ENCYCLOPEDIA MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC PART 2

AYYUBIDS

  The Ayyubid confederation was established by alMalik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf b. Ayyub (Saladin), a Kurdish military commander in the service of  Nur al-Din b. Zangi. Saladin took control of  Egypt in 1171 CE, and, from this Egyptian base, brought much of Bilad al-Sham (Syria) and the Jazira (upper Mesopotamia) under his rule. After his death in 1193, control of the many cities and provinces of Saladin’s empire was divided between his sons, his brother, his nephews, and their respective descendants. Although these princes owed allegiance to whomever was recognized as the Ayyubid Sultan, within their own territories they were autonomous. Ayyubid history after Saladin is thus characterized by complex and shifting webs of alliances and rivalries between these various Ayyubid princes, and these webs were complicated by the presence of the Crusader states, whose forces were occasionally drawn into intra-Ayyubid conflicts. (As R.S. Humphreys recently put it, the Ayyubids were ‘‘reluctant warriors’’ against the Franks.) Nevertheless,

the political history of the post-Saladin era was usually dominated by the Ayyubid who ruled Egypt. For most of the first half of the thirteenth century, this role was filled by Saladin’s brother al-Malik al-‘Adil Sayf

al-Din Abu Bakr Muhammad and his descendants.

  Al-‘Adil (d. 1218), who was known to the Crusaders as Sephadin, was supreme within the Ayyubid dominions from 1200 to 1218. He was in Egypt when the armies of the Fifth Crusade arrived in the Nile delta in May 1218. After al-‘Adil died in August 1218, his son al-Malik al-Kamil Muhammad (d. 1238) assumed the sultanate, although not all of the other

Ayyubids acquiesced. Al-Kamil’s dealings with the Crusaders over the course of his reign were tightly interwoven with his relations with his relatives. Al-Kamil’s lifting of the Crusader occupation of Damietta (1219–1221), for example, was accomplished with the assistance of his brothers al-Malik al-Ashraf Musa in the Jazira and al-Malik al-Mu‘azzam ‘Isa in Syria. However, in 1227, when the armies of  Emperor Frederick II threatened Egypt, al-Kamil was engaged in a power struggle with al-Mu‘azzam, and he therefore offered Jerusalem to Frederick to avoid an invasion of Egypt. The emperor refused. position was subsequentl strengthened by Al-Mu‘azzam’s death in late 1227, but al-Kamil continued negotiations with Frederick after he arrived  in Acre in 1228. These negotiations led to the establishment of a limited truce, signed in February 1129, that restored an unfortified Jerusalem to the Franks for ten years, five months, and forty days. Both the emperor and the sultan were severely criticized by their respective co-religionists for this agreement.

  Al-Kamil died in 1238, and two years later his son al-Malik al-Salih Ayyub assumed control of Egypt. Al-Salih was schooled in the ways of Ayyubid rivalry. To strengthen his position, he purchased and trained

a corps of military slaves (mamluks). Called the Bahri Mamluks because their barracks were on an island in the Nile (bahr al-nil), this 800- to 1,000-man force was the core of al-Salih’s military forces. The Bahri Mamluks played a significant role in fighting and eventually defeating the forces of King Louis IX of France when the Fifth Crusade invaded the Egyptian Delta (1249–1250). Al-Salih died in November 1249 in

the midst of that invasion, and control of  Egypt soon passed to his son, al-Malik al-Mu‘azzam Turanshah. Turanshah quickly alienated his father’s mamluks, who, fearing loss of position or even life, revolted against Turanshah and murdered him in April 1250.

  The events of the ten years after the murder of Turanshah are complex, but they resulted in a complete Mamluk takeover of Egypt by 1260. The Ayyubids in Syria and the Jazira subsequently fell to either the Mamluks or the Mongols, although the Ayyubid principality in Hamah was maintained until 1341 by the Mamluk Sultanate.

Primary Sources

Abu’l-Fida’.The Memoirs of a Syrian Prince, transl. P.M.

Holt. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1983.

Al-Maqrizi.A History of the Ayyubid Sultans of Egypt,

transl. R.J.C. Broadhurst. Boston: Twayne Publishers,

1980.

Further Reading       

Balog, Paul.The Coinage of the Ayyubids. London: Royal

Numismatic Society, 1980.

Hillenbrand, Carole.The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives.

Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.

Humphreys, R. Stephen.From Saladin to the Mongols: The

Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977.

———. ‘‘Ayyubids, Mamluks and the Latin East in the

Thirteenth Century.’’Mamluk Studies ReviewII (1998):

1–17.

BABAR [BABUR]

  Born in 1483 CE in the Farghana region of Central Asia, Babar, the founder of the renowned Mughal dynasty in India, claimed an illustrious pedigree by virtue of descent from two important rulers Timur (Timurlane) (through his father, Umar Shaikh Mirza) and Chingiz Khan (through his mother, Qutluq Nigar Khanum). His father was one of several princes, all descendants of  Timur, who engaged in constant rivalry and battles for control over territory in fifteenthcentury Central Asia. In 1494, as a result of a fall from a collapsing wall, Babar’s father died, leaving the eleven year old boy to succeed him to rule the kingdom of  Farghana. Like his father, Babar, too, spent much of his early political career engaged in endless wars and intrigues contending with his

Timurid cousins for suzerainty over territory in Transoxiana and Khurasan, particularly the cities of Samarqand, Bukhara, and Herat. In these internecine Timurid struggles, his fortunes were mixed. He found

it difficult to assert his authority over any city in the region for a sustained length of time. For example, by age 30, he had won and lost Samarqand three times. Particularly intense were his conflicts with Shaibani Khan, an Uzbeg prince, whose armies managed to drive Babar and his followers out of Transoxiana to territories farther to the south. There, Babar was eventually successful in establishing control over

Kabul, Ghazni, and Badakshan.

  It was in Kabul, conquered in 1504, that Babar established a home base, away from the turmoil of  Transoxiana. The relatively stable life there allowed him to establish a cultured court on the Timurid model and pursue his hobbies, particularly gardening. However, because Kabul was rather poor in terms of its economic resources, the wealth of India tempted Babar to look eastward. He organized several raiding

expeditions into the region, bringing back with him much booty. Success encouraged him to penetrate even deeper into Indian territory, eventually threatening the Lodis, an Afghan dynasty that ruled from Agra. In 1526, in the course of his fifth expedition into India, he defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at the battle of Panipat; in the following year, he defeated a coalition of Rajput forces led by Rana Sanga. Although these victories marked the beginning of his control over substantial territory in India, the task of consolidating and strengthening what eventually came to be called the Mughal empire was not to be completed until the reign of his grandson, Akbar (ruled 1556–1605).

  In India, although military expeditions continued to make considerable demands on his time and energy, Babar found more opportunity to take up leisurely pursuits. He commissioned several beautiful Timurid-style gardens in North India, personally supervising their development. These gardens were intended to remind him of Kabul, providing a respite from the heat of the summer months. Babar also had literary talents, being a particularly gifted poet in Turkish. Once, during an illness, he occupied himself by reorganizing the words of a couplet in 504 ways. He is particularly renowned for his remarkable autobiography, The Baburnama. Written in Chagatay Turkish, these memoirs not only record his early

struggles for power in Central Asia but also contain detailed descriptions of his newly acquired Indian territory and various aspects of the social, cultural, and economic life of its inhabitants. The memoirs reveal his passion for nature through his keen observations of India’s fauna and flora, which he describes with the precision of a naturalist, obviously delighting in attention to minor details. Aside from his horticultural and literary pursuits, Babar was also interested in mysticism and spirituality, as evidenced by his translation into Turkish verse of  Risala-i walidiyya,

a treatise by the venerated Naqshbandi sufi teacher, Ubaidullah Ahrar, whom Babar admired greatly. Victory in Hindustan did not, however, mean that Babar, and later his descendants, gave up hope of one day conquering their ancestral homeland of  Farghana, and the city of Samarqand. Babar disapproved of much of what he saw and experienced in India and, notwithstanding the power and wealth he enjoyed

there, he always longed for Kabul. The climate of India, the hardships he had experienced in his youth, and the heavy use of alcohol and drugs all took their toll on Babar’s health, for he was frequently sick as he

grew older. He died December 26, 1530, after a short illness, and was temporarily buried in Agra. His longing for Kabul was fulfille posthumously when, several years after his death, his body was returned to that city for burial in his favorite garden.

Further Reading

Gascoigne, Bamber.The Great Moghuls. London: Constable, 1998.

Thackston, Wheeler. Trans and Ed.The Baburnama. The

Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Washington and

New York: The Smithsonian Institution and Oxford

University Press, 1996

BACKGAMMON

  The game of backgammon is first mentioned in Bhartr: hari’sVaira¯gyas´ataka(p. 39), composed around the late sixth or early seventh century CE. The use of dice for the game is another indication of its Indic origin, since dice and gambling were a favorite pastime in ancient India. The rules of the game, however, first appeared in the Middle Persian text Wızarisnı  catrang ud Nihisnı  NewArdaxsˇı ¯r (Explanation of Chess and Invention of  Backgammon), composed in

the sixth century during the rule of the Sasanian king Khousro I (530–571). The text assigns its invention to the Persian sage Wuzurgmihr (Arabic/Persian) Buzarjumihr / Buzorgmihr, who was the ministKhousro I, as a challenge for the Indian sages. According to the Middle Persian text, the name that Wuzurgmihr gives the game of backgammon is NewArdaxsı r, (‘‘Noble is Ardaxs ˇı ¯r’’), in memory of Ardaxsır I (224–240), the founder of the Sasanian dynasty. New ardaxsır (Middle Persian)  nard or nardasır (Persian and Arabic), also found in nrdsyr

(Babylonian Talmud), has had popular etymologies among Arab lexicographers, composed of nard and sır.

  According to the al-Fihrist of Ibn Nadim, Wuzurgmihr is also said to have written a commentary on astronomy, the Anthologiae of  Vettius Valens, which is lost, but fragments of the Arabic translation of the Middle Persian version exist. The reason for mentioning th preoccupation of Wuzurgmihr with astronomy and astrology is the cosmological explanation of the game of backgammon in the Middle Persian text. Wuzurgmihr’s explanation of the game is analogous to the processes of the cosmos and human life. He makes fate the primary reason for what happens to mankind, and the roll of the dice in the game performs the function of fate.

  Wuzurgmihr explains that the pieces of the game represent humans and their function in the universe, which is governed by the seven planets and the twelve zodiac signs. The shape of the game board is likene to spandarmad zamıg (the goddess of the earth). The pieces represent the thirty nights and days. The die represents the axtaran and spihr (constellations and firmament), which by their turn and position (number) decide one’s movement and predict human life. The ‘‘one’’ on the die, according to the text, represents Ohrmazd’s omnipotence and his oneness. The ‘‘two’’ on the die represents menog and getıg, the spiritual and the material world. The three represents the three stages of heaven in Zoroastrianism, humat and huxt and huwarst, preceding paradise. The four represents another cosmological expression, cahar sogı getıg,

‘‘the four corners of the world.’’ The five represents the five luminaries according to the text, which are the divisions of the heavens. According to the Avesta, the heavens had four stations, which were the stars, the moon, the sun, and the eternal light. Here we have in a disorderly fashion the divisions of the heavens into the following stations: the sun, the moon, the stars, fire, and, finally, the heavenly brightness (Pananio 1995, 205–226). Finally, the six represents the sas gahanbar, or the six seasonal feasts, according to the Zoroastrian religion. The hitting of pieces is likened to killing, and when the pieces come back to the game it signifies the act of resurrection according to Zoroastrian cosmology.

  A silver gilded hemispherical bowl housed at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery depicts several important scenes from the Sasanian period. They include a scene of marriage, a wrestling scene, and several other scenes, including a scene of two people playing backgammon. One can conclude that this bowl represents the things that mattered in the courtly life (Harper 1978, 75). One can suggest that the bowl represents the activities in which a noble should engage or have knowledge of. These includ wrestling, being informed in religious precepts and ritual, marrying

and having offspring, playing instruments, and being able to play board games, that is, backgammon (Daryaee 2002, 292). The other pictorial evidence for the game of backgammon comes from Central Asia, from the city of Panjikent. Among the wall paintings from Panjikent, which are now housed in the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, there is a scene of what can be called court activity. The painting shows two people playing a board game, which in all probability is a backgammon game, along with several other personages beside them (Bussagli 1963,

46–47). A nimbus appears to encircle the head of one of the players, who has his right hand raised as a gesture of victory. The man seated on the left has his left hand raised, showing the bent forefinger. A figure behind the victorious person also appears to be pointing to the loser with the bent forefinger. A fourteenthcentury manuscript of the Sahname contains two

scenes, one at the court of King Khousro I and the second at the court of the Indian ruler Dewisarm. In one of the scenes, Wuzurgmihr is seated on the floor with three other Persians, all with white turbans. In front of the Persian sage is a backgammon board. The Indian king is seated on his throne and is surrounded by Indian sages who are painted darker and have

darker turbans. Wuzurgmihr has his right hand pointing to the backgammon board, which probably means that he is either challenging the Indian sages or explaining the rules of the game after the Indian

sages have been dumbfounded (Wilkinson 1968, xii). It is particularly interesting to note that one of the two older Indian sages, who have white beards, has his hand by his mouth, symbolizing his amazement or

perplexity.

  The Arabs were familiar with backgammon as early as the time of the Prophet Muhammad and know that the game was popular (Rosenthal 1975, 88). Tha‘alibı  relates a popular story that when the Arab Muslims conquered the Sasanian capital of  Ctesiphon, they found a set of backgammon pieces belonging to Khousro II (CE 590–628), pieces of which were made of coral and turquoise. There were those opposed to the game, especially the companions of the prophet, such as Abu Hurayra (d. 676), who refused to meet Muslims who had played backgammon. He is also thought to have said, ‘‘One who plays nard with stakes is like one who eats pork; one who plays without stakes is like one who puts his hand in pig’s blood; and one who watches the game is like one who looks at pork meat’’ (Al-Bu¯ kha ¯rı¯1375, 326–328). By the eighth century C.E., the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence considered the game of backgammon haram (illicit). We, however, have many textual references to the game being played at the court in many regions of the Islamic Near East, which means that the game may have been played by the masses as well, and, in fact, its popularity confirms this suggestion.

  During the early ‘Abbasid period (750–900), the game of backgammon was popular both at the court of  Harun al-Rashid and that of his son, al-Ma’mun. It is said that Ma’mun liked to play backgammon, because if he lost, he could place the blame on the dice, meaning fate (Falkner 1892, 115). The same may be said of the game of chess, which was seen by many Muslims as a form of gambling. Medieval authors justified the game by stating that as long as it was played for mental exercise it would be beneficial. The Qabusna   mededicates a chapter to the games of chess

and backgammon, where the proper etiquette of playing and when and to whom one should lose or win is discussed. It is strictly stated that one should not make bets on the games, and only then does playing the game become a proper activity (Yusefı¯1375, 77). During the Seljuk period, it is reported that Alp Arsalan was also fond of backgammon (Gazvini 1331, 68–69).

  In Persian poetry there are many references to the game by Anwarı Asadı , Ferdowsı , Kha ghanı, Manucehrı¯ Mas‘ud Sa‘d, Mokhta rı, Mowlavı , Sa‘dı , and Sana‘ı  (Mo‘ın 1972:421–422). Several of the

poets place the game in its original cosmological function, which means they have stayed faithful to Wuzurgmihr’s description of the game. Manucehrı gives the following couplet in regard to human fate and the cosmos: ‘‘The firmament is like the victorious looking backgammon (game), Its pieces from coral, and the quality of pearl.’’

Further Reading

Al-Bu¯ kha ¯rı¯. al-Adab al-mufrad, ed. M.F. ‘Abd al-Ba ¯kı¯,

Cairo, 1375.

Bussagli, M.Painting of Central Asia. The World Publishing Company, Ohio, 1963.

Henry Corbin.Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, from

Mazdean Iran to Shı¯‘ite Iran. Bollingen Series XCI: 2,

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977.

Daryaee, T. ‘‘Mind, Body and the Cosmos: The Game of

Chess and Backgammon in Ancient Persia.’’Iranian

Studies35, 4 (2002): 281–312.

Falkner, E.Games of Ancient and Oriental and How to Play

Them: Being the Games of the Ancient Egyptians, theFurther Reading

Al-Bu¯ kha ¯rı¯. al-Adab al-mufrad, ed. M.F. ‘Abd al-Ba ¯kı¯,

Cairo, 1375.

Bussagli, M.Painting of Central Asia. The World Publishing Company, Ohio, 1963.

Henry Corbin.Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, from

Mazdean Iran to Shı¯‘ite Iran. Bollingen Series XCI: 2,

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977.

Daryaee, T. ‘‘Mind, Body and the Cosmos: The Game of

Chess and Backgammon in Ancient Persia.’’Iranian

Studies35, 4 (2002): 281–312.

Falkner, E.Games of Ancient and Oriental and How to Play

Them: Being the Games of the Ancient Egyptians, the Hiera Gramme of the Greeks, the Ludus Latrunculorum of

the Romans and the Oriental Games of Chess, Draughts,

Backgammon and Magic Squares. New York: Dover

Publications, 1892.

Ghazvini, M. (ed.).Cˇ

aha¯r magha ¯le. Tehran: Armagha ¯n

Publishers, 1331.

Harper, P.O.The Royal Hunter, Art of the Sasanian Empire.

New York: The Asia Society, 1978.

Loghat Na¯me Dehkhoda¯, ed. M. Mo‘ı ¯n and Dj. Shahidı¯,

Letter N, Fas. 10, Tehran, 1972.

Pananio, A. ‘‘Uranographia Iranica I: The Three Heavens

in the Zoroastrian Tradition and the Mesopotamian

Background,’’ Au carrefourdes religions, Me´langes

offerts a` Philippe Gignoux, ed. R. Gyselen, Groupe

pour l’E´

tude de la Civilisation du Moyen-Orient,

Bures-sur-Yvette (1995): 205–226.

Rosenthal, F.Gambling in Islam. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975.

Qa¯bu¯sna¯me(ed. Q.-H. Yusefı¯). Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishers, 1375.

Wilkinson, C.K.Chess: East and West, Past and Present, A

Selection from the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Collection. New

York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968.

BAGHDAD

  The origin of the name Baghdad, clearly pre-Islamic, is undetermined. Few physical traces remain of the original Arab–Islamic site founded (c. 762 CE) by the ‘Abbasid caliph Abu Ja‘far al-Mansur (r. 754–775). The written accounts by geographers and historians these include al-Ya‘qubi, al-Tabari, al-Muqaddasi, and al-Khatib al-Baghdadi—are thus essential to

any reconstruction of the city’s early history. Designated officially Madinat  as-Salam (‘‘the City of Peace’’), al-Mansur’s project was built in the round, hence its nickname al-Mudawwara (‘‘the Round City’’). Completed (c. 777) at great expense, it surrounded the caliph’s massive domed residence and a congregational mosque. The Khurasani regiments the forces that had brought the ‘Abbasids to power were quartered in al-Harbiyya to the northwest.

  Designed initially as an administrative center it became, in this sense, the prototype for later Near Eastern dynasts it was soon transformed, through population growth, private construction initiatives, and other factors, into a dynamic and sprawling urban hub. By the mid-tenth century, the markets and residential neighborhoods of  Baghdad were

vast, both in number and in variety of population. Security demands played no less a part. Al-Mansur and his immediate successors, faced with threats in outlying districts, particularly from Shi‘i and Khariji

opponents, along with restive elements within Baghdad itself, completed large-scale projects, including the palace complexes of al-Khuld and al-Rusafa in the 770s. The Round City ceased to function as the

official caliphal residence by the early ninth century. Its large mosque retained its congregational function into the premodern period.

  The city’s subsequent political history was often troubled. A civil war (809–819) between the designated heirs of Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809)—his sons Muhammad al-Amin and ‘Abd Allah al-Ma’mun led to years of war in and around Baghdad, a collapse of central authority in most provinces, and the demise of the Khurasani army as the imperial mainstay. AlMa’mun, as governor of Khurasan, waged a successful

campaign against al-Amin (r. 809–813). Only partly through his own reign (813–833) did al-Ma’mun take up residence in Baghdad (819). His brother and successor, Abu Ishaq al-Mu‘tasim (r. 833–842), largely in

an effort to accommodate a complex Turkish, Iranian, and Central Asian military, created a new center at Samarra, located north on the Tigris River. Samarra replaced Baghdad as the imperial hub for some sixty

years (836–892). Developments in Samarra over ensuing decades, particularly the political interference of the Turkish high command, exacted a grim toll upon the caliphate. In Baghdad, the Tahirid family wielded considerable influence, highlighted during a brief but costly siege by Samarran forces in 865–866. The return of the ‘Abbasids to Baghdad in the 890s did little to restore their early authority.

  Entry into Baghdad by Ahmad ibn Buya, who reigned as Mu‘izz al-Dawla (945–967), initiated roughly a century long period of  Buyid suzerainty over the city and the Iraqi hinterlands. The Buyids, a north Iranian clan, established a base of power in Fars, from which they controlled Iraq into the mideleventh century. The city’s fortunes in the tenth century were mixed. The flow of tax revenue slowed markedly due to the degradation of the Iraqi agrarian infrastructure; the autonomy of most provinces, notably Egypt and Khurasan; and the shift of much

political and economic energy to Fars. Ordinary crime increased, as did religious and military factional violence. In addition, by the end of the century, the new Fatimid capital of Cairo began to overshadow

Baghdad on the political and economic fronts. The Buyids, however, devoted themselves to urban renovation and large-scale construction (palaces, congregational mosques, and markets). Baghdad retained

its highly ‘‘decentered’’ character in this period: It remained a city of disparate quarters and neighborhoods with little municipal integration or centralized authority.

  The city’s internal sociopolitical and physical divisions sharpened with the arrival of the Seljuks in the mid-eleventh century. A Turkish clan of the Oghuz (or Ghuzz) people, the Seljuks had overrun the Ghaznavids and thus established authority over Khurasan and Iran before seizing Baghdad from the Buyids. The Seljuk leader Toghril Beg (d. 1063) formed diplomatic ties with the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Qa’im (r. 1031–1075) in 1050. He led forces into Baghdad, initially in 1055, then again in 1058, at which point the caliph granted permission for his use of the title

‘‘Sultan.’’ The Seljuks spent relatively little time in Baghdad, preferring to govern from afar through local officials. Relations with the Abbasid caliphate remained uneasy throughout. However, their deep

impact on the history of Baghdad had much to do with their promotion of Sunni Islam, a position the Seljuks largely defined in terms of anti-Shi‘ism. In this sense they found a willing ally in the ‘Abbasids,

already engaged against their various Shi‘i detractors. For both the Seljuks and the ‘Abbasids, it was especially important to resist the authority and military ambitions of the Fatimid/Isma‘ili caliphate in Egypt.

  Baghdad’s significance in Islamic history as a nexus of intellectual and religious activity is difficult to exaggerate. Scholarship (literary, religious, and scientific) was tied, though by no means exclusively,

to shifting political currents. Due in part to ‘Abbasid patronage particularly that of a dynamic administrative elite (thekuttab), ninth century Baghdadi literary culture flourished. ‘Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz (d. 869), a towering figure, contributed key works of adab (belles-lettres) and Mu‘tazili theology. Ninth century religious scholarship, including Qur’anic exegesis,hadith, law, and theology, was no less dynamic, as shown by the work of Abu Ja‘far al-Tabari (d. 923) (see al-Tabari). The work of Arab/Muslim scientists benefited considerably from the translation movement of works from Persian, Greek, Syriac, and Sanskrit into Arabic, which began under al-Mansur and then flourished under al-Ma’mun.

  Subsequent developments in the city’s religiopolitical history proved critical to the formation of  the two foremost branches of Islam. The maturation of ‘‘Twelver’’ (Imami) (see Shi‘ism) scholarship and devotional life is dated to the Buyid period. Due in part to the foundational work of such scholars as alKulayni (d. 941) and al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 1022), and in part the patronage of the Buyid court, Twelver

doctrines on the occultation of the Imam and related ideas emerged. So too did Twelver ritual, notably that associated with Ghadir Khumm and mourning rites for al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali. It is also to the Buyid period

that one must date the crystallization of Sunnism, this in good measure a response to the assertion of Shi‘-ism. A hardening of Sunni-Shi‘i loyalties, often played out violently over subsequent centuries, divided the city physically as well. The Seljuk period, as previously noted, was critical to Sunni history. Of particular note were the careers of Nizam al-Mulk (d. 1092), chief vizier and Seljuk regent, and Abu Hamid alGhazali (d. 1111), theologian, jurist, and Sufi (see Sufis and Sufism); both men associated with the Nizamiyyamadrasain Baghdad. This was among the first such institutions founded in Iraq and a significant facet in the spread of Sunni thought and practice.

  Baghdad’s history as a commercial hub was no less significant. As a critical link in a complex trade network connecting the Indian Ocean, eastern Europe, the Asian steppe, and the Mediterranean, the city housed a large multiethnic and religious merchant community. Evidence for the tenth century indicates important strides in the development of banking and related areas within the city. In good part, the activity of Baghdadi merchants was driven by the needs of the court and elite society. The caliphs and, in time, Buwayhid and Seljuk interlocutors, after all, required

all appropriate displays of  luxury. Written sources indicate the availability of fabrics (silks, brocades, linens); jewelry of gold, silver, and gems; carpets; intricate metalwork; weaponry; fine musical instruments; and an array of exotic foodstuffs. Baghdad was also home to a busy commerce in slave trade.

  The wealth of the Iraqi merchant class was tied as well to trade in manufactured goods, such as textiles and paper. Papermaking had spread into the Islamic world, from China through Central Asia, in the

eighth century and rapidly became an important industry. The Suq al-Warraqin (‘‘the Stationer’s Market’’) is said to have included, at its height, more than one hundred shops. Trade in more ordinary goods

flourished as well. To feed a large population, Baghdad drew on the agricultural production of the Sawad, the highly fertile lands located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as regions farther

afield that produced rice and sugar, among other widely consumed products. New types of fruits and vegetables, produced in the Near East from at least the early Islamic period on, also came available in the

markets of Baghdad. It follows, of course, that the relationship between the large urban centers and the countryside was crucial to the ‘Abbasid economy. The ‘Abbasids, like the Umayyads before them, were fortunate in having inherited from the Sasanians a long established and well-functioning irrigation system. High levels of agricultural production were

maintained in the early ‘Abbasid period. As ‘Abbasid authority waned (by the late ninth century), however, maintenance of the agricultural infrastructure suffered as well.

Further Reading

Duri, A.A. ‘‘Baghdad.’’The Encyclopedia of Islam, Second

Edition.

Kennedy, Hugh.The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates.

Harlow, U.K.: Pearson Education Ltd., 2004.

Kraemer, Joel L.Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam.

Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992.

Lassner, Jacob.The Topography of Baghdad in the Early

Middle Ages. Detroit: Wayne State University Press,

1970.

al-Muqaddasi. The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the

Regions. Edited and translated by Basil Collins.

Reading, U.K.: Garnet Publishing, 2001.

Wheatley, Paul.The Places Where Men Pray Together:

Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh through the Tenth Centuries. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001.

BAHRAIN

  The term Bahrain was used during medieval times to describe the coastal area extending from Kuwait down to Abu Dhabi on the southern shore of the Gulf. Its population centers included Hajar (in Islamic times, Hasa), Qatif, and Awal (Bahrain Island). Before Islam, Bahrain was inhabited by Arab tribes, mainly the ‘Abd al-Qays and groups from the Banu Tamim and Bakr ibn Wa’il. These tribes shared common interests with the Sasanians, although tensions were common. Small Persian and Indian communities also lived along the coast.

  Due to its geographical position and its links with Persia and Iraq, Bahrain was prosperous. Nestorian Christianity was strong in the area, while Bahraini poets such as al-Mutalammis and al-Muthaqqab

used to attend the court of the Mundhir dynasty in Iraq.

  After the emergence of Islam in the seventh century CE, Bahraini tribes played an important role in the Arab conquests and also in political events in Iraq during the Umayyad era (660–749). The spread of war damaged commerce, and many Bahraini tribes migrated to the newly founded Iraqi cities of Basra and Kufa. As a result, Bahrain declined in importance

and was ruled by the governor of Basra, creating an important vacuum that led the area to become one of the centers of opposition to the Umayyad caliphate, in which the Kharijis played a prominent

part.

  During the ‘Abbasid period (749–1258), the rise of  Basra as a commercial center, along with Siraf, Qays, and Hormuz, led to the further decline of Bahrain. Groups opposed to the ‘Abbasids, such as the Zanj

(c. 868–883) and the Qarmathians (c. 900–1076), gained strength. These movements eventually subsided, while Shi‘ism spread in Hasa and Awal.

  New migrants from Central Arabia arrived, and an independent state was founded by Abd Allah bin Ali. The dynasty that followed, the ‘Uyunids, lasted from c. 1076 to 1228. Supported by the Seljuk rulers of

Iraq, this dynasty relied on the power of the Banu ‘Amir tribes who had migrated from Najd.

  The Banu ‘Amir were initially allies of the Qarmathians and then of the ‘Uyunids, but they eventually overthrew the latter and established a dynasty of their own. Founded by ‘Usfur ibn Rashid and known as the ‘Usfurids, the dynasty dominated Bahrain from c. 1228 to 1383, but finally came to an end with the rise of the Kingdom of Hormuz in fourteenth century.

  Another branch of the Banu ‘Amir, led by Zamil ibn Jabir, then managed to gain control of Bahrain, founding the dynasty of the Jubur (c. 1446–1519). This dynasty adopted the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, but little is known of the cultural and social life of its people. Although their influence spread throughout the Gulf, the Jubur were swiftly overwhelmed by the technologically superior Portuguese, who arrived in the Gulf at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

  Throughout the medieval period, the coastal economy of the extensive area known as Bahrain was based on commerce, pearling, and date cultivation.

Further Reading

Al-Khalifa, Shaikh Abdullah, K., and Michael Rice, Editors.Bahrain through the Ages: The History. London and

New York: Kegan Paul International, 1993.

Hasan, N.The Role of the Arab Tribes in the East during the

Period of the Umayyad (40–132/660–749). Baghdad:

Baghdad University, 1976.

Miles, S. B.The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf.

London: Frank Cass, 1966.

Morony, Michael. ‘‘The Arabisation of the Gulf.’’ InThe

Arab Gulf and the Arab World. Edited by B.R. Pridham.

London, New York, and Sydney: Croom Helm, 1988.

Naboodah, H.Eastern Arabia in the Sixth and Seventh

Centuries A.D.,Ph.D. dissertation, University of Exeter,

UK, 1989.

———. ‘‘The Commercial Activity of Bahrain and Oman in

the Early Middle Ages.’’Proceedings of the Seminar for

Arabian Studies22 (1992): 81–96.

Potts, D.T.The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity. 2 vols. New

York: Oxford University Press, 1990 (reprinted 1992).

BAKRI, AL-, GEOGRAPHER

  Abu ‘Ubayd ‘Abd Allah, b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Bakri (d. 487/1094), was the greatest geographer of  Muslim Spain. Little is known about his life. He was a native of Cordova, where he died. His father was the only one, or else the second, ruler of the small principality of Huelva and Saltes, founded in 402/1012, at the time of the fall of the Umayyad caliphate in Cordova. In 443/1051, when his father, ‘Izz al-Dawla, was obliged to give up his power, Abu ‘Ubayd, who was at that time approximately thirty years old, accompanied him to Cordova. He was the the pupil of the historian Abu Marwan Ibn Hayyan (d. 469/1076) and of other masters, and moved in various court circles, especially Almeria. He quickly became a distinguished writer. Several books are attributed to him, in the religious sphere, in philology, on the correct names of the Arabic tribes, and one in botany, none of which has come to us.

  In geography, the work on which Abu ‘Ubayd’s renown is mainly based is hisBook of the Itineraries and Kingdoms (al-Masalik wa l-mamalik). He appears never to have traveled in the east, or even in North Africa. He composed this book in 461/1068 assisted by literary and oral information. For North Africa and some parts of  Northern Black Africa (such as Sudan), his main source isBook of the Itineraries and Kingdoms of Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Warraq (d. 363/973 in Cordova), which has not come to us. Not all of the book has been published or translated.

The following sections are edited and/or translated separately: Northern Africa, fragments on the Russians and Slavs, parts related to Muslim Spain, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and Europe.

  Following the usual practice of the geographers of his time and before him, Abu ‘Ubayd gave to this work the form of a roadbook, including distances between towns and staging posts. Most of his descriptions of towns are remarkably precise. His toponymic material for Muslim Spain, the Maghrib, Northern Africa, and so on is no less worthy of interest. Many of his historical notices and remarks are also invaluable. He was also interested in social and religious matters, for instance, about the Berber Moroccan tribe of the Banu Lamas, who were Shi‘i; or his statement on Yunus of the Barghawati Berber tribe of Morocco, who made a journey in the first half of the third / ninth century to the East of the Islamic empire, together with other North Africans and Andalusis, of

whom three claimed to be prophets upon their return, including Yunus himself. Abu ‘Ubayd also gives social and economic information, such as on the presence of Andalusi traders in al-Mahdiyya (Tunisia), providing detailed and varied itineraries for their maritime crossings of the channel between North Africa and al-Andalus.

  Abu ‘Ubayd’sDictionaryon the toponyms, mostly referring to the Arabic Peninsula, which occur in preIslamic poetry and in the literature of the Islamic traditional reports, the spelling of which has given rise the discussions among the philologists and traditionists, has been edited. It includes a long and interesting introduction on the geographical setting of

ancient Arabia and the habitats of the most important tribes.

Primary Sources

Works of al-Bakri:

Das Geographische Buchdes Abu ‘Obeid ‘Abdallah ben

‘Abd el-‘Aziz el-Bekri. 2 vols. Ed. Ferdinand Wu ¨stenfeld. Paris: Go ¨ttingen, 18761877; reprint Osnabru ¨ck:

Biblio-Verlag, 1976; reprint Frankfurt: Publications of

the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Sciences,

1994 Islamic Geography, vols. 206–207).

Description de l’Afrique septentrionale, par Abou-Obeı ¨d-elBekri, I, Texte arabe, ed. Mac Guckin de Slane, Alger

and Paris, 1910.

II,Description de l’Arique septentrionale[. . . ], translated by

Mac Guckin de Slane, Alger and Paris, 1913; reprint

together, Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1965; reprint

Frankfurt: Publications of the Institute for the History

of Arabic-Islamic Sciences, 1993 (Islamic Geography,

vols. 134–135).

Geografia de Espan˜a, Introduction. Translation and notes

by Eliseo Vidal Beltra´n. Zaragosa: Anubar, 1982.

Kitab al-Masalik wa l-mamalik, 2 vols. Ed. Andre ´Ferre´and

Adrian van Leeuwen. Carthage: Beit al-Hikma, 1992;

reprint Beirut, Dar al-Gharb al-islami, between 1992

and 1995.

Mu‘jam ma sta‘jam min asma’ al-bilad wa l-mawadi‘, 4 vol.

in 2. Ed. Mustafa al-Saqqa. Cairo, 1945; reprint Beirut:

‘Alam al-kutub, 1983 (is only a copy of the ed. of Wu ¨stenfeld).

The Arab geographer Abu ‘Ubayd al-Bakri,2

nd

part:The

Arabic Peninsula(in Arabic). Ed. ‘Abd Allah Yusuf alGhunaym. Kuwayt: Dhat al-Salasil, 1977.

The Geography of al-Andalus and Europe(in Arabic). Ed.

‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Ali al-Hajj. Beirut: Dar al-Irshad,

1968.

The Geography of Egypt(in Arabic). Ed. ‘Abd Allah Yusuf

al-Ghunaym. Kuwayt: Dar al-‘Uruba, 1980.

Further Reading

Gilliot, Claude. ‘‘Al-Warrak, Muhammad b. Yusuf,’’EI,

XI, 151.

Le´vi-Provenc¸al, E. ‘‘Abu ‘Ubayd al-Bakri,’’EI, I, 155–157:

Miquel, Andre´. La ge´ographie humaine du monde musulman jusqu’au milieu du 11

e

sie`cle. 4 vols. Paris: La Haye:

Mouton, 1967 (19732

), 1975, 1980, 1988.

BALKANS

  Although interactions between the Balkan Slavs and Greeks with Arab Muslims can be traced back to the medieval Arab Byzantine relations, Islam spread through the Balkans with the Ottoman invasion that commenced in the mid-fourteenth century. No medieval Balkan state was strong enough to halt the advancing Ottoman army, especially given that the Ottomans had acted several times as mercenary allies in the internecine wars, which had led to political divisions, deteriorating living conditions, and general economic instability. After capturing Adrianople

(Edirne) in 1365, the Ottomans pushed farther into the Balkans in several waves: Serbia fell by 1389 (the Battle of Kosovo); Bulgaria and Wallachia by 1402; Bosnia by 1463; Greece, including a number of Aegean islands, and Albania by 1481. The apex of Ottoman expansion was reached by the mid sixteenth century with the acquisition of Transylvania, large parts of Hungary, and Slavonia.

  Organized into the millet system of religious grouping, the Balkan people remained predominantly Orthodox Christian. However, the presence of Islam intensified through two main processes: (1) the controlled movement of Muslim populations from other parts of the Empire, and (2) conversions to Islam that took place among local pulations in uneven waves and over several centuries. In such diverse religious space, some pockets of the Balkans continued being predominantly Christian, whereas others became mainly Muslim. The largest Muslim communities were found in Bosnia, Albania, Bulgaria, and Western Thrace. Furthermore, after the Spanish Reconquista, many Sephardic Jews settled in the Balkans on the invitation of the Ottoman sultan.

  Because Islam was spread by the Ottomans, Muslims of the Balkans became predominantly Sunni, of Hanafi legal orientation, though Shi‘i teachings were introduced by, and confined to, the Bektashi and the associated Kizilbashi Sufi orders. The denominational and legal uniformity among Balkan Muslims did not lead to their integration or unification otherwise. On the contrary, because of the lack of assimilationist policies by the Ottoman government, most Muslims

retained their cultural and linguistic distinctiveness and separate ethnic identities.

  Excluding the elite population, the majority of the Balkan people were peasants and shepherds whose religious beliefs revealed many syncretic practices adapted from pagan, Christian, and now Islamic beliefs. Whether Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, they placed the main emphasis on local praxis rather than official teachings. This was reflected in their customs and rituals, funerary architecture, festivals, and folk

literature.

  The situation was somewhat different in the cities that were erected or invigorated through Ottoman state policies and pious endowment (waqfs), generating lively economic, intellectual, architectural, and

social activities. Here, Ottoman Islamic values flourished in a way that reflected a clearer connection with the larger imperial system, though local sensibilities remained palpable and important. The urban elite,

made up of literary figures, historiographers, theologians, philosophers, jurists, merchants, and others, reveals a polyglot culture in which the Ottoman languages (Turkish, Arabic, and Persian) were used along with local languages in intellectual production and exchange. Among the most prominent scholars worthy of mention are Ali Dede Bosnevi (d. 1598),

who wrote comprehensive commentaries on Sa‘di, Rumi, and Hafiz; Hasan Kafi of Prusac (d. 1616), a judge whose treatise on the qualities of good governance became widely known and cited throughout the

Empire; the prolific scholar Mustafa b. Yusuf of Mostar, known as Sheyh Yuyo (d. 1707), who wrote multidisciplinary commentaries on medieval Islamic thought; and Yahya Bey of Taslidja (d. 1575), a prolific poet of lyrical and mystical odes and couplets that drew inspiration from popular legends as well as great Sufi masters.

  The Balkans also provided a receptive ground for the dissemination of Sufi ideas and practices, as evidenced by the diversity and number of Sufi orders. Among the most important orders were the Khalwati, Naqshbandi, and Bektashi, while less prevalent ones included the Qadiri, Rifa‘i, Mawlawi, Bayrami, Malami, and Badawi orders. Overall, Sufi orders invigorated Balkan Islam in both belief and practice. In fact, many conversions to Islam happened through Sufi activities. Their presence in cities and villages across the Balkans, as testified to by the number of

tekkes (convents) and tu ¨rbes (mausoleums), shows their ubiquitous presence in different spheres of life. While some were more attractive to intellectual and literary circles (such as the Khalwati), others were

highly syncretic and enjoyed popular appeal. Most syncretic was the Bektashi order. Long associated with the Ottoman military establishment, Bektashis spread throughout the Balkans, as evidenced by the remains of their tekkes and turbes in Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Albania. Shi’i in orientation and organized around a sheikh referred to as

baba, the Bektashis intertwined Islamic teachings with local customs and folklore, making the order popular, especially in rural areas, and involving equal participation by both men and women.

Further Reading

Birnbaum, Henrik and Speros Vryonis.Aspects of the Balkans: Continuity and Change. Hague: Mouton, 1972.

Brown, L. Carl.Imperial Legacy: The Ottoman Imprint on

the Balkans and the Middle East. New York: Columbia

University Press, 1996.

Fine, John V. A.The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical

Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman

Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,

1987.

Jelavich, Barbara.History of the Balkans. Joint Committee

on Eastern Europe Publication Series. No. 12. 2 vols.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Kiel, Machiel.Art and Society of Bulgaria in the Turkish

Period: A Sketch of the Economic, Juridical, and Artistic

Preconditions of Bulgarian Post-Byzantine Art and Its

Place in the Development of the Art of the Christian

Balkans, 1360/70–1700: A New Interpretation. Assen,

The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1985.

Norris, H.T.Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society

between Europe and the Arab World. London: Hurst &

Co., 1993.

Poulton, Hugh and Suha Taji-Farouki (eds.).Muslim Identity and the Balkan State. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

Rexhebi, Baba.The Mysticism of Islam and Bektashism.

Naples: Dragotti, 1984.

Skendi, Stavro. ‘‘Crypto-Christians in the Balkan Area

under the Ottomans.’’Slavic Review26:2 (1967): 227–

246.

Stavrianos, Leften Stavros.The Balkans since 1453. New

York: Rinehart, 1958.

BARANI, ZIA’ AL-DIN, HISTORIAN OF PRE-MUGHAL INDIA

  A prominent theorist on Islamic political thought in fourteenth century India, Barani was born (circa 1285) in an aristocratic family with excellent connections to the ruling elite of the Delhi sultanate. His grandfather, father, and uncle held important governmental positions. Barani himself had the opportunity to serve at the court of Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq (r. 1325–1350) as companion to the ruler. At the beginning of the reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq, Muhammad ibn Tughluq’s successor, Barani fell out of royal favor, apparently because he had been involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the new ruler. After a brief imprisonment, he spent several years in banishment from the court. Until his death in 1357, he continued writing in the futile hope that he would one day regain his position at the court.

  In his major works, Fatawayi jahandariand Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, Barani expounds his conceptions about the norms that Muslim rulers should observe while exercising their authority, specifically in the Indian context. InFatawa-yi Jahandari, written as a guidebook for princes, he conceives of God having delegated authority over human societies to prophets and kings. Because authority to rule is God-given, the ideal ruler should manifest divine virtues of mercy and wrath, which are essential ingredients for a successful reign. He declares that it is the basic duty of a

pious Muslim ruler to repudiate all that is non-Islamic and promote the propagation of proper ‘‘Islamic’’ values. To preserve these values, it is incumbent on the ruler to severely limit the role of non-Muslims in the administration of the state. Using a Sunni yardstick to determine what was correctly Islamic, and upholding theShari’ahas interpreted by Sunni theologians to be normative, he considered the Shi‘is and the falsafa (philosophers) to be heretics who should be exterminated. In this regard, he extols Mahmud of Ghazna as the ideal Sunni Muslim ruler for his determination to exterminate idolatry and all forms of infidelity. Barani’s writings show intolerance toward not only non-Muslims but also Muslims of indigenous Indian origin whom he thought of as low-born and not worthy of anything but a basic education about Islamic rites and practices. His class- and race based notions, which run contrary to Islamic ideals of equality, extolled only those of pure Perso Turkish origin to be ‘‘true’’ Muslims. In this he reflected the views of many of theashraf,or the aristocracy, of his time.

  As is evident in Fatawa-yi Jahandari and Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi, Barani’s conception of  historiography was primarily didactic and not meant to chronicle events. As a result, he only includes information that validates his religiopolitical theories. His works should, therefore, be read from this perspective. He often conceives his heroes as being motivated by solely religious concerns, without paying attention to historical and political realities of the time. Of particular interest is Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi,in which he writes an account of the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate from

Sultan Balban (r. 1266–1287) to Muhammad ibn Tughluq with the goal of demonstrating how rulers prospered when they adhered to his ideals and suffered failure and disgrace when they deviated from them. When a ruler such as Ala A.D.-Din Khalji (r. 1296–1316), who clearly did not live up to Barani’s standards for a good Muslim ruler, seems to have

enjoyed a prosperous reign, Barani attributes this success to the presence in his realm of  Nizam ad-Din Awliya, the preeminent Shaykh of the Chishti Sufi order. However, since Ala ad-Din Khalji was blind

to the power and virtues of Nizam ad-Din Awliya, he and his family suffered terrible personal fates.

Further Reading

Hardy, Peter.Historians of Medieval India. London: Luzac

and Co., 1960

BASRA

  The medieval city of Basra was located just west of the Shatt al-Arab, the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. Basra was first settled between AH 14/635 CE and 17/638 by Arab

tribesmen who participated in the Muslim conquest of the Sasanian Empire. Most likely it was little more than a military camp during the first years of  its existence. Basra’s strategic location allowed it to

dominate both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and important overland trade routes. Consequently, it grew into a thriving military city. By the time of the Battle of the Camel in 36/657, Basra is estimated to have had some fifty thousand residents.

  Topographically, the city was divided into five tribal zones, each under the leadership of the tribal ashraf (notables). Tribal relations in the garrison towns were complex, but Basra was generally dominated by the Tamim tribe. The city originally served as a garrison town from which to control newly conquered territory in Iraq and to launch further expeditions into Fars. Thanks to extensive irrigation works, Basra eventually became an agricultural center as well. It was particularly famous for the quality of its date orchards. Its strategic location also made it a trading center of some importance. During the Umayyad period, Basra did not join the neighboring garrison town of Kufa in supporting various ‘Alid movements. It was not, however, immune to rebellion, becoming the center for Ibn al-Ash‘ath’s rebellion in 81/701 and Ibn al-Muhallab’s revolt in 101/719. The ‘Abbasid revolution of 132/750, which

came in the wake of a plague in Basra, brought a slow decline in the city’s status, as the newly established capital city of  Baghdad over shadowed the older garrison towns. Basra was not initially a focus for opposition to the ‘Abbasids, but as the town shrank in size (from a peak of at least two hundred thousand residents) and influence, it became susceptible to revolts, the most notable of which was the Zanj rebellion of

257/871. The fact that this was a rebellion of agricultural slaves and not of disgruntled soldiers (who fomented earlier rebellions) underlines Basra’s transition from a garrison town to an agricultural center. As the ‘Abbasids lost their grip on power, Basra suffered a variety of invasions and pillages, particularly during the sixth/twelfth century.

 In addition to its strategic importance, Basra was also a significant center for scholarly activity, a status that the rise of Baghdad did not diminish. During the Umayyad period, a variety of important theological thinkers called Basra home, including al-Hasan alBasri (d. 110/728) and the early Mu‘tazilite leaders Wasil ibn ‘Ata’ (d. 131/748) and ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd

(d. 144/761). Basra was the focus of the theological debate over human free will and the birthplace of the Mu‘tazilite movement. In addition, Basra was the earliest center for the study of Arabic grammar. Unlike Kufa, Basra did not, however, become an important venue in the debates that shaped early Islamic jurisprudence.

Primary Sources

al-Tabari, Muhammad ibn Jarir. Ta’rikh al-rusul wa-lmuluk. ed. M.J. de Goeje. Leiden, 1879–1901.

Yaqut ibn ‘Abdallah al-Hamawi.Mu‘jam al-buldan. ed. F.

Wu¨stenfeld as Jacut’s Geographisches Wo ¨rterbuch.

Leipzig, 1866–1873.

Further Reading

Pelat, Charles.Le Milieu Basrien et la Formation de Gahiz.

Paris: Libraire d’ame´rique et d’orient, 1953.

van Ess, Josef. Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3.

Jahrhundert Hidschra. Band II. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1992.

BAYBARS I, MAMLUK SULTAN

  Baybars I, fifth ruler (r. 1260–1277) of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria, was in many ways the most important leader in its history.

  Baybars was born around 1220 CE among the Qipchaq Turks, who lived in the steppe region north of the Black Sea. Fleeing from the Mongol invasions in the area in 1241–1242, Baybars and his family moved to Anatolia. There, Baybars was captured and ended up in the slave market of Damascus. Eventually he ended up in the service of the great Ayyubid

sultan, al-Salih Ayyub (1238–1249), founder of the famous Bahriyya regiment, of which Baybars was a member. Baybars first came to prominence in the fighting in Mansura (1250) in the eastern Nile Delta

during the Fifth Crusade; his bravery and leadership helped turn the tables against the Franks. Baybars was one of the conspirators who killed the new sultan, Turanshah, son of al-Salih, an event that led to the

establishment of the Mamluk rule in Egypt. The Bahriyya, led by Aqtai and seconded by Baybars, was one of the main factions in the fledging Mamluk state, but it was soon bested in the internal power struggles by

Sultan Aybak. Aqtai was killed in 1254, and Baybars fled with seven hundred Bahris to Syria, where they remained as mercenaries serving various Ayyubid princes until the approach of the Mongols at the

beginning of 1260. Baybars realized that there was no chance of resistance to the Mongols in Ayyubid Syria, so he was reconciled with the new Mamluk sultan, Qutuz (a Mamluk of Aybak and therefore an

enemy). The Bahriyya under Baybars returned to Egypt in March 1260. Baybars became a trusted subordinate in the campaign against the Mongols in the summer of 1260. He led the advance guard that came

across the first Mongols at Gaza, and then again in the skirmishing in the Jezreel Valley before the battle of ‘Ayn Jalut, where his courage is also noted by various sources; he also led the subsequent mopping-up operations. Relations with Qutuz soon soured, however, particularly when Baybars was not awarded the governorship of Aleppo as he had hoped. On their way back to Cairo, both men were on their guard. Baybars, however, struck first. With a group of conspirators, he fell upon the sultan while hunting and killed him. This was the second time that Baybars was deeply involved in a regicide. He was recognized

as ruler in late October 1260.

  The reign of Baybars was in many ways the formative years of the Mamluk Sultanate. Emerging from a decade of political disorder on the one hand, and having just gained control over most of  Syria up to

the Euphrates River on the other hand, the Sultanate was put on a firm footing militarily, politically, and economically. Baybars was surely aware that it was only a matter of time until the Mongols attempted

another large scale invasion of  Syria. Any doubts that he might have harbored on this matter were removed by the many Mongol raids, as well as truculent letters that he received from the Ilkhans, as the Mongol

rulers of Iran and the surrounding countries were known. He set about enlarging and strengthening his army. An efficient foreign espionage service was established, as was a communication network connecting the capital, Cairo, with the main cities of Syria and the far-flung frontier along the Euphrates, through the use of horse relays, pigeon post, and

bonfires. Fortifications were set in order along the frontier and inside the country, although those captured from the Franks along the coast were destroyed. Diplomatic relations were established and maintained

with various non-Muslim rulers, including the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus. The most significant diplomatic de´marchewas the relations established with Berke Khan, the Muslim Mongol ruler of the Golden Horde in the southern Russian steppe. Baybars encouraged him to continue fighting his cousin the Ilkhan, which meant that the Mongols of Iran were often fighting on a second front and could not devote themselves to the war against the Mamluks. Although there were no major Mongol campaigns into Syria during Baybars’s reign, the

frontier was a scene of frequent warfare, with raiders going both ways. In this border war, the Mamluks were usually more successful, perhaps due to the greater importance they attached to this front compared with their Ilkhanid enemies. In 1277, Baybars launched his one major campaign into Mongol-controlled territory, Anatolia. This resulted in a Mamluk victory at Abulustayn (which later became Elbistan), but Baybars—after sweeping through the country withdrew because of supply difficulties and the prospect of a major Mongol counterattack. Throughout his reign, Baybars also launched several large-scale raids on the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia in Cilicia, a loyal ally of the Mongols.

  In the years after gaining power, Baybars consolidated Mamluk rule in Syria. A number of minor rulers, including Ayyubid princes, were either eliminated or brought under control. His legitimacy was strengthened by the welcome of a scion of the ‘Abbasid family. After ascertaining his genealogy, Baybars had him declared caliph with the title al-Mustansir. In

a well-directed spectacle, the new caliph promptly handed over all functions to Baybars, who was officially declared sultan. Baybars also significantly reduced the Frankish presence in Syria and Palestine. There is no indication that Baybars had planned an aggressive anti-Frankish policy from the beginning of his reign, and he may well have thought to continue the modus vivendi that characterized Muslim Crusader relations during the Ayyubid period. Perhaps his growing awareness of the Ilkhans’ attempts to achieve an alliance with the Pope and rulers of Latin Europe in order to launch a joint campaign against the Mamluks led the sultan to adopt a more truculent strategy vis-a`-vis the Franks

in Syria. In a series of campaigns, Baybars captured a large number of Crusader cities and forts (some notable examples include Caesarea and Arsuf in 1265; Safad in 1266; Jaffa, Beaufort, and Antioch in 1268;

and Crac des Chevaliers in 1271). Baybars left his successors a much-reduced Crusader entity that was  finally eliminated in 1291 by the sultan al-Ashraf Khalil ibn Qalawun.

  Baybars was responsible for the greater institutionalization of the army, the iqta‘ (land allocation) system, and provincial and central administration, as well as a reform of the judiciary system, which led to

the placing of all four Sunni schools of law on an equal footing (albeit with a slight preference for the Shafi‘i school). He was also a great builder of fortifications and religious buildings. Although not the first

ruler of the Sultanate, he was in many ways its real founder. He was succeeded by his son al-Sa‘id Berke Khan, who was, however, removed after two years. After a short interlude in which another son, Sulamish, served as a puppet ruler, Baybars’s colleague and associate Qalawun (r. 1279–1290) ascended to the throne.

Further Reading

Amitai, Reuven. ‘‘The Mamluk Officer Class during the

Reign of Sultan Baybars.’’ InWar and Society in the

Eastern Mediterranean, 7th–15th Centuries. Edited by

Yaakov Lev. Leiden: Brill, 1997, 267–300.

Amitai-Preiss, Reuven. ‘‘Mamluk Perceptions of the Mongol–Frankish Rapprochement.’’Mediterranean Historical Review7 (1992): 50–65.

———.Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk–Ilkhanid War,

1260–1281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1995.

Holt, Peter M.The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from

the Eleventh Century to 1517. London and New York:

Longman, 1986.

———,Early Mamluk Diplomacy, 1260–1290: Treaties of

Baybars and Qalawun with Christian Rulers. Leiden:

Brill, 1995.

Irwin, Robert. The Middle East in the Middle Ages: The

Early Mamluk Sultanate, 1250–1382. London: Routledge, 1986

Khowaiter, Abdul-Aziz.Baibars the First: His Endeavours

and Achievements. London, 1978.

Northrup, Linda. ‘‘The Bahri Mamluk Sultanate, 1250–

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