Conflict of Interests? The Role of the Islamic Religious Leaders in the Mamluk Conflicts in Ottoman Egypt at the Dawn of the Eighteenth Century

Article in Elibrary

Received: 04/11/2023

Accepted: 06/29/2023

Keywords: Ottoman Egypt; power elites; Mamluk emirs; Emir al-Hajj; Egyptian ulama; Islamic religious leaders

Available in the on-line version with: 27.10.2023

To cite this article

Valery E. Smirnov Conflict of Interests? The Role of the Islamic Religious Leaders in the Mamluk Conflicts in Ottoman Egypt at the Dawn of the Eighteenth Century. // Lomonosov Oriental Studies Journal. 2023. Vol. 67. N 2,67 p.85-91 https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU0320-8095-13-67-2-7.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Valery E. Smirnov (Lomonosov Moscow State University)

Abstract

The article analyzes the complex and tangled relationship between members of the military-political elite of Ottoman Egypt at the end of the 18th century. Based on the materials of the chronicle of the Egyptian annalist Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti the article aims to reveal the principal motives for the murder of one of the key figures in the neo-Mamluk hierarchy — Emir al-Hajj Yusuf-Bek. At the same time, the author examines the role of Islamic religious leaders, namely the Egyptian Alim corps, in this notorious affair. As a result of the case study, a finding is made about the necessity of observing the norms of behavior set in the Egyptian society by holders of secular power towards the religious spiritual authorities.

References

Al-Dzhabarti, ‘Abd ar-Rahman. Egypt on the eve of Bonaparte Expedition (1776– 1798). / Translation from Arabic, preface and notes by Kh.I. Kilberg [Egipet v kanun jekspedicii Bonaparta (1776–1798). / Per. s arab., predisl. i primech. H.I. Kil’berg]. М.: Nauka Publ., 1978. (In Russ.)