Carl F. Petry - Böcker

The Cambridge History of Egypt offers the first comprehensive English-language treatment of Egyptian history through thirteen centuries, from the Arab conquest to the present day. The two-volume survey considers the political, socio-economic and cultural history of the world's oldest state, summarizing the debates and providing insight into controversies. As Egypt reclaims a leading role in the Islamic, Arab and Afro-Asian worlds, the project stands as testimony to its complex and vibrant past. Volume 1 addresses the period from the Arab invasion in 640 to the Ottoman conquest in 1517. It opens with a discussion of the preceding centuries to illustrate the legacy of ancient Egypt, and then progresses chronologically according to the major dynastic episodes. Authors have been encouraged to address their topics in the light of new research.

The Cambridge History of Egypt offers the first comprehensive English-language treatment of Egyptian history through thirteen centuries, from the Arab conquest to the present day. The two-volume survey considers the political, socio-economic and cultural history of the world's oldest state, summarizing the debates and providing insight into controversies. As Egypt reclaims a leading role in the Islamic, Arab and Afro-Asian worlds, the project stands as testimony to its complex and vibrant past. Volume 1 addresses the period from the Arab invasion in 640 to the Ottoman conquest in 1517. It opens with a discussion of the preceding centuries to illustrate the legacy of ancient Egypt, and then progresses chronologically according to the major dynastic episodes. Authors have been encouraged to address their topics in the light of new research.

This pioneer study presents a quantitative analysis of the civilian elite in Mamluk Cairo. Using information about 4,631 individuals drawn from two fifteenth-century biographical dictionaries, Carl Petry explores the geographic origins of the civilian elite (the 'ulama') and the distribution of their residences and places of work in Cairo. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This pioneer study presents a quantitative analysis of the civilian elite in Mamluk Cairo. Using information about 4,631 individuals drawn from two fifteenth-century biographical dictionaries, Carl Petry explores the geographic origins of the civilian elite (the 'ulama') and the distribution of their residences and places of work in Cairo. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This analysis of state policy under the last two Mamluk rulers enables modern readers to observe a pivotal era in the history of Egypt and southwest Asia.This analysis of state policy under the last two Mamluk rulers enables modern readers to observe a pivotal era in the history of Egypt and southwest Asia. Beset with external threats and internal dissent, the Mamluk Sultanate confronted profound challenges in its waning years.The author depicts how each monarch differed in his responses to the bureaucratic and military dilemmas he faced. al-Ashraf Qaytbay remained a stalwart conservator of traditional soldierly values. He would be revered by later generations as an exemplary officer and pious believer. Qansuh al-Ghawri, however, exhibited little regard for hallowed traditions, military or religious. Burdened by irremedial bankruptcy and endemic sedition, he initiated the first steps toward innovation since the architects of the Mamluk system founded the regime during the thirteenth century. The contrasting styles of these two sultans is examined in the context of the foreign and domestic events that shaped their reigns. The strategies that they devised to deal with endemic crises decisively influenced the nature of bureaucratic procedures in Egypt, influence that is still evident in its government today.

This analysis of state policy under the last two Mamluk rulers enables modern readers to observe a pivotal era in the history of Egypt and southwest Asia.This analysis of state policy under the last two Mamluk rulers enables modern readers to observe a pivotal era in the history of Egypt and southwest Asia. Beset with external threats and internal dissent, the Mamluk Sultanate confronted profound challenges in its waning years.The author depicts how each monarch differed in his responses to the bureaucratic and military dilemmas he faced. al-Ashraf Qaytbay remained a stalwart conservator of traditional soldierly values. He would be revered by later generations as an exemplary officer and pious believer. Qansuh al-Ghawri, however, exhibited little regard for hallowed traditions, military or religious. Burdened by irremedial bankruptcy and endemic sedition, he initiated the first steps toward innovation since the architects of the Mamluk system founded the regime during the thirteenth century. The contrasting styles of these two sultans is examined in the context of the foreign and domestic events that shaped their reigns. The strategies that they devised to deal with endemic crises decisively influenced the nature of bureaucratic procedures in Egypt, influence that is still evident in its government today.

The chroniclers of the Mamluk Period (1250 to 1517CE) in Cairo and Damascus made numerous references to criminal activity committed at all levels of society, from its elite military echelons to individuals or groups who occupied its margins. The latter elements, despite their demographic visibility, have in many instances evaded the notice of modern scholarship on medieval Islamic cultures. This study aims at disclosing their impact on society in the two largest cities of the Mamluk State, as depicted by those who witnessed it at close range. These local chroniclers pursued an agenda when they dwelled on the criminal acts they observed. Rather than offering simple decrials of wrongdoing, their comments collectively targeted the agents charged with policing social interaction and upholding public security. Disclosure of collusion in crime by those formally pledged to suppress it emerged as a covert, yet signal, objective of these chroniclers. The book examines this objective as it was discerned in more than a thousand incidents of criminal activity in Cairo and Damascus during the Late Middle Ages. The complicity it exposed provides insights that revise current views about the working of government under the Mamluks, and the perspectives of groups whose voices have gone largely unheard in the historiography of pre-modern Islamic societies.

The Mamluk Sultanate ruled Egypt, Syria and the Arabian hinterland along the Red Sea. Lasting from the deposition of the Ayyubid dynasty (c. 1250) to the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, this regime of slave-soldiers incorporated many of the political structures and cultural traditions of its Fatimid and Ayyubid predecessors. Yet its system of governance and centralisation of authority represented radical departures from the hierarchies of power that predated it. Providing a rich and comprehensive survey of events from the Sultanate's founding to the Ottoman occupation, this interdisciplinary book explores the Sultanate's identity and heritage after the Mongol conquests, the expedience of conspiratorial politics, and the close symbiosis of the military elite and civil bureaucracy. Carl F. Petry also considers the statecraft, foreign policy, economy and cultural legacy of the Sultanate, and its interaction with polities throughout the central Islamic world and beyond. In doing so, Petry reveals how the Mamluk Sultanate can be regarded as a significant experiment in the history of state-building within the pre-modern Islamic world.