The Historian Al-Jabartī and his Background

Abstract

In glaring contrast to the period of the Mamluk sultanate (1250–1517), which abounds in rich, most detailed and accurate source material, hardly surpassed either in quality or quantity by the source material pertaining to any other region of Islam, the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt (1517–1811, approximately) is conspicuous for the dearth of its historical sources written by contemporary inhabitants of the country. This state of affairs, gloomy enough in itself, becomes even more gloomy in the light of the fact that the first 70 years or so of Ottoman rule are almost totally obscure. The very concise chronicles of Ibn Abī al-Surūr al-Bakrī and al-Isḥqī, which contain no more than the barest outline of the events, give only a faint glimpse of what happened in Egypt in the above-mentioned period. Thus the process of Egypt's transition from its Mamluk into its Ottoman shape is practically unknown except for the first few years (922–8/1517–22) of Ottoman rule described by Ibn lyās. It is only after that transition had reached a very advanced stage that a somewhat clear picture of Egyptian history and society can be drawn from historical works compiled by contemporary Egyptian authors; and it should be stressed in this connexion that however important other kinds of sources may be—such as the Ottoman archives, and to a much lesser extent, the itineraries of European travells—they are certainly no substitute for the works of the local historians.