions of Mamluk bureaucracy from historical and analytical perspectives to show the functions of these institutions and the job descriptions of the offices holders. The analysis is based on relevant historical and administrative sources (chronicles, biographical dictionaries, chanceries encyclopedias and etc.). It is worth mentioning- as the study illustrates- that the Maml?k bureaucracy in Egypt was a blend of the previous governments’ administration particularly the Ayyubid whom the Mamluk succeeded as rulers of Egypt. This bureaucracy was based on the Mamluk system (Cf. the introduction) that emerged as a military structure where the Sultan represented the peak of its pyramid. The Mamluk Sultans headed both a centralized bureaucracy and provincial administration in the Egyptian provinces. The provincial administrations were ruled by military viceroys, representing the sultan. While the centralized bureaucracy was run by a body of administrative officials, shaped into coherent tripartite organs of offices holders or officials. These officials were the military-men (arbab al-suyuf), the chancery (arbab alwazaif al-diywadaniyyah) and religio-judicial officials (arbab al-wazaif al-diyniyyah). These tripartite organs flourished into administration offices, serving the Maml?k government in Egypt for almost 250 year. In addition, the Mamluk added many innovations into these offices. Examples of such innovations subsumed: incorporating large number of officials, (such as the chamberlain (al-hajib) and ink bearer (al-dawadar)), in the sultan’s court; adopting a quadruple system of judiciary (introduced during the sultan Bayrbars); creating offices of the vicegerency (wilayah) whose holders were responsible of the police tasks; renovating the functions of the redress court (wilayat al-mazalim). The offices holders or officials of the administration collaborated in a harmonious manner with the military-men enjoyed important and significant roles. The important and significant roles, enjoyed by the military-men due to the fact that they were conceived as the power on which the whole state was positioned. The logic behind such perception maybe due to the prevailing political situations where the Mamluk were able to defeat the Mongols and crusaders as well as expel them from the Muslims world at that time. Nonetheless, after more than 250 years in power with the prosperous and developed bureaucracy, the Mamluk waned as a great power due to internal and external factors that lastly caused the end of their rule in Egypt and inaugurated the rule of the Ottoman in Egypt.