a Study of al-Durar al-kamina as a Source for the History of the Mamluk Empire.

Several scholars have attempted to characterize the secretaries of the bureaucracies of the Islamic empires during various eras. Most claim that these secretaries (kuttab) were a closely knit caste of professional bureaucrats with no ties to the class of religious notables, the 'ulama'. In...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Escovitz, Joseph H.
Other Authors: Little, Donald P. (Supervisor)
Format: Others
Language:en
Published: McGill University 1974
Subjects:
Online Access:http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=108829
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Summary:Several scholars have attempted to characterize the secretaries of the bureaucracies of the Islamic empires during various eras. Most claim that these secretaries (kuttab) were a closely knit caste of professional bureaucrats with no ties to the class of religious notables, the 'ulama'. In opposition to this view, I. Lapidus, in his book Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages, claims that 'ulama' were to be found in all branches of the Mamluk bureaucracy, even among the supposedly haughty secretaries of the chancery. It is the purpose of this thesis to comment on this dispute by studying the biographies of the Mamluk chancery as presented in the biographical dictionary. [...] === Plusieurs savants ont essayé de caractériser les secrétaires des bureaucraties des empires islamiques pendant de diverses époques. La plupart avance que ces secrétaires (kuttab) étaient une caste fermée de bureaucrates professionels, sans lien à cet avis, I. Lapidus, dans son livre Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages, soutient que des 'ulama' se trouvaient dans les branches de la bureaucratie des Mameloukes, même entre les secrétaires de la chancellerie, supposément hautains. Le but de cette thèse est de commenter ce débat en étudiant les biographies des secrétaires de la chancellerie mamelouke comme elles sont presentées dans le dictionnaire biographique contemporaine. [...]