Two Qaraquyunlu and Aqquyunlu ‘Turkmen’ Decrees in the Great Mosque of Mardin

Abstract

Abstract This contribution reconstructs and contextualizes two decrees abolishing specific imposts. Both were inscribed into the eastern entrance vestibule of the great mosque of Mardin connecting the mosque to the main market area of the town in the name of Qaraquyunlu and Aqquyunlu ‘Turkmen’ rulers in the mid-15th century CE. As argued in this article, the decrees pertain to the immediate context of the civil revolt of Mardin against Jahāngīr Aqquyunlu in 1450 CE. Accordingly, the inscription of fiscal decrees into highly visible and institutionally protected locations of the urban fabric emerges as a crucial interface negotiating civil (dis)content and the pragmatics of rule. Together with the exceptionally dense attestation of the history of Mardin during the first half of the 15th century CE in a variety of mediums and narrative and linguistic traditions, this enables an exemplary reconstruction of subaltern and non-rulerly agency during this period of frequently changing rulers. By historicizing the fiscal ordinances decreed in both inscriptions, fiscal imposts emerge as one of the strands along which civil (dis)content could be negotiated. In addition, the continued preservation of both inscriptions attests to the resilience and stability of the ‘inscribed public sphere’ of Mardin. Accordingly, inscriptions 853 and 854 Mardin are presented as the centerpiece of an exemplary micro-study of non-rulerly agency and the pragmatics of rule in the 15th century CE pre-industrial Middle East.