The Book of Islamic Dynasties: A Celebration of Islamic History and Culture by Luqman Nagy

Author:Luqman Nagy [Nagy, Luqman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ta-Ha Publisher Ltd.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

14-1 MAMLUK MONUMENTS: In two hundred and fifty years, the Mamluks of Egypt had constructed about seven hundred superb monuments in the Cairo area alone. Today, in old Cairo, a visitor can still view about two hundred of these architectural masterpieces, many with helmet-shaped domes, which dominate the skyline. Here we can see a forest of domes and minarets with the Pyramids of Giza in the background. The building frenzy during Mamluk times, in particular, forced some architects to begin using the Pyramids as a source of building material. Therefore, some of the monumental public works such as mosque complexes, madrasahs, hospitals, caravanserais, private villas and palaces built by the Mamluks, may contain stones pillaged from the four thousand year-old Pyramids.

One of Al-Nasir’s sons, Sultan Hasan (1347–1351 and 1354–1361), also built an exceptional mosque, understood to be the most expensive Mamluk monument ever constructed (see illustration 14-2). In the large courtyard, each of the four schools of Islamic Law (Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi’i, and Maliki) was given a special corner. Students of all four schools would study with their respective teachers in a separate wing of the open courtyard. Cairo had now replaced Baghdad as both the religious and economic capital of Dar al-Islam. In 1383, Ibn Khaldun, the great Arab social historian, visited Cairo for the first time and was very impressed with the city that was truly “the centre of the world”.

I beheld the metropolis of the World, orchard of the Universe, hive of nations … human anthill, portal of Islam, throne of royalty bursting with palaces and portals within, shining on the horizon with convents and schools, illuminated by the moon and stars of its learned doctors, which appeared on the bank of the Nile, River of Paradise, flowing with waters of the sky.21

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