Malik Ayaz
Malik Ayaz (d. 1522). Indian Muslim admiral, administrator and statesman in Gujarat. He made the island of Diu into an impregnable fortress.
Ayaz, Malik see Malik Ayaz
Malik Ayaz (d. 1522). Indian Muslim admiral, administrator and statesman in Gujarat. He made the island of Diu into an impregnable fortress.
Ayaz, Malik see Malik Ayaz
Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas (Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi) (Mālik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Āmr al-Asbahi) ("Imam Malik") ("Sheikh of Islam") ("Proof of the Community") ("Imam of the Abode of Emigration") (c. 710/711-795/796). Muslim jurist and the imam of the law school of the Malikites, which is named after him. He is frequently called the Imam of Medina. His great work, the Muwatta’ -- the Book of the Smoothed Path -- , is the earliest surviving Muslim law book. Malik introduced the recognition of the unanimous practice of Medina, which he established as an organized judicial system. He thus created a theoretical standard for matters which were not settled from the point of view of consensus.
Born in Medina, where he spent most of his life, Malik became the most prominent jurist of that city. Malik was born the son of Anas ibn Malik and Aaliyah bint Shurayk al-Azdiyya. His family was originally from the al-Asbahi tribe of Yemen, but his great grandfather Abu 'Amir relocated the family to Medina after converting to Islam in the second year after the hijra.
Little is known about Malik’s early life, although many legends abound. Malik is supposed, for example, to have spent two or three years in his mother’s womb and to have been taught fiqh by some nine hundred teachers. Malik seems to have been in competition for a time with Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad’s biographer, until Ibn Ishaq abandoned both fiqh and Medina.
Malik’s Muwatta’ is the earliest work on fiqh written to develop a basis for law by means of a survey of custom in Medina, but he was writing at a stage when the rules for transmission of hadith had not been fully formed and his work was subjected to modification and correction by later scholars. Nevertheless, Malik’s criticism of his authorities was so rigorous that even today his reputation in this area has remained high.
Malik did not start from a theoretical position but with the law as it existed, so his work seems somewhat disorganized under the larger topics of contracts, penal law, marriage, etc. However, despite this failing, Malik’s work was so influential that Islamic legal treatises continued this pattern.
While Malik did not start a school, his name came to be used by a branch of Islamic law found in the Maghrib, Africa, and Upper Egypt. A particularly famous adherent of this school was Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who wrote a systematic treatise on the legal system.
Malik took advantage of the fact that he was contemporary to many of the Tabi'in to formulate his famous school of thought which gave precedence to the acts of the people of Medina over the hadith if they were in conflict. This was done due to the sizeable amount of scholars, and companions of Muhammad, residing in the city where Malik's reputation grew immensely. Malik nevertheless showed hesitancy in issuing religious verdicts.
Despite his reluctance to render religious verdicts, Malik was outspoken. He issued fatwas against being forced to pledge allegiance to the Caliph al-Mansur, and was punished via flogging for his stance. Al-Mansur apologized to Malik and offered him money and residence in Baghdad, but Malik refused to leave the city of Muhammad. Later, Harun al-Rashid asked Malik to visit him while Harun was performing the hajj. The Imam refused, and instead he invited the new caliph to his class.
Malik died in Medina in 796 and was buried in the famous Jannat ul-Baqi cemetery across from the Masjid al-Nabawi. He is recognized as one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam. Imam Shafi, who was one of Malik's students for nine years and a scholarly giant in his own right, stated, "when scholars are mentioned, Malik is like the star among them." The Maliki Madhab, named after Malik, is one of the five schools of Islamic jurisprudence and remains popular among Muslims to this day.
Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi see Malik ibn Anas
Asbahi, Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al- see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of Medina see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of the Abode of Emigration see Malik ibn Anas
Sheikh of Islam see Malik ibn Anas
Proof of the Community see Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas (Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi) (Mālik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Āmr al-Asbahi) ("Imam Malik") ("Sheikh of Islam") ("Proof of the Community") ("Imam of the Abode of Emigration") (c. 710/711-795/796). Muslim jurist and the imam of the law school of the Malikites, which is named after him. He is frequently called the Imam of Medina. His great work, the Muwatta’ -- the Book of the Smoothed Path -- , is the earliest surviving Muslim law book. Malik introduced the recognition of the unanimous practice of Medina, which he established as an organized judicial system. He thus created a theoretical standard for matters which were not settled from the point of view of consensus.
Born in Medina, where he spent most of his life, Malik became the most prominent jurist of that city. Malik was born the son of Anas ibn Malik and Aaliyah bint Shurayk al-Azdiyya. His family was originally from the al-Asbahi tribe of Yemen, but his great grandfather Abu 'Amir relocated the family to Medina after converting to Islam in the second year after the hijra.
Little is known about Malik’s early life, although many legends abound. Malik is supposed, for example, to have spent two or three years in his mother’s womb and to have been taught fiqh by some nine hundred teachers. Malik seems to have been in competition for a time with Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad’s biographer, until Ibn Ishaq abandoned both fiqh and Medina.
Malik’s Muwatta’ is the earliest work on fiqh written to develop a basis for law by means of a survey of custom in Medina, but he was writing at a stage when the rules for transmission of hadith had not been fully formed and his work was subjected to modification and correction by later scholars. Nevertheless, Malik’s criticism of his authorities was so rigorous that even today his reputation in this area has remained high.
Malik did not start from a theoretical position but with the law as it existed, so his work seems somewhat disorganized under the larger topics of contracts, penal law, marriage, etc. However, despite this failing, Malik’s work was so influential that Islamic legal treatises continued this pattern.
While Malik did not start a school, his name came to be used by a branch of Islamic law found in the Maghrib, Africa, and Upper Egypt. A particularly famous adherent of this school was Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who wrote a systematic treatise on the legal system.
Malik took advantage of the fact that he was contemporary to many of the Tabi'in to formulate his famous school of thought which gave precedence to the acts of the people of Medina over the hadith if they were in conflict. This was done due to the sizeable amount of scholars, and companions of Muhammad, residing in the city where Malik's reputation grew immensely. Malik nevertheless showed hesitancy in issuing religious verdicts.
Despite his reluctance to render religious verdicts, Malik was outspoken. He issued fatwas against being forced to pledge allegiance to the Caliph al-Mansur, and was punished via flogging for his stance. Al-Mansur apologized to Malik and offered him money and residence in Baghdad, but Malik refused to leave the city of Muhammad. Later, Harun al-Rashid asked Malik to visit him while Harun was performing the hajj. The Imam refused, and instead he invited the new caliph to his class.
Malik died in Medina in 796 and was buried in the famous Jannat ul-Baqi cemetery across from the Masjid al-Nabawi. He is recognized as one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam. Imam Shafi, who was one of Malik's students for nine years and a scholarly giant in his own right, stated, "when scholars are mentioned, Malik is like the star among them." The Maliki Madhab, named after Malik, is one of the five schools of Islamic jurisprudence and remains popular among Muslims to this day.
Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al-Asbahi see Malik ibn Anas
Asbahi, Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Amr al- see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of Medina see Malik ibn Anas
Imam of the Abode of Emigration see Malik ibn Anas
Sheikh of Islam see Malik ibn Anas
Proof of the Community see Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Nuwayra
Malik ibn Nuwayra (Malik ibn Nuwaira) (d. 632) was an Arab poet during the Prophet’s lifetime. His brother, the poet Mutammim, glorified him in elegies which have come to be counted among the most famous of their kind in Arabic literature.
Malik was a chief of some distinction. A warrior, noted for his generosity and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity and poetry were the three qualities most admired by the Arabs.
Malik ibn Nuwayra was a chief of the Bani Yarbu', a large clan of the powerful tribe of Bani Tamim which inhabited the north-eastern region of Arabia, above Bahrain. Being close to Persia, some elements of the Bani Tamim had embraced Zoroastrianism, but by and large the tribe was pagan until Islam came to Arabia. The central village of Malik's clan was Butah.
Famous for his generosity and hospitality, Malik is said to have kept a light burning outside his house all night so that any traveller passing his way would know where to find shelter and food. Malik would get up during the night to check the light. A strikingly handsome man, Malik was also skilled in the use of weapons and noted for his courage and chivalry. He was also an accomplished poet. Malik possessed all the qualities that the Arabs looked for in the perfect male. He was married to Layla bint al-Minhal who was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in Arabia.
In view of Malik's distinguished position in the tribe and his unquestionable talents, the Prophet Muhammad appointed Malik an officer over the clan of Bani Handhalah. His main responsibility was the collection of taxes and their dispatch to Medina. Later, when news of Muhammad's death reached Butah, Malik, who had just collected a good deal of taxes but had not sent them to Medina, opened the coffers and returned the money to the taxpayers.
During the Ridda wars, which broke out in Arabia after the death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr sent his most talented general Khalid into Najd with 4000 men, to submit the tribes of the surrounding areas. Malik was guilty for his acts against the state of Medina for returning the taxes to the people. Additionally, after the death of Muhamma. Malik openly revolted against Medina. He signed a pact with the self-proclaimed prophet Sajjah. This agreement stated that first they would deal with local enemy tribes together, and then they would confront the state of Medina. When Malik heard about Khalid bin Walid's victories against powerful Arab tribes, he ordered his tribesmen not to engage the approaching Khalid in battle, to stay at home, and hope for peace. Malik himself moved away across the desert with his family. Also, so as to prove himself loyal to the state of Medina, Malik re-collected the taxes and sent them to Medina. Malik's riders were stopped by Khalid's army at the town of Battah.
Khalid sent out parties of horsemen to round up fugititives and to plunder their property. One such party seized Malik ibn Nuwayra and his family and brought them into Khalid, although they claimed to be Muslims. The men of Medina who were with the army protested vigorously against Khalid's ruthlessness, but without avail. The prisoners were placed under guard but, during the night, Malik and his supporters were killed in cold blood. Within 24 hours Khalid after killing Malik, Khalid married the widow of his victim.
Malik had been executed while professing to be a believer. Indeed, Khalid's marriage to the beautiful Layla gave rise to the suspicion that Malik had been killed with the object of making Layla available to Khalid.
The men of Medina, who had already opposed Khalid's ruthless actions, were outraged by the death of Malik. A certain Abu Qatada, an erstwhile friend and companion of Muhammad, hastened to Medina to complain to Abu Bakr, who summoned Khalid to answer the accusation. Umar bin Khattab pressed the caliph to deprive Khalid of his command. Khalid returning to Medina, claimed that he had not ordered the execution of Malik, but that his instructions to the guards had been misunderstood. The wise Abu Bakr, whatever he may have thought of the morals of his lieutenant, was aware of his prowess as a general and accepted his excuses.
Malik ibn Nuwaira see Malik ibn Nuwayra
Malik ibn Nuwayra (Malik ibn Nuwaira) (d. 632) was an Arab poet during the Prophet’s lifetime. His brother, the poet Mutammim, glorified him in elegies which have come to be counted among the most famous of their kind in Arabic literature.
Malik was a chief of some distinction. A warrior, noted for his generosity and a famous poet. Bravery, generosity and poetry were the three qualities most admired by the Arabs.
Malik ibn Nuwayra was a chief of the Bani Yarbu', a large clan of the powerful tribe of Bani Tamim which inhabited the north-eastern region of Arabia, above Bahrain. Being close to Persia, some elements of the Bani Tamim had embraced Zoroastrianism, but by and large the tribe was pagan until Islam came to Arabia. The central village of Malik's clan was Butah.
Famous for his generosity and hospitality, Malik is said to have kept a light burning outside his house all night so that any traveller passing his way would know where to find shelter and food. Malik would get up during the night to check the light. A strikingly handsome man, Malik was also skilled in the use of weapons and noted for his courage and chivalry. He was also an accomplished poet. Malik possessed all the qualities that the Arabs looked for in the perfect male. He was married to Layla bint al-Minhal who was considered to be one of the most beautiful women in Arabia.
In view of Malik's distinguished position in the tribe and his unquestionable talents, the Prophet Muhammad appointed Malik an officer over the clan of Bani Handhalah. His main responsibility was the collection of taxes and their dispatch to Medina. Later, when news of Muhammad's death reached Butah, Malik, who had just collected a good deal of taxes but had not sent them to Medina, opened the coffers and returned the money to the taxpayers.
During the Ridda wars, which broke out in Arabia after the death of Muhammad. Abu Bakr sent his most talented general Khalid into Najd with 4000 men, to submit the tribes of the surrounding areas. Malik was guilty for his acts against the state of Medina for returning the taxes to the people. Additionally, after the death of Muhamma. Malik openly revolted against Medina. He signed a pact with the self-proclaimed prophet Sajjah. This agreement stated that first they would deal with local enemy tribes together, and then they would confront the state of Medina. When Malik heard about Khalid bin Walid's victories against powerful Arab tribes, he ordered his tribesmen not to engage the approaching Khalid in battle, to stay at home, and hope for peace. Malik himself moved away across the desert with his family. Also, so as to prove himself loyal to the state of Medina, Malik re-collected the taxes and sent them to Medina. Malik's riders were stopped by Khalid's army at the town of Battah.
Khalid sent out parties of horsemen to round up fugititives and to plunder their property. One such party seized Malik ibn Nuwayra and his family and brought them into Khalid, although they claimed to be Muslims. The men of Medina who were with the army protested vigorously against Khalid's ruthlessness, but without avail. The prisoners were placed under guard but, during the night, Malik and his supporters were killed in cold blood. Within 24 hours Khalid after killing Malik, Khalid married the widow of his victim.
Malik had been executed while professing to be a believer. Indeed, Khalid's marriage to the beautiful Layla gave rise to the suspicion that Malik had been killed with the object of making Layla available to Khalid.
The men of Medina, who had already opposed Khalid's ruthless actions, were outraged by the death of Malik. A certain Abu Qatada, an erstwhile friend and companion of Muhammad, hastened to Medina to complain to Abu Bakr, who summoned Khalid to answer the accusation. Umar bin Khattab pressed the caliph to deprive Khalid of his command. Khalid returning to Medina, claimed that he had not ordered the execution of Malik, but that his instructions to the guards had been misunderstood. The wise Abu Bakr, whatever he may have thought of the morals of his lieutenant, was aware of his prowess as a general and accepted his excuses.
Malik ibn Nuwaira see Malik ibn Nuwayra
Malikites
Malikites (in Arabic, Malikiyya) (Maliki). Juridico-religious group of orthodox Islam which formed itself into a school after the adoption of the doctrine of imam Malik ibn Anas. The success of the school is due to Malik’s intolerance towards the Qadariyya and the Kharijites. Nor is there any place in it for mysticism, although a number of Maliki mystics are known. In Medina, all trace of the school was lost after the demise of Malik’s first disciples. It only returned with the triumph of Sunnism in the fourteenth century. Malikism is predominant in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It was the sole official rite of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) during the eighth and ninth centuries. At the present time, the majority of the Muslims of the Sudan belong to the Maliki school of law and there are Maliki Muslims in Senegal, Mali, Niger, Togo, Chad and Nigeria.
Malikites comprise one of the four orthodox schools of law in Islam. Their sect was named after Malik ibn Anas, who died in the Arabian city of Medina in 796. A celebrated legal scholar, Malik is known above all as the author of Kitab al-Muwatta, the earliest surviving work on law in Islam. Its contents in general reflect the outlook of that early legal tradition associated with the Hijaz. While the Maliki school owed its formative inspiration to the teaching of Malik, the elaboration of its doctrine into a unified, distinctive code of law was in the main the work of his leading disciples, in particular of al-Sulami (d. 852), al-Tanukhi, known also as Sahnun (d. 854), and Isma‘il ibn Ishaq (d. 895). In addition to the Qur’an, Malikis based their legal rulings on the consensus (ijma) or customary law of Medina, and when these failed to provide an adequate basis for law they had recourse to personal judgment (ijtihad/ra’y). Malikis did make use of the hadith (the traditions of the Prophet) as a basis for law, but these never constituted the highest court of appeal for them. If Malikis and Hanafis were largely in agreement on the role of reason in the juridical process, they sometimes differed substantively in the realm of positive law, a fact explained largely by their different geographical roots. Apart from isolated cases, and for reasons that are not entirely clear, Maliki law never won acceptance in the eastern lands of Islam. However, it has been and remains the dominant school of North Africa.
Malikiyya see Malikites
Malikites (in Arabic, Malikiyya) (Maliki). Juridico-religious group of orthodox Islam which formed itself into a school after the adoption of the doctrine of imam Malik ibn Anas. The success of the school is due to Malik’s intolerance towards the Qadariyya and the Kharijites. Nor is there any place in it for mysticism, although a number of Maliki mystics are known. In Medina, all trace of the school was lost after the demise of Malik’s first disciples. It only returned with the triumph of Sunnism in the fourteenth century. Malikism is predominant in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It was the sole official rite of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) during the eighth and ninth centuries. At the present time, the majority of the Muslims of the Sudan belong to the Maliki school of law and there are Maliki Muslims in Senegal, Mali, Niger, Togo, Chad and Nigeria.
Malikites comprise one of the four orthodox schools of law in Islam. Their sect was named after Malik ibn Anas, who died in the Arabian city of Medina in 796. A celebrated legal scholar, Malik is known above all as the author of Kitab al-Muwatta, the earliest surviving work on law in Islam. Its contents in general reflect the outlook of that early legal tradition associated with the Hijaz. While the Maliki school owed its formative inspiration to the teaching of Malik, the elaboration of its doctrine into a unified, distinctive code of law was in the main the work of his leading disciples, in particular of al-Sulami (d. 852), al-Tanukhi, known also as Sahnun (d. 854), and Isma‘il ibn Ishaq (d. 895). In addition to the Qur’an, Malikis based their legal rulings on the consensus (ijma) or customary law of Medina, and when these failed to provide an adequate basis for law they had recourse to personal judgment (ijtihad/ra’y). Malikis did make use of the hadith (the traditions of the Prophet) as a basis for law, but these never constituted the highest court of appeal for them. If Malikis and Hanafis were largely in agreement on the role of reason in the juridical process, they sometimes differed substantively in the realm of positive law, a fact explained largely by their different geographical roots. Apart from isolated cases, and for reasons that are not entirely clear, Maliki law never won acceptance in the eastern lands of Islam. However, it has been and remains the dominant school of North Africa.
Malikiyya see Malikites
Malik Sarwar
Malik Sarwar (Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi) (Khwaja Jahan). Founder of the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur in northern India (r.1394-1399).
Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi was the Sultan of the Sharqi dynasty in South Asia.
The Jaunpur sultanate was ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. The Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, the first ruler of the dynasty was a Wazir (minister) under Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1390 – 1394). In 1394, he established himself as an independent ruler of Jaunpur and extended his authority over Awadh and a large part of Ganga-Yamuna doab. The dynasty founded by him was named so because of his title Malik-us-Sharq (the ruler of the east). The most acclaimed ruler of this dynasty was Ibrahim Shah. The last ruler Hussain Shah was overthrown by Bahlul Lodi, and the Jaunpur sultanate was permanently annexed to the Delhi sultanate by Sikandar Lodi.
In 1389, Malik Sarwar received the title of Khajah-i-Jahan. In 1394, he was appointed as the governor of Jaunpur and received his title of Malik-us-Sharq from Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1394 - 1413). Soon, he established himself as an independent ruler and took the title of Atabak-i-Azam. He suppressed the rebellions in Etawah, Koil and Kanauj. He was also able to bring under his control Kara, Awadh, Sandila, Dalmau, Bahraich, Bihar and Tirhut. The Rai of Jajnagar and the ruler of Lakhnauti acknowledged his authority and sent him a number of elephants. After his death, he was succeeded by his adopted son Malik Qaranfal, who took the title of Mubarak Shah.
Khwaja Jahan see Malik Sarwar
Jahan, Khwaja see Malik Sarwar
Sarwar, Malik see Malik Sarwar
Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi see Malik Sarwar
Sharqi, Malik Sarwar Shah see Malik Sarwar
Malik Sarwar (Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi) (Khwaja Jahan). Founder of the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur in northern India (r.1394-1399).
Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi was the Sultan of the Sharqi dynasty in South Asia.
The Jaunpur sultanate was ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. The Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, the first ruler of the dynasty was a Wazir (minister) under Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1390 – 1394). In 1394, he established himself as an independent ruler of Jaunpur and extended his authority over Awadh and a large part of Ganga-Yamuna doab. The dynasty founded by him was named so because of his title Malik-us-Sharq (the ruler of the east). The most acclaimed ruler of this dynasty was Ibrahim Shah. The last ruler Hussain Shah was overthrown by Bahlul Lodi, and the Jaunpur sultanate was permanently annexed to the Delhi sultanate by Sikandar Lodi.
In 1389, Malik Sarwar received the title of Khajah-i-Jahan. In 1394, he was appointed as the governor of Jaunpur and received his title of Malik-us-Sharq from Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah III Tughluq (1394 - 1413). Soon, he established himself as an independent ruler and took the title of Atabak-i-Azam. He suppressed the rebellions in Etawah, Koil and Kanauj. He was also able to bring under his control Kara, Awadh, Sandila, Dalmau, Bahraich, Bihar and Tirhut. The Rai of Jajnagar and the ruler of Lakhnauti acknowledged his authority and sent him a number of elephants. After his death, he was succeeded by his adopted son Malik Qaranfal, who took the title of Mubarak Shah.
Khwaja Jahan see Malik Sarwar
Jahan, Khwaja see Malik Sarwar
Sarwar, Malik see Malik Sarwar
Malik Sarwar Shah Sharqi see Malik Sarwar
Sharqi, Malik Sarwar Shah see Malik Sarwar
Malik Shah
Malik Shah (Jalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh) (Melikşah) (d. 1092). Seljuk sultan from 1072 to 1092.. Name of various Saljuq (Seljuk) rulers, the most outstanding of whom was the Great Saljuq Malik Shah I ibn Alp Arslan (b. 1055; r.1072-1092). During his reign, the Great Saljuq Empire reached its zenith of territorial extent -- from Syria in the west to Khurasan in the east -- and of military might. After putting down insurrections by other members of the Saljuq family, Malik Shah came to a modus vivendi -- method of living -- with the Ghaznavids of eastern Afghanistan and India and with the Ilek-Khans of western and eastern Turkestan. He defended the northwestern provinces of Azerbaijan, Arran and Armenia against the Georgians and the Turkmen. In the Arab lands of Iraq, Mesopotamia and Syria, Malik Shah assured Sunni control of major cities such as Aleppo, Damascus, Antioch and Edessa by installing Turkish slave commanders as governors. On Malik Shah’s visit to Baghdad in 1086, the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadi formally granted him the secular authority. Central policy in the Saljuq state was directed by the great vizier Nizam al-Mulk, who facilitated the revival of Sunni Islam, as the authority of the Shi‘a Buyids and Fatimids was waning. This in theory meant harmonious co-operation with the ‘Abbasid caliphs, the moral heads of Sunni Islam. Malik Shah was the patron of such poets as the Arab al-Tughra’i and the Persians Mu‘izzi and ‘Omar Khayyam.
Malik Shah I (Jalal al-Dawlah Malikshah) drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Likewise, he reformed the calendar with the Jalali calendar in 1079. Malik Shah expanded Seljuk power into Syria at the expense of the Fatimids of Egypt, setting up client princes in Edessa, Alepp and Damascus and is remembered as one of the greatest of the Saljuq sultans.
Suleyman revolted against Malik Shah I and proclaimed himself the Sultan of Rum, establishing his capital at Nicaea. Suleyman expanded his realm but was killed near Antioch in 1086 by Tutush I, the Saljuq ruler of Syria. Suleyman's son, Kilij Arslan I, was captured and taken as a hostage by Malik Shah I to Isfahan. It is uncertain whether Tutush killed Suleyman out of loyalty to Malik Shah I or simply for personal gain.
The principal administrative official during the reign of Malik Shah I was the vizier Nizam al-Mulk who served both him and his father and achieved a near mythic stature in contemporary Muslim histories.
After the death of Malik Shah I in 1092, the Saljuq empire dissolved into smaller, warring states, as Malik Shah's brother and four sons quarreled over the apportioning of the empire between themselves. Kilij Arslan I re-established the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, and Tutush I established himself in Syria. In Persia, Malik Shah was succeeded by his son Mahmud I whose reign was contested by his other three brothers: Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad, and Ahmed Sanjar in Khorasan.
The disunity within the Saljuq lands ultimately contributed to the success of the First Crusade.
Jalal al-Dawlah Malikshah see Malik Shah
Meliksah see Malik Shah
Malik Shah (Jalāl al-Dawlah Malik-shāh) (Melikşah) (d. 1092). Seljuk sultan from 1072 to 1092.. Name of various Saljuq (Seljuk) rulers, the most outstanding of whom was the Great Saljuq Malik Shah I ibn Alp Arslan (b. 1055; r.1072-1092). During his reign, the Great Saljuq Empire reached its zenith of territorial extent -- from Syria in the west to Khurasan in the east -- and of military might. After putting down insurrections by other members of the Saljuq family, Malik Shah came to a modus vivendi -- method of living -- with the Ghaznavids of eastern Afghanistan and India and with the Ilek-Khans of western and eastern Turkestan. He defended the northwestern provinces of Azerbaijan, Arran and Armenia against the Georgians and the Turkmen. In the Arab lands of Iraq, Mesopotamia and Syria, Malik Shah assured Sunni control of major cities such as Aleppo, Damascus, Antioch and Edessa by installing Turkish slave commanders as governors. On Malik Shah’s visit to Baghdad in 1086, the ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadi formally granted him the secular authority. Central policy in the Saljuq state was directed by the great vizier Nizam al-Mulk, who facilitated the revival of Sunni Islam, as the authority of the Shi‘a Buyids and Fatimids was waning. This in theory meant harmonious co-operation with the ‘Abbasid caliphs, the moral heads of Sunni Islam. Malik Shah was the patron of such poets as the Arab al-Tughra’i and the Persians Mu‘izzi and ‘Omar Khayyam.
Malik Shah I (Jalal al-Dawlah Malikshah) drove the Byzantine Empire out of most of Anatolia following their defeat by his father Alp Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Likewise, he reformed the calendar with the Jalali calendar in 1079. Malik Shah expanded Seljuk power into Syria at the expense of the Fatimids of Egypt, setting up client princes in Edessa, Alepp and Damascus and is remembered as one of the greatest of the Saljuq sultans.
Suleyman revolted against Malik Shah I and proclaimed himself the Sultan of Rum, establishing his capital at Nicaea. Suleyman expanded his realm but was killed near Antioch in 1086 by Tutush I, the Saljuq ruler of Syria. Suleyman's son, Kilij Arslan I, was captured and taken as a hostage by Malik Shah I to Isfahan. It is uncertain whether Tutush killed Suleyman out of loyalty to Malik Shah I or simply for personal gain.
The principal administrative official during the reign of Malik Shah I was the vizier Nizam al-Mulk who served both him and his father and achieved a near mythic stature in contemporary Muslim histories.
After the death of Malik Shah I in 1092, the Saljuq empire dissolved into smaller, warring states, as Malik Shah's brother and four sons quarreled over the apportioning of the empire between themselves. Kilij Arslan I re-established the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, and Tutush I established himself in Syria. In Persia, Malik Shah was succeeded by his son Mahmud I whose reign was contested by his other three brothers: Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad, and Ahmed Sanjar in Khorasan.
The disunity within the Saljuq lands ultimately contributed to the success of the First Crusade.
Jalal al-Dawlah Malikshah see Malik Shah
Meliksah see Malik Shah
Malkom Khan
Malkom Khan (Malkum Khan) (Mirza Malkam Khan) (Mirza Malkum) (Mirza Malkom) (Mirza Malkam) in Tehran in 1858 to facilitate gatherings of enlightened Iranians and the propagation of reformist thought. In the meantime, he published the Kitabcha-yi ghaibi ya daftar-i tanzimat and the Daftar-i qanun, which dealt largely with legal, political, and administrative reform based on the Western model. Owing to the controversial nature of his activities, he ws exiled in 1861 and the Faramushkhana was officially dissolved. He was later pardoned and again exiled to London in 1890 after a lottery scandal. In London, he began the publication of his newspaper Qanun (Law) in 1891, calling for reform and modernization in his mother country. He collaborated with other reformists of the time such as Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Mirza Agha Khan Kirmani. He participated only marginally in support of the Tobacco Protest of 1906.
Malkom Khan was an enigmatic figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Iranian history. He was an advocate of progress and reform, but he was often motivated by self-aggrandizement and self-interest. He called for political and governmental changes as well as cultural ones that included Persian language and alphabet reform. As one of the first to write in a recognizably modern prose idiom and as an editor of Qanun, his influential newspaper, Malkom Khan’s most important historical contribution is perhaps to be found in a literary venue, even though he has not been regarded as a major literary figure or stylist. It was in Turkey rather than Iran that alphabet reform was achieved. The liberal political values expressed in Qanun found expression in the Iranian Constitution of 1905-1906.
Malkom Khan was born into an Armenian family in Julfa Isfahan. Malkom, like his father, Ya‘kub Khan, studied abroad, learned French, served as an interpreter and translator, established useful patronage links, was a self-professed Muslim with interests in freemasonry and an advocate of cultural change including alphabet reform. Malkom returned from Paris at the age of eighteen to work as an interpreter in Dar al-Funun, the new college in Tehran, where he also taught geography and natural science. Five years later, through patronage ties with Nasir al-Din Shahand his prime minister, Malkom returned to Europe as the member of a diplomatic mission to conclude peace with Britain. This was the beginning of his diplomatic career and European travel that convinced him of the superiority of European civilization and the value of westernization. In Paris, he was initiated into a Masonic lodge.
Malkom Khan returned to Iran in 1858 and was involved with the introduction of the telegraph in Iran and wrote his first treatise on political and administrative reform, which was influenced by Ottoman models. He advocated, among other general principles, the separation of the legislative from the executive branch, codification of law, equality before the law, and freedom of belief. In addition, he also spelled out specific recommendations for the implementation of these principles in Western-style ministries, comprehensive education, the development of roads, increased government revenues, a reformed military, and a national bank. He established a freemasonry type society, and used it as a base for political action and reform. The shah (Nasser ad-Din Shah) forced the closure of his lodge because of its secrecy and membership that included potential rivals for the monarchy.
In late 1861, Malkom Khan was sent into exile, first in Baghdad and then Istanbul, where he was assigned as counselor at the Iranian embassy. In 1868, he was dismissed and given Ottoman nationality but was reappointed to his position in the Iranian embassy, which he held until 1871. From 1873 to 1889, he served as Iran’s minister in London. In 1889, he was involved in a financial scandal relating to a proposed national lottery in Iran, which resulted in his final dismissal and the loss of his titles. In 1890, he began publishing his influential newspaper, Qanun, which attacked Qajar despotism, stressed westernization as the means for saving Iranian sovereignty, and called for a constitution and parliamentary government. Qanun, influenced by Turkish newspapers in Istanbul, was printed in London and smuggled into Iran, where it was widely circulated and read by like-minded clerical and secular anti-Qajar reformers. It ceased publication in 1898 when Malkom Khan was appointed ambassador to Italy by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah with the title of Nezam od-Dawlah. He remained the Persian ambassador to Italy until his death in 1908.
Malkom Khan died on a visit to Switzerland in 1908.
Malkom Khan was a believer in Social Darwinism. He espoused an Iran modeled on the values of the enlightenment and urged a return to a "Persian" heritage. Today, he is recognized as the most important and influential Persian modernizer of the nineteenth century.
Malkum Khan see Malkom Khan
Khan, Malkum see Malkom Khan
Khan, Malkom see Malkom Khan
Mirza Malkam Khan see Malkom Khan
Khan, Mirza Malkam see Malkom Khan
Malkum, Mirza see Malkom Khan
Malkom Khan (Malkum Khan) (Mirza Malkam Khan) (Mirza Malkum) (Mirza Malkom) (Mirza Malkam) in Tehran in 1858 to facilitate gatherings of enlightened Iranians and the propagation of reformist thought. In the meantime, he published the Kitabcha-yi ghaibi ya daftar-i tanzimat and the Daftar-i qanun, which dealt largely with legal, political, and administrative reform based on the Western model. Owing to the controversial nature of his activities, he ws exiled in 1861 and the Faramushkhana was officially dissolved. He was later pardoned and again exiled to London in 1890 after a lottery scandal. In London, he began the publication of his newspaper Qanun (Law) in 1891, calling for reform and modernization in his mother country. He collaborated with other reformists of the time such as Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Mirza Agha Khan Kirmani. He participated only marginally in support of the Tobacco Protest of 1906.
Malkom Khan was an enigmatic figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Iranian history. He was an advocate of progress and reform, but he was often motivated by self-aggrandizement and self-interest. He called for political and governmental changes as well as cultural ones that included Persian language and alphabet reform. As one of the first to write in a recognizably modern prose idiom and as an editor of Qanun, his influential newspaper, Malkom Khan’s most important historical contribution is perhaps to be found in a literary venue, even though he has not been regarded as a major literary figure or stylist. It was in Turkey rather than Iran that alphabet reform was achieved. The liberal political values expressed in Qanun found expression in the Iranian Constitution of 1905-1906.
Malkom Khan was born into an Armenian family in Julfa Isfahan. Malkom, like his father, Ya‘kub Khan, studied abroad, learned French, served as an interpreter and translator, established useful patronage links, was a self-professed Muslim with interests in freemasonry and an advocate of cultural change including alphabet reform. Malkom returned from Paris at the age of eighteen to work as an interpreter in Dar al-Funun, the new college in Tehran, where he also taught geography and natural science. Five years later, through patronage ties with Nasir al-Din Shahand his prime minister, Malkom returned to Europe as the member of a diplomatic mission to conclude peace with Britain. This was the beginning of his diplomatic career and European travel that convinced him of the superiority of European civilization and the value of westernization. In Paris, he was initiated into a Masonic lodge.
Malkom Khan returned to Iran in 1858 and was involved with the introduction of the telegraph in Iran and wrote his first treatise on political and administrative reform, which was influenced by Ottoman models. He advocated, among other general principles, the separation of the legislative from the executive branch, codification of law, equality before the law, and freedom of belief. In addition, he also spelled out specific recommendations for the implementation of these principles in Western-style ministries, comprehensive education, the development of roads, increased government revenues, a reformed military, and a national bank. He established a freemasonry type society, and used it as a base for political action and reform. The shah (Nasser ad-Din Shah) forced the closure of his lodge because of its secrecy and membership that included potential rivals for the monarchy.
In late 1861, Malkom Khan was sent into exile, first in Baghdad and then Istanbul, where he was assigned as counselor at the Iranian embassy. In 1868, he was dismissed and given Ottoman nationality but was reappointed to his position in the Iranian embassy, which he held until 1871. From 1873 to 1889, he served as Iran’s minister in London. In 1889, he was involved in a financial scandal relating to a proposed national lottery in Iran, which resulted in his final dismissal and the loss of his titles. In 1890, he began publishing his influential newspaper, Qanun, which attacked Qajar despotism, stressed westernization as the means for saving Iranian sovereignty, and called for a constitution and parliamentary government. Qanun, influenced by Turkish newspapers in Istanbul, was printed in London and smuggled into Iran, where it was widely circulated and read by like-minded clerical and secular anti-Qajar reformers. It ceased publication in 1898 when Malkom Khan was appointed ambassador to Italy by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah with the title of Nezam od-Dawlah. He remained the Persian ambassador to Italy until his death in 1908.
Malkom Khan died on a visit to Switzerland in 1908.
Malkom Khan was a believer in Social Darwinism. He espoused an Iran modeled on the values of the enlightenment and urged a return to a "Persian" heritage. Today, he is recognized as the most important and influential Persian modernizer of the nineteenth century.
Malkum Khan see Malkom Khan
Khan, Malkum see Malkom Khan
Khan, Malkom see Malkom Khan
Mirza Malkam Khan see Malkom Khan
Khan, Mirza Malkam see Malkom Khan
Malkum, Mirza see Malkom Khan
Ma‘luf, al-
Ma‘luf, al-. Lebanese family which became renowned throughout the Arab world because of the literary activities of a number of its members, both in Lebanon and in the Americas, during the past 150 years.
Ma‘luf, al-. Lebanese family which became renowned throughout the Arab world because of the literary activities of a number of its members, both in Lebanon and in the Americas, during the past 150 years.
Malzuza
Malzuza. Ancient Berber people belonging to the branch of the Butr, and to the family of the Darisa, who lived in Tripolitania.
Malzuza. Ancient Berber people belonging to the branch of the Butr, and to the family of the Darisa, who lived in Tripolitania.
Malzuzi, Abu Hatim al-
Malzuzi, Abu Hatim al- (Abu Hatim al-Malzuzi) (d. 772). Ibadi Imam. He was killed in 772 after initiating a revolt against the Abbasids in 768. His tomb in the Jabal Nafusa is a holy place, surrounded with legends.
Malzuzi, Abu Hatim al- (Abu Hatim al-Malzuzi) (d. 772). Ibadi Imam. He was killed in 772 after initiating a revolt against the Abbasids in 768. His tomb in the Jabal Nafusa is a holy place, surrounded with legends.
Mamadu Lamine
Mamadu Lamine (Muhammad al-Amin) (c. 1835-1887). Sarakole (Soninke) resistance leader.
Mamadu Lamine (also known as Muhammad al-Amin) came from a village near Kayes in what is today Mali. Mamadu’s father was a Muslim cleric. As a youth, he studied in Bondu and Bakel in the Senegal River region.
In the 1850s, Mamadu apparently met and served under al-Hajj ‘Umar, the Tukolor Islamic imperialist. After spending some time in Segu, Mamadu left in the 1860s on the pilgrimage to Mecca, passing through Wadai. Mamadu did not return to Segu until about 1880. Mamadu spent the next years in Segu as a virtual prisoner of Ahmadu. It is believed that Ahmadu may have resented Mamadu’s Sarakole identity or his slightly different ideas about the nature of the Tijaniya Islamic brotherhood. This episode was pivotal in inculcating an anti-Tukolor sentiment in Mamadu Lamine.
Mamadu returned to his birthplace in 1885. During his absence, the French had begun to compete militarily with the Tukolor for control of the Senegambia. A charismatic leader in his own right, Mamadu used anti-Tukolor and anti-French sentiment to build a large following.
Within a few months, Mamadu declared a jihad -- a holy war -- against his Senegambian neighbors and the Tukolor Empire. By 1886, Mamadu was ruler of a sizeable portion of the Senegambia. He made his headquarters at Dianna on the upper Gambia.
In early 1886, Mamadu first encountered the French in battle. Mamadu Lamine’s victories were sufficient to force Gallieni, the French commander, to come to terms with another imperialist, Samori Toure, so that the French could concentrate on the Senegambia.
More importantly, Gallieni temporarily allied with Mamadu Lamine’s old enemy, Ahmadu. After protracted fighting Mamadu Lamine was defeated by the French at Toubakouta in December 1887.
Although the accounts of his death conflict, Mamadu was probably caught and killed soon after the battle of Toubakouta. With his death, the Sarakole resistance movement died as well.
Lamine, Mamadu see Mamadu Lamine
Muhammad al-Amin see Mamadu Lamine
Amin, Muhammad al- see Mamadu Lamine
Mamadu Lamine (Muhammad al-Amin) (c. 1835-1887). Sarakole (Soninke) resistance leader.
Mamadu Lamine (also known as Muhammad al-Amin) came from a village near Kayes in what is today Mali. Mamadu’s father was a Muslim cleric. As a youth, he studied in Bondu and Bakel in the Senegal River region.
In the 1850s, Mamadu apparently met and served under al-Hajj ‘Umar, the Tukolor Islamic imperialist. After spending some time in Segu, Mamadu left in the 1860s on the pilgrimage to Mecca, passing through Wadai. Mamadu did not return to Segu until about 1880. Mamadu spent the next years in Segu as a virtual prisoner of Ahmadu. It is believed that Ahmadu may have resented Mamadu’s Sarakole identity or his slightly different ideas about the nature of the Tijaniya Islamic brotherhood. This episode was pivotal in inculcating an anti-Tukolor sentiment in Mamadu Lamine.
Mamadu returned to his birthplace in 1885. During his absence, the French had begun to compete militarily with the Tukolor for control of the Senegambia. A charismatic leader in his own right, Mamadu used anti-Tukolor and anti-French sentiment to build a large following.
Within a few months, Mamadu declared a jihad -- a holy war -- against his Senegambian neighbors and the Tukolor Empire. By 1886, Mamadu was ruler of a sizeable portion of the Senegambia. He made his headquarters at Dianna on the upper Gambia.
In early 1886, Mamadu first encountered the French in battle. Mamadu Lamine’s victories were sufficient to force Gallieni, the French commander, to come to terms with another imperialist, Samori Toure, so that the French could concentrate on the Senegambia.
More importantly, Gallieni temporarily allied with Mamadu Lamine’s old enemy, Ahmadu. After protracted fighting Mamadu Lamine was defeated by the French at Toubakouta in December 1887.
Although the accounts of his death conflict, Mamadu was probably caught and killed soon after the battle of Toubakouta. With his death, the Sarakole resistance movement died as well.
Lamine, Mamadu see Mamadu Lamine
Muhammad al-Amin see Mamadu Lamine
Amin, Muhammad al- see Mamadu Lamine
Mameluke
Mameluke (in Arabic, Mamluk) (Mamluq) (Mamaluke) (Mamluke). Mameluke is Arabic for “white slave.” The word is related to the word for king, “malik,” indicating that a Mameluke was a slave owned by the ruler of the state.
Mamelukes were slaves that were used to form a solid foundation for the ruler of a country. Tribal frictions and a weak government had resulted in numerous revolutions in many states. The system of Mamelukes was intended to change this. Young boys were enslaved in countries far away, and then underwent rigid training before they joined the army of the state. As many of them came from Christian countries, they were converted to Islam. The Mamelukes formed an institution in the state, and clear regulations were imposed on their rights. By rule, the children of a Mameluke could not become a Mameluke; positions could not be transferred to relatives; and the right to transfer inheritance was strictly regulated.
The Mamelukes, at times, developed into a force so strong that they were able to overthrow the ruler of the country. This happened in Egypt in 1250, leading to the Mameluke dynasty which existed as an independent country until 1517, and as a subject of the Ottoman Empire until 1811.
The laws regulating Mamelukes were often not well respected and were frequently lifted. The definition of Mamelukes as slaves was never changed, not even when the Mamelukes became sultan. However, the ownership definition was changed, and the Mameluke system was understood as the real owner of the slaves.
Mameluke Sultanates were established and maintained by military (primarily Turkish and Circassian) slaves in Egypt (r.1250- 1517) and inSyria (r.1260-1516). The Egyptian Mameluke sultanatet had its origin in the Bahriyya, a military household of Qipcaq Turkish military slaves, which belonged to the bodyguard of the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt al-Malik al-Salih, Najm al-Din. The Bahriyya superceded the Ayyubids under the constraint of the military crises provoked by the crusade of Louis in 1249 and by the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1259. The Bahriyya line (1250-1390) was followed by the Burjiyya or Circassian line, which lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517. During the Ottoman period, the formation of Mameluke military households, known as Neo-Mamelukes and carrying the title of Bey, continued until they were destroyed by Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha in 1812.
The main capital of the Mamelukes was Cairo. Their name is derived from the Arabic mamluk (“taken into possession”). Historically, the Mamelukes were slave soldiers who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. Over time, they became a powerful military caste often defeating the Crusaders. On more than one occasion, they seized power for themselves, for example, ruling Egypt from 1250-1517.
The first Mamelukes served the 'Abbasid caliphs at the end of the ninth century of Christian calendar in Baghdad. The Mameluke system was an evolution of a previous system, the Ghulam system, invented by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim, in which Turkish prisoners of war became the caliphal guard. This system ended in disaster in the 860s with the murder of four caliphs in a row, and the Mameluke system was created on its ruins. The main difference was that the Mamelukes were captured as children and then trained and moulded within the Islamic world to ensure their loyalty to their masters. The 'Abbasids "recruited" them mainly from areas near the Caucasus (mainly Circassian and Georgian) in later periods, and in the 13th - 14th centuries from areas north of the Black Sea (mainly Turkic, most of whom were Kipchak Turks) and of Yoruk background, as well as boys from East Slav populations. Those captured were of non-Muslim origin.
The Mameluke system gave rulers troops who had n link to any established power structure. Local non-Mameluke warriors were often more loyal to their tribal sheiks, their families, or nobles than to the sultan or caliph. If a commander conspired against the ruler, it was often not possible to deal with the conspiracy without causing unrest among the nobility. The Mameluke slave troops were strangers of the lowest possible status who could not conspire against the ruler and who could easily be punished if they caused trouble, making them a great military asset.
After Mamelukes were converted to Islam, many were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamelukes had to follow the dictates of furusiyya, a code that included values such as courage and generosity, and also cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds, etc.
Mamelukes lived within their garrisons and mainly spent their time with each other. Their entertainments included sporting events such as archery competitions and presentations of mounted combat skills at least twice a week. The intensive and rigorous training of each new recruit helped ensure continuity of Mameluke practices.
While they were no longer actually slaves after training, they were still obliged to serve the Sultan. The Sultan kept them as an outsider force under his direct command, to use in the event of local tribal frictions. The Sultan could also send them as far as the Muslim regions of Iberia.
Sultans had the largest number of Mamelukes, but lesser amirs could have their own troops as well. Many Mamelukes rose to high positions throughout the empire, including army command. At first their status remained non-hereditary and sons were strictly prevented from following their fathers. However, over time, in places such as Egypt, the Mameluke forces became linked to existing power structures and gained significant amounts of influence on those powers. A similar development would occur in the Ottoman Empire with the Janissaries.
The origins of the Mameluke Sultanate of Egypt lie in the Ayyubid dynasty that Saladin (Salah al-Din) founded in 1174. With his uncle, Shirkuh, Saladin conquered Egypt for the Zengid King Nur al-Din of Damascus in 1169. By 1189, after the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin had consolidated the dynasty's control over the Middle East. After Saladin's death, his sons fell to squabbling over the division of the Empire, and each attempted to surround himself with larger expanded Mameluke retinues.
By 1200, Saladin's brother al-Adil succeeded in securing control over the whole empire by defeating and killing of imprisoning his brothers and nephews in turn. With each victory, al-Adil incorporated the defeated Mameluke retinue into his own. This process was repeated at al-Adil's death in 1218, and as his son al-Kamil's death in 1238. The Ayyubids became increasingly surrounded by the power of the Mamelukes and soon involved them in the internal court politics of the kingdom itself.
1n 1315, they invaded and conquered a great part of Nubia, but the power remained with a Nubian prince who converted from Coptic Orthodox to Islam.
In June 1249, the Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France landed in Egypt and took Damietta. The Egyptian troops retreated at first. When the Egyptian sultan As-Salih Ayyub died, the power passed briefly to his son Turanshah and then his favorite wife Shajar al-Durr (or Shajarat ul-Dur). She took control with Mameluke support and launched a counterattack. Troops of the Bahri commander Baybars defeated Louis' troops. The king delayed his retreat too long and was captured by the Mamelukes in March 1250, and agreed to a ransom. Political pressure for a male leader made Shajar marry the Mameluke commander Aybak. Aybak was later killed in his bath, and in the power struggle that ensued the vice-regent Qutuz took over. He formally founded the first Mameluke sultanate and the Bahri dynasty.
The first Mameluke dynasty was named Bahri after the name of one of the regiments, the Bahriyya or River Island regiment. The name Bahri (meaning "of the sea or river") referred to their center in al-Rodah Island in the Nile. The regiment consisted mainly of Kipchak Turks.
When the Mongol troops of Hulegu Khan sacked Baghdad in 1258 and advanced towards Syria, Mameluke emir Baybars left Damascus to Cairo where he was welcomed by Sultan Qutuz. After taking Damascus, Hulegu demanded that Qutuz surrender Egypt but Qutuz had Hulegu's envoys killed and, with Baybar's help, mobilized his troops. Although Hulegu had to leave for the East when great Khan Mongke died in action against the Southern Song, he left his lieutenant, the Christian Kitbuqa, in charge, Qutuz drew the Mongol army into an ambush near the Orontes River, routed them at the Battle of Ayn Jalut and captured and executed Kitbuqa.
After this great triumph, Qutuz was assassinated by conspiring Mamelukes. It was said that Baybars, who seized power, was involved in the assassination. In the following centuries power was often transferred this way: the average reign of a Mameluke ruler was only seven years.
Under the outstanding Sultan Baybars (r. 1260-1277), the Mamelukes stopped the Mongol expansion westwards and successfully fought against the Crusaders. The Mamelukes defeated the Mongols a second time at Homs in 1260 and began to drive them back east. In the process, they consolidated their power over Syria, fortified the area, formed mail routes, and formed diplomatic connections between the local princes. Baybars' troops attacked Acre in 1263, captured Caesaria in 1265, and massacred the inhabitants of Antioch in 1268. In 1291, the Mamelukes drove the last of the Crusaders out of Acre.
Mamelukes also defeated new Mongol attacks in Syria in 1271, 1281 (2nd Battle of Homs), 1303/1304 and 1312. They were defeated by the Mongols and their Christian allies at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299.
Under the Burji Mamelukes, Cairo became the most important center for trade between the East, India, and Europe, and the economy flourished. The Burji (meaning "of the tower") dynasty consisted mainly of Circassians. Sultan Barquq (r. 1382-1399) successfully resisted Timur’s advance to the southwest and organized the new state. Sultan Barsbay (r. 1422-1438) pursued an unfortunate economic policy based on state monopolies, but led a successful expedition to Cyprus.
After 1450, there came a period of economic decline, which coincided with the obsolescence of the dynasty’s war machinery. In 1517, the Mamelukes were ousted by the Ottomans under Selim I and their territories annexed. The institution of the Mamelukes continued under the Ottomans, although not in the same form as under the Sultanate. For reasons of religious legitimation, the Mamelukes had Abbasid shadow caliphs under their charge in Cairo after 1260.
Under the Mamelukes, art and architecture flourished, Mameluke metalwork and glass is well represented in museum collections of Islamic art, and most of the existing monuments in the old quarters of Cairo, Damascus, Tripoli and Aleppo are Mameluke.
In 1768, Sultan Ali Bey al-Kabir declared independence from the Ottomans, but the Ottomans crushed the movement and retained their position after his defeat. By this time new slave recruits were introduced from Georgia in the Caucasus. Napoleon defeated Mameluke troops when he attacked Egypt in 1798 and drove them to Upper Egypt. The Mamelukes still used their cavalry charge tactics, changed only by the addition of muskets.
After the departure of French troops in 1801, Mamelukes continued their struggle for independence, this time against the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. In 1803, Mameluke leaders Ibrahim Beg and Usman Beg wrote a letter to the Russian consul-general and asked him to act as a mediator with the Sultan to allow them to negotiate for a cease-fire, and a return to their homeland Georgia. The Russian ambassador in Istanbul categorically refused to mediate because the Russian government was afraid of allowing Mamelukes to return to Georgia, where a strong national liberation movement was on the rise which might have been encouraged by a Mameluke return.
In 1805, the population of Cairo rebelled. This was an excellent opportunity for the Mamelukes to seize power, but internal tension and betrayal prevented them from exploiting this opportunity. In 1806, the Mamelukes defeated the Turkish forces several times, and in June the rival parties concluded a peace treaty by which Muhammad Ali who had been appointed as governor of Egypt on March 26, 1806, was to be removed and the state authority in Egypt returned to the Mamelukes. However, they were again unable to capitalize on the opportunity due to conflicts between the clans. Muhammad Ali kept his authority.
Muhammad Ali knew that eventually he would have to deal with the Mamelukes if he ever wanted to control Egypt. They were still the feudal owners of Egypt and their land was still the source of wealth and power.
On March 1, 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all Mamelukes to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamelukes paraded in Cairo. Near the Al-Azab gates, in a narrow road down from Mukatam Hll, Muhammad 'Ali's forces ambushed and killed almost all in what came to be known as the Massacre of the Citadel. According to the tradition, only one Mameluke named Hasan, survived when he cut his way through the Turks and jumped his horse over a precipice to freedom.
During the following week, hundreds of Mamelukes were killed throughout Egypt. In the citadel of Cairo alone more than 1,000 were killed. Throughout Egypt an estimated 3,000 Mamelukes and their relatives were killed.
Despite these attempts by Muhammad 'Ali to defeat the Mamelukes in Egypt, a party of them escaped and fled south into what is now Sudan. In 1811, these Mamelukes established a state at Dunqulah in the Sennar as a base for their slave trading. In 1820, the sultan of Sennar informed Muhammad 'Ali that he was unable to comply with a demand to expel the Mamelukes. In response, the pasha sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan, clear it of Mamelukes, and reclaim it for Egypt. The pasha's forces received the submission of the kashif, dispersed the Dunqulah Mamelukes, conquered Kordofan, and accepted Sennar's surrender from the last Funj sultan, Badi VII.
There were various offshoots of the Mamelukes. In 1206, the Mameluke commander of the Muslim forces in India, Qutb-ud-din Aibak (Aybak), proclaimed himself sultan, becoming in effect the first independent Sultan-e-Hind. This Mameluke dynasty of India lasted until 1290. was a term used for the early Turkish sultans of northern India who ruled from 1210 to 1290. In India, the term mamluk denotes a Turkish officer who was a slave; thus these rulers were also known for comprising the “slave dynasty” of Delhi. The ten main rulers of this dynasty were as follows: Qutb ud-Din Aibak (r. 1206-1210), Aram Shah (r. 1210), Iltutmish (r. 1210-1235), Ruknuddin Firuz (r. 1235), Raziyya (r. 1236-1240), Muizuddin Bahram (r. 1240-1242), Nasiruddin Mahmud (r.1246-1266), Balban (r. 1266-1287), Kaiqubad (r. 1287-1290), and Kaimurs (r. 1290). The historian Minhaj (c. thirteenth century of the Christian calendar) names these ruling houses after individual sultans, thus, Qutbi, Shamsi, and Balbani. With the exception of Aibak, all of these sultans wer Ilbari Turks, hence they have also been called the Ilbarites. The state under the Mamluks was an entity where ethnically restricted: power rested with the Turks alone and slave officers dominated the governing class. The Mamluks initiated the growth of an urban aristocratic culture and patronized the growth of Indo-Islamic architecture and the Persian language.
In Iran, the Mameluke corps were first introduced in the part of the Ottoman Empire that is now Iraq by pasha Hasan of Baghdad in 1702. From 1747 to 1821, Iraq was ruled, with short intermissions, by the Mameluke officers of Georgian origin who succeeded in asserting autonomy from the Sublime Porte, suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of the Janissaries, restored order, and introduced a program of modernization of the economy and the military. In 1831, the Ottomans managed to overthrow Daud Pasha, the last Mameluke ruler, and imposed direct control over Iraq.
There were even Mamelukes that served in the armies of Napoleon. Napoleon formed his own Mameluke corps, the last known Mameluke force, in the early years of the 19th century of the Christian calendar, and used Mamelukes in a number of his campaigns. Even his Imperial Guard had Mameluke soldiers during the Belgian campaign, including one of his personal servants, Napoleon's famous bodyguard Roustan was a Mameluke from Egypt.
One of the pictures by Francisco de Goya shows a charge of Mamelukes against the Madrilene on May 2, 1808. Throughout the Napoleonic era there was a special Mameluke corps in the French army. In the instructions that Napoleon gave to Kleber at his departure from Egypt, Napoleon wrote that he had already bought from Syrian merchants about 2,000 Mamelukes with whom he intended to form a special detachment. On September 14, 1799, General Kleber established a mounted company of Mameluke auxiliaries and Syrian Janissaries from Turks captured at the siege of Acre.
On July 7, 1800, General Menou reorganized the company, forming three companies of 100 men each and renaming it the "Mamluks de la Republique". In 1801, General Rapp was sent to Marseille to organize a squadron of 250 Mamelukes under his command. On January 7, 1802, the previous order was cancelled and the squadron reduced to 150 men. The list of effectives on April 21, 1802, reveals three officers and 155 other ranks. By decree of December 25, 1803, the Mamelukes were organized into a company attached to the Chasseurs-a-Cheval of the Imperial Guard.
Mamelukes fought well at the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805, and the regiment was granted a standard and its roster increased to accommodate a standard bearer and a trumpet. A decree of April 15, 1806 defined the strength of the squadron as 13 officers and 147 privates. Despite the decree of March 21, 1815, that stated that no foreigner could be admitted into the Imperial Guard, Napoleon's decree of April 24, 1815, prescribed amongst other things that the Chasseurs-a-Cheval of the Imperial Guard included a squadron of two companies of Mamelukes for the Belgian Campaign.
With the First Restoration, the company of the Mamelukes of the Old Guard was incorporated into the Corps Royal des Chasseurs de France. The Mamelukes of the Young Guard were incorporated into the 7th Chasseurs-a-Cheval.
A list of the Mameluke rulers includes:
In Egypt
Bahri Dynasty
* 1250 Shajar al-Durr (al-Salih Ayyub's Widow de facto ruler of Egypt)
* 1250 al-Muizz Izz-ad-Din Aybak
* 1257 al-Mansur Nur-ad-Din Ali
* 1259 al-Muzaffar Saif ad-Din Qutuz
* 1260 al-Zahir Rukn-ad-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari
* 1277 al-Said Nasir-ad-Din Barakah Khan
* 1280 al-Adil Badr al-Din Solamish
* 1280 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Qalawun al-Alfi
* 1290 al-Ashraf Salah-ad-Din Khalil
* 1294 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun first reign
* 1295 al-Adil Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha
* 1297 al-Mansur Husam-ad-Din Lajin
* 1299 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun second reign
* 1309 al-Muzaffar Rukn-ad-Din Baybars II al-Jashankir
* 1310 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun third reign
* 1340 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Abu-Bakr
* 1341 al-Ashraf Ala'a-ad-Din Kujuk
* 1342 al-Nasir Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad
* 1342 al-Salih Imad-ad-Din Ismail
* 1345 al-Kamil Saif ad-Din Shaban
* 1346 al-Muzaffar Zein-ad-Din Hajji
* 1347 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan first reign
* 1351 al-Salih Salah-ad-Din Ibn Muhammad
* 1354 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan second reign
* 1361 al-Mansur Salah-ad-Din Mohamed Ibn Hajji
* 1363 al-Ashraf Zein al-Din Abu al-Ma'ali ibn Shaban
* 1376 al-Mansur Ala-ad-Din Ali Ibn al-Ashraf Shaban
* 1382 al-Salih Salah Zein al-Din Hajji II first reign
Burji Dynasty
* 1382 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq , first reign
* 1389 Hajji II second reign (with honorific title al-Muzaffar or al-Mansur) – Temporary Bahri rule
* 1390 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq, Second reign – Burji rule re-established
* 1399 An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj
* 1405 Al-Mansoor Azzaddin Abdal Aziz
* 1405 An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj (second time)
* 1412 Al-Adil Al-Musta'in (Abbasid Caliph, proclaimed as Sultan)
* 1412 Al-Muayad Sayf ad-Din Shaykh
* 1421 Al-Muzaffar Ahmad
* 1421 Az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Tatar
* 1421 As-Salih Nasir ad-Din Muhammad
* 1422 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Barsbay
* 1438 Al-Aziz Djamal ad-Din Yusuf
* 1438 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq
* 1453 Al-Mansoor Fahr ad-Din Osman
* 1453 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Enal
* 1461 Al-Muayad Shihab ad-Din Ahmad
* 1461 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Khushkadam
* 1467 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Belbay
* 1468 Az-Zahir Temurbougha
* 1468 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Qaitbay
* 1496 An-Nasir Muhammad
* 1498 Az-Zahir Qanshaw
* 1500 Al-Ashraf Janbulat
* 1501 Al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Tuman bay I
* 1501 Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri
* 1517 Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II
In India
* Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206–1210), founded Mamluk Sultanate, Delhi
* Aram Shah (1210–1211)
* Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211–1236). Son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aybak.
* Rukn ud din Firuz (1236). Son of Iltutmish.
* Razia Sultana (1236–1240). Daughter of Iltutmish.
* Muiz ud din Bahram (1240–1242). Son of Iltutmish.
* Ala ud din Masud (1242–1246). Son of Rukn ud din.
* Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–1266). Son of Iltutmish.
* Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266–1286). Ex-slave, son-in-law of Iltutmish.
* Muiz ud din Qaiqabad(1286–1290). Grandson of Balban and Nasir ud din.
* Kayumars (1290). Son of Muiz ud din.
In Iraq
* Hasan Pasha (1704–1723)
* Ahmet Pasha (1723–1747) Son of Hasan
* Sulaiman Abu Layla Pasha (1749–1762) Son-in-law of Ahmet
* Umar (1762 - 1776) Son of Ahmed
* Büyük Süleyman Pasha the Great (1780–1802) Son of Umar
* Ali Pasha (1802–1807) Son of Umar
* Küçük Süleyman Pasa the Little took (1807–1813) Son of Büyük Süleyman
* Sa'id Pasha (1813–1816) Son of Büyük Süleyman
* Daud Pasha (1817–1831) Son of Ali,Son-in-law of Büyük Süleyman and nephew
Mamluk see Mameluke
Mamluq see Mameluke
Mamaluke see Mameluke
Mamluke see Mameluke
Mameluke (in Arabic, Mamluk) (Mamluq) (Mamaluke) (Mamluke). Mameluke is Arabic for “white slave.” The word is related to the word for king, “malik,” indicating that a Mameluke was a slave owned by the ruler of the state.
Mamelukes were slaves that were used to form a solid foundation for the ruler of a country. Tribal frictions and a weak government had resulted in numerous revolutions in many states. The system of Mamelukes was intended to change this. Young boys were enslaved in countries far away, and then underwent rigid training before they joined the army of the state. As many of them came from Christian countries, they were converted to Islam. The Mamelukes formed an institution in the state, and clear regulations were imposed on their rights. By rule, the children of a Mameluke could not become a Mameluke; positions could not be transferred to relatives; and the right to transfer inheritance was strictly regulated.
The Mamelukes, at times, developed into a force so strong that they were able to overthrow the ruler of the country. This happened in Egypt in 1250, leading to the Mameluke dynasty which existed as an independent country until 1517, and as a subject of the Ottoman Empire until 1811.
The laws regulating Mamelukes were often not well respected and were frequently lifted. The definition of Mamelukes as slaves was never changed, not even when the Mamelukes became sultan. However, the ownership definition was changed, and the Mameluke system was understood as the real owner of the slaves.
Mameluke Sultanates were established and maintained by military (primarily Turkish and Circassian) slaves in Egypt (r.1250- 1517) and inSyria (r.1260-1516). The Egyptian Mameluke sultanatet had its origin in the Bahriyya, a military household of Qipcaq Turkish military slaves, which belonged to the bodyguard of the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt al-Malik al-Salih, Najm al-Din. The Bahriyya superceded the Ayyubids under the constraint of the military crises provoked by the crusade of Louis in 1249 and by the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1259. The Bahriyya line (1250-1390) was followed by the Burjiyya or Circassian line, which lasted until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517. During the Ottoman period, the formation of Mameluke military households, known as Neo-Mamelukes and carrying the title of Bey, continued until they were destroyed by Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha in 1812.
The main capital of the Mamelukes was Cairo. Their name is derived from the Arabic mamluk (“taken into possession”). Historically, the Mamelukes were slave soldiers who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. Over time, they became a powerful military caste often defeating the Crusaders. On more than one occasion, they seized power for themselves, for example, ruling Egypt from 1250-1517.
The first Mamelukes served the 'Abbasid caliphs at the end of the ninth century of Christian calendar in Baghdad. The Mameluke system was an evolution of a previous system, the Ghulam system, invented by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim, in which Turkish prisoners of war became the caliphal guard. This system ended in disaster in the 860s with the murder of four caliphs in a row, and the Mameluke system was created on its ruins. The main difference was that the Mamelukes were captured as children and then trained and moulded within the Islamic world to ensure their loyalty to their masters. The 'Abbasids "recruited" them mainly from areas near the Caucasus (mainly Circassian and Georgian) in later periods, and in the 13th - 14th centuries from areas north of the Black Sea (mainly Turkic, most of whom were Kipchak Turks) and of Yoruk background, as well as boys from East Slav populations. Those captured were of non-Muslim origin.
The Mameluke system gave rulers troops who had n link to any established power structure. Local non-Mameluke warriors were often more loyal to their tribal sheiks, their families, or nobles than to the sultan or caliph. If a commander conspired against the ruler, it was often not possible to deal with the conspiracy without causing unrest among the nobility. The Mameluke slave troops were strangers of the lowest possible status who could not conspire against the ruler and who could easily be punished if they caused trouble, making them a great military asset.
After Mamelukes were converted to Islam, many were trained as cavalry soldiers. Mamelukes had to follow the dictates of furusiyya, a code that included values such as courage and generosity, and also cavalry tactics, horsemanship, archery and treatment of wounds, etc.
Mamelukes lived within their garrisons and mainly spent their time with each other. Their entertainments included sporting events such as archery competitions and presentations of mounted combat skills at least twice a week. The intensive and rigorous training of each new recruit helped ensure continuity of Mameluke practices.
While they were no longer actually slaves after training, they were still obliged to serve the Sultan. The Sultan kept them as an outsider force under his direct command, to use in the event of local tribal frictions. The Sultan could also send them as far as the Muslim regions of Iberia.
Sultans had the largest number of Mamelukes, but lesser amirs could have their own troops as well. Many Mamelukes rose to high positions throughout the empire, including army command. At first their status remained non-hereditary and sons were strictly prevented from following their fathers. However, over time, in places such as Egypt, the Mameluke forces became linked to existing power structures and gained significant amounts of influence on those powers. A similar development would occur in the Ottoman Empire with the Janissaries.
The origins of the Mameluke Sultanate of Egypt lie in the Ayyubid dynasty that Saladin (Salah al-Din) founded in 1174. With his uncle, Shirkuh, Saladin conquered Egypt for the Zengid King Nur al-Din of Damascus in 1169. By 1189, after the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin had consolidated the dynasty's control over the Middle East. After Saladin's death, his sons fell to squabbling over the division of the Empire, and each attempted to surround himself with larger expanded Mameluke retinues.
By 1200, Saladin's brother al-Adil succeeded in securing control over the whole empire by defeating and killing of imprisoning his brothers and nephews in turn. With each victory, al-Adil incorporated the defeated Mameluke retinue into his own. This process was repeated at al-Adil's death in 1218, and as his son al-Kamil's death in 1238. The Ayyubids became increasingly surrounded by the power of the Mamelukes and soon involved them in the internal court politics of the kingdom itself.
1n 1315, they invaded and conquered a great part of Nubia, but the power remained with a Nubian prince who converted from Coptic Orthodox to Islam.
In June 1249, the Seventh Crusade under Louis IX of France landed in Egypt and took Damietta. The Egyptian troops retreated at first. When the Egyptian sultan As-Salih Ayyub died, the power passed briefly to his son Turanshah and then his favorite wife Shajar al-Durr (or Shajarat ul-Dur). She took control with Mameluke support and launched a counterattack. Troops of the Bahri commander Baybars defeated Louis' troops. The king delayed his retreat too long and was captured by the Mamelukes in March 1250, and agreed to a ransom. Political pressure for a male leader made Shajar marry the Mameluke commander Aybak. Aybak was later killed in his bath, and in the power struggle that ensued the vice-regent Qutuz took over. He formally founded the first Mameluke sultanate and the Bahri dynasty.
The first Mameluke dynasty was named Bahri after the name of one of the regiments, the Bahriyya or River Island regiment. The name Bahri (meaning "of the sea or river") referred to their center in al-Rodah Island in the Nile. The regiment consisted mainly of Kipchak Turks.
When the Mongol troops of Hulegu Khan sacked Baghdad in 1258 and advanced towards Syria, Mameluke emir Baybars left Damascus to Cairo where he was welcomed by Sultan Qutuz. After taking Damascus, Hulegu demanded that Qutuz surrender Egypt but Qutuz had Hulegu's envoys killed and, with Baybar's help, mobilized his troops. Although Hulegu had to leave for the East when great Khan Mongke died in action against the Southern Song, he left his lieutenant, the Christian Kitbuqa, in charge, Qutuz drew the Mongol army into an ambush near the Orontes River, routed them at the Battle of Ayn Jalut and captured and executed Kitbuqa.
After this great triumph, Qutuz was assassinated by conspiring Mamelukes. It was said that Baybars, who seized power, was involved in the assassination. In the following centuries power was often transferred this way: the average reign of a Mameluke ruler was only seven years.
Under the outstanding Sultan Baybars (r. 1260-1277), the Mamelukes stopped the Mongol expansion westwards and successfully fought against the Crusaders. The Mamelukes defeated the Mongols a second time at Homs in 1260 and began to drive them back east. In the process, they consolidated their power over Syria, fortified the area, formed mail routes, and formed diplomatic connections between the local princes. Baybars' troops attacked Acre in 1263, captured Caesaria in 1265, and massacred the inhabitants of Antioch in 1268. In 1291, the Mamelukes drove the last of the Crusaders out of Acre.
Mamelukes also defeated new Mongol attacks in Syria in 1271, 1281 (2nd Battle of Homs), 1303/1304 and 1312. They were defeated by the Mongols and their Christian allies at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299.
Under the Burji Mamelukes, Cairo became the most important center for trade between the East, India, and Europe, and the economy flourished. The Burji (meaning "of the tower") dynasty consisted mainly of Circassians. Sultan Barquq (r. 1382-1399) successfully resisted Timur’s advance to the southwest and organized the new state. Sultan Barsbay (r. 1422-1438) pursued an unfortunate economic policy based on state monopolies, but led a successful expedition to Cyprus.
After 1450, there came a period of economic decline, which coincided with the obsolescence of the dynasty’s war machinery. In 1517, the Mamelukes were ousted by the Ottomans under Selim I and their territories annexed. The institution of the Mamelukes continued under the Ottomans, although not in the same form as under the Sultanate. For reasons of religious legitimation, the Mamelukes had Abbasid shadow caliphs under their charge in Cairo after 1260.
Under the Mamelukes, art and architecture flourished, Mameluke metalwork and glass is well represented in museum collections of Islamic art, and most of the existing monuments in the old quarters of Cairo, Damascus, Tripoli and Aleppo are Mameluke.
In 1768, Sultan Ali Bey al-Kabir declared independence from the Ottomans, but the Ottomans crushed the movement and retained their position after his defeat. By this time new slave recruits were introduced from Georgia in the Caucasus. Napoleon defeated Mameluke troops when he attacked Egypt in 1798 and drove them to Upper Egypt. The Mamelukes still used their cavalry charge tactics, changed only by the addition of muskets.
After the departure of French troops in 1801, Mamelukes continued their struggle for independence, this time against the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. In 1803, Mameluke leaders Ibrahim Beg and Usman Beg wrote a letter to the Russian consul-general and asked him to act as a mediator with the Sultan to allow them to negotiate for a cease-fire, and a return to their homeland Georgia. The Russian ambassador in Istanbul categorically refused to mediate because the Russian government was afraid of allowing Mamelukes to return to Georgia, where a strong national liberation movement was on the rise which might have been encouraged by a Mameluke return.
In 1805, the population of Cairo rebelled. This was an excellent opportunity for the Mamelukes to seize power, but internal tension and betrayal prevented them from exploiting this opportunity. In 1806, the Mamelukes defeated the Turkish forces several times, and in June the rival parties concluded a peace treaty by which Muhammad Ali who had been appointed as governor of Egypt on March 26, 1806, was to be removed and the state authority in Egypt returned to the Mamelukes. However, they were again unable to capitalize on the opportunity due to conflicts between the clans. Muhammad Ali kept his authority.
Muhammad Ali knew that eventually he would have to deal with the Mamelukes if he ever wanted to control Egypt. They were still the feudal owners of Egypt and their land was still the source of wealth and power.
On March 1, 1811, Muhammad Ali invited all Mamelukes to his palace to celebrate the declaration of war against the Wahhabis in Arabia. Between 600 and 700 Mamelukes paraded in Cairo. Near the Al-Azab gates, in a narrow road down from Mukatam Hll, Muhammad 'Ali's forces ambushed and killed almost all in what came to be known as the Massacre of the Citadel. According to the tradition, only one Mameluke named Hasan, survived when he cut his way through the Turks and jumped his horse over a precipice to freedom.
During the following week, hundreds of Mamelukes were killed throughout Egypt. In the citadel of Cairo alone more than 1,000 were killed. Throughout Egypt an estimated 3,000 Mamelukes and their relatives were killed.
Despite these attempts by Muhammad 'Ali to defeat the Mamelukes in Egypt, a party of them escaped and fled south into what is now Sudan. In 1811, these Mamelukes established a state at Dunqulah in the Sennar as a base for their slave trading. In 1820, the sultan of Sennar informed Muhammad 'Ali that he was unable to comply with a demand to expel the Mamelukes. In response, the pasha sent 4,000 troops to invade Sudan, clear it of Mamelukes, and reclaim it for Egypt. The pasha's forces received the submission of the kashif, dispersed the Dunqulah Mamelukes, conquered Kordofan, and accepted Sennar's surrender from the last Funj sultan, Badi VII.
There were various offshoots of the Mamelukes. In 1206, the Mameluke commander of the Muslim forces in India, Qutb-ud-din Aibak (Aybak), proclaimed himself sultan, becoming in effect the first independent Sultan-e-Hind. This Mameluke dynasty of India lasted until 1290. was a term used for the early Turkish sultans of northern India who ruled from 1210 to 1290. In India, the term mamluk denotes a Turkish officer who was a slave; thus these rulers were also known for comprising the “slave dynasty” of Delhi. The ten main rulers of this dynasty were as follows: Qutb ud-Din Aibak (r. 1206-1210), Aram Shah (r. 1210), Iltutmish (r. 1210-1235), Ruknuddin Firuz (r. 1235), Raziyya (r. 1236-1240), Muizuddin Bahram (r. 1240-1242), Nasiruddin Mahmud (r.1246-1266), Balban (r. 1266-1287), Kaiqubad (r. 1287-1290), and Kaimurs (r. 1290). The historian Minhaj (c. thirteenth century of the Christian calendar) names these ruling houses after individual sultans, thus, Qutbi, Shamsi, and Balbani. With the exception of Aibak, all of these sultans wer Ilbari Turks, hence they have also been called the Ilbarites. The state under the Mamluks was an entity where ethnically restricted: power rested with the Turks alone and slave officers dominated the governing class. The Mamluks initiated the growth of an urban aristocratic culture and patronized the growth of Indo-Islamic architecture and the Persian language.
In Iran, the Mameluke corps were first introduced in the part of the Ottoman Empire that is now Iraq by pasha Hasan of Baghdad in 1702. From 1747 to 1821, Iraq was ruled, with short intermissions, by the Mameluke officers of Georgian origin who succeeded in asserting autonomy from the Sublime Porte, suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of the Janissaries, restored order, and introduced a program of modernization of the economy and the military. In 1831, the Ottomans managed to overthrow Daud Pasha, the last Mameluke ruler, and imposed direct control over Iraq.
There were even Mamelukes that served in the armies of Napoleon. Napoleon formed his own Mameluke corps, the last known Mameluke force, in the early years of the 19th century of the Christian calendar, and used Mamelukes in a number of his campaigns. Even his Imperial Guard had Mameluke soldiers during the Belgian campaign, including one of his personal servants, Napoleon's famous bodyguard Roustan was a Mameluke from Egypt.
One of the pictures by Francisco de Goya shows a charge of Mamelukes against the Madrilene on May 2, 1808. Throughout the Napoleonic era there was a special Mameluke corps in the French army. In the instructions that Napoleon gave to Kleber at his departure from Egypt, Napoleon wrote that he had already bought from Syrian merchants about 2,000 Mamelukes with whom he intended to form a special detachment. On September 14, 1799, General Kleber established a mounted company of Mameluke auxiliaries and Syrian Janissaries from Turks captured at the siege of Acre.
On July 7, 1800, General Menou reorganized the company, forming three companies of 100 men each and renaming it the "Mamluks de la Republique". In 1801, General Rapp was sent to Marseille to organize a squadron of 250 Mamelukes under his command. On January 7, 1802, the previous order was cancelled and the squadron reduced to 150 men. The list of effectives on April 21, 1802, reveals three officers and 155 other ranks. By decree of December 25, 1803, the Mamelukes were organized into a company attached to the Chasseurs-a-Cheval of the Imperial Guard.
Mamelukes fought well at the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2, 1805, and the regiment was granted a standard and its roster increased to accommodate a standard bearer and a trumpet. A decree of April 15, 1806 defined the strength of the squadron as 13 officers and 147 privates. Despite the decree of March 21, 1815, that stated that no foreigner could be admitted into the Imperial Guard, Napoleon's decree of April 24, 1815, prescribed amongst other things that the Chasseurs-a-Cheval of the Imperial Guard included a squadron of two companies of Mamelukes for the Belgian Campaign.
With the First Restoration, the company of the Mamelukes of the Old Guard was incorporated into the Corps Royal des Chasseurs de France. The Mamelukes of the Young Guard were incorporated into the 7th Chasseurs-a-Cheval.
A list of the Mameluke rulers includes:
In Egypt
Bahri Dynasty
* 1250 Shajar al-Durr (al-Salih Ayyub's Widow de facto ruler of Egypt)
* 1250 al-Muizz Izz-ad-Din Aybak
* 1257 al-Mansur Nur-ad-Din Ali
* 1259 al-Muzaffar Saif ad-Din Qutuz
* 1260 al-Zahir Rukn-ad-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari
* 1277 al-Said Nasir-ad-Din Barakah Khan
* 1280 al-Adil Badr al-Din Solamish
* 1280 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Qalawun al-Alfi
* 1290 al-Ashraf Salah-ad-Din Khalil
* 1294 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun first reign
* 1295 al-Adil Zayn-ad-Din Kitbugha
* 1297 al-Mansur Husam-ad-Din Lajin
* 1299 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun second reign
* 1309 al-Muzaffar Rukn-ad-Din Baybars II al-Jashankir
* 1310 al-Nasir Nasir-ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun third reign
* 1340 al-Mansur Saif-ad-Din Abu-Bakr
* 1341 al-Ashraf Ala'a-ad-Din Kujuk
* 1342 al-Nasir Shihab-ad-Din Ahmad
* 1342 al-Salih Imad-ad-Din Ismail
* 1345 al-Kamil Saif ad-Din Shaban
* 1346 al-Muzaffar Zein-ad-Din Hajji
* 1347 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan first reign
* 1351 al-Salih Salah-ad-Din Ibn Muhammad
* 1354 al-Nasir Badr-ad-Din Abu al-Ma'aly al-Hassan second reign
* 1361 al-Mansur Salah-ad-Din Mohamed Ibn Hajji
* 1363 al-Ashraf Zein al-Din Abu al-Ma'ali ibn Shaban
* 1376 al-Mansur Ala-ad-Din Ali Ibn al-Ashraf Shaban
* 1382 al-Salih Salah Zein al-Din Hajji II first reign
Burji Dynasty
* 1382 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq , first reign
* 1389 Hajji II second reign (with honorific title al-Muzaffar or al-Mansur) – Temporary Bahri rule
* 1390 az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Barquq, Second reign – Burji rule re-established
* 1399 An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj
* 1405 Al-Mansoor Azzaddin Abdal Aziz
* 1405 An-Nasir Naseer ad-Din Faraj (second time)
* 1412 Al-Adil Al-Musta'in (Abbasid Caliph, proclaimed as Sultan)
* 1412 Al-Muayad Sayf ad-Din Shaykh
* 1421 Al-Muzaffar Ahmad
* 1421 Az-Zahir Saif ad-Din Tatar
* 1421 As-Salih Nasir ad-Din Muhammad
* 1422 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Barsbay
* 1438 Al-Aziz Djamal ad-Din Yusuf
* 1438 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq
* 1453 Al-Mansoor Fahr ad-Din Osman
* 1453 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Enal
* 1461 Al-Muayad Shihab ad-Din Ahmad
* 1461 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Khushkadam
* 1467 Az-Zahir Sayf ad-Din Belbay
* 1468 Az-Zahir Temurbougha
* 1468 Al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Qaitbay
* 1496 An-Nasir Muhammad
* 1498 Az-Zahir Qanshaw
* 1500 Al-Ashraf Janbulat
* 1501 Al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Tuman bay I
* 1501 Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri
* 1517 Al-Ashraf Tuman bay II
In India
* Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206–1210), founded Mamluk Sultanate, Delhi
* Aram Shah (1210–1211)
* Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211–1236). Son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aybak.
* Rukn ud din Firuz (1236). Son of Iltutmish.
* Razia Sultana (1236–1240). Daughter of Iltutmish.
* Muiz ud din Bahram (1240–1242). Son of Iltutmish.
* Ala ud din Masud (1242–1246). Son of Rukn ud din.
* Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–1266). Son of Iltutmish.
* Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266–1286). Ex-slave, son-in-law of Iltutmish.
* Muiz ud din Qaiqabad(1286–1290). Grandson of Balban and Nasir ud din.
* Kayumars (1290). Son of Muiz ud din.
In Iraq
* Hasan Pasha (1704–1723)
* Ahmet Pasha (1723–1747) Son of Hasan
* Sulaiman Abu Layla Pasha (1749–1762) Son-in-law of Ahmet
* Umar (1762 - 1776) Son of Ahmed
* Büyük Süleyman Pasha the Great (1780–1802) Son of Umar
* Ali Pasha (1802–1807) Son of Umar
* Küçük Süleyman Pasa the Little took (1807–1813) Son of Büyük Süleyman
* Sa'id Pasha (1813–1816) Son of Büyük Süleyman
* Daud Pasha (1817–1831) Son of Ali,Son-in-law of Büyük Süleyman and nephew
Mamluk see Mameluke
Mamluq see Mameluke
Mamaluke see Mameluke
Mamluke see Mameluke
Mameto
Mameto. In Brazil, a circumcized black, usually a Muslim.
Mameto. In Brazil, a circumcized black, usually a Muslim.
Ma Ming-hsin
Ma Ming-hsin (Muhammad Amin) (d. 1781). Chinese Muslim leader. He was instrumental in the development and spread of the “New Teaching.”
The founder of the "new sect" as opposed to the "old sect" which embraced long accepted Chinese Muslim doctrines of accommodation to Confucian ideology.
Ma taught the way of the Zahiriya branch of the Naqshbandi order after he returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Armed conflict with the old sect occurred around Lauchou, a known center of the Chinese Muslims. This conflict led to a rebellion against Chinese rule. The militancy of the new sect showed first in Kansu and Shensi from 1862 to 1877. In the second rebellion, which racked Yunnan from 1856 and 1873, its leader Tu Wenhsiu, succeeded in establishing a separate Muslim state for sixteen years.
Ming-hsin, Ma see Ma Ming-hsin
Muhammad Amin see Ma Ming-hsin
Amin, Muhammad see Ma Ming-hsin
Ma Ming-hsin (Muhammad Amin) (d. 1781). Chinese Muslim leader. He was instrumental in the development and spread of the “New Teaching.”
The founder of the "new sect" as opposed to the "old sect" which embraced long accepted Chinese Muslim doctrines of accommodation to Confucian ideology.
Ma taught the way of the Zahiriya branch of the Naqshbandi order after he returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca. Armed conflict with the old sect occurred around Lauchou, a known center of the Chinese Muslims. This conflict led to a rebellion against Chinese rule. The militancy of the new sect showed first in Kansu and Shensi from 1862 to 1877. In the second rebellion, which racked Yunnan from 1856 and 1873, its leader Tu Wenhsiu, succeeded in establishing a separate Muslim state for sixteen years.
Ming-hsin, Ma see Ma Ming-hsin
Muhammad Amin see Ma Ming-hsin
Amin, Muhammad see Ma Ming-hsin
Mamluk
Mamluk. See Mameluke.
Mamluk. See Mameluke.
Mamluks
Mamluks. See Mameluke.
Mamluks. See Mameluke.
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-Ma’mun) ('Abdallah al-Mamun) (Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun) (September 14, 786 - August 9, 833). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 813-833). He restored the unity of the empire and, in 827, proclaimed Mu‘tazilism as the official doctrine. One of the logical consequences of this step was imposing the doctrine that the Qur’an was created. This measure inaugurated a period of “trial” (in Arabic, mihna) which was to last officially during the caliphates of his successors al-Mu‘tasim bi-Allah and al-Wathiq bi-‘llah. Al-Ma’mun’s measure was revoked by the Caliph al-Mutawakkil. This doctrine was strongly opposed by many, the most prominent among them being Ahmad ibn Hanbal, whom the caliph had flogged. Al-Ma’mun excelled in Hanafi jurisprudence and was distinguished by his love of knowledge. He encouraged the translation into Arabic of Greek and Syriac works on philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.
Al-Mamun was the son of Harun al-Rashid and a Persian slave girl, Marajil. Born about 786, he was slightly older than his half brother Amin, son of the Arab Zubayda, but Amin was first heir to the caliphate and al-Mamun second.
In 802, Harun al-Rashid father of al-Mamun and Amin ordered that Amin would succeed him and that al-Mamun would serve as governor of Khurasan (with Fadl ibn-Sahl as vizier) and as caliph after the death of Amin. Al-Mamun was reportedly the older of the two brothers, but his mother was a Persian woman while Amin's mother was a member of the reigning 'Abbasid family. After al-Rashid's death in 809, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. In response to al-Mamun's moves toward independence, Amin declared his own son Musa to be his heir. This violation of al-Rashid's testament led to a civil war in which al-Mamun's newly recruited Khurasani troops, led by Tahir bin Husain, defeated Amin's armies and laid siege to Baghdad. In 811, Amin was beheaded and al-Mamun was recognized as caliph throughout the empire.
Al-Mamun became caliph but continued to reside in the East despite disturbances in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. In the struggle of rival interest groups, al-Mamun, hoping for wider support, in 817 designated as his successor Ali ar-Rida, head of the descendants of Ali, Muhammad's cousin. This step provoked a revolt in Baghdad, and Ibrahim, al-Mamun's uncle, was proclaimed caliph. Al-Mamun moved slowly back toward Iraq, entered Baghdad without difficulty, and ended the revolt (819). Ali ar-Rida had meanwhile died at Meshed.
(Al-Mamun, in an attempt to win over the Shi'a Muslims to his camp, named the eighth Imam, Ali ar-Rida, his successor, if he should oulive al-Mamun. Most Shi'ites realized, however, that ar-Rida was too old to survive al-Mamun and saw al-Mamun's gesture as empty. Indeed, ar-Rida died in 818. The incident served to further alienate the Shi'ites from the 'Abbasids, who had already been promised and denied the Caliphate by al-'Abbas.)
A significant development during al-Mamun's reign was the rise of a semi-independent hereditary dynasty under the caliph. A Persian general called Tahir played a large part in al-Mamun's success against his brother. After some time in the West, he was, in 821, made governor of Khurasan, where there was serious trouble. Tahir gave signs of aiming at independence, and, when he died in 822, al-Mamun, who could not risk losing the province, appointed Tahir's son Talha to the governorship. One of Talha's brothers succeeded in 828. On the model of the Tahirid, independent dynasties, nominally appointed by and subordinate to the caliph, became a feature of the Islamic world, until the caliphs had no real power left.
(Al-Mamun had been named governor of Khurasan by Harun, and after his ascension to power, the caliph named Tahir as governor for his military services in order to assure his loyalty. It was a move that al-Mamun soon regretted, as Tahir and his family became entrenched in Persian politics and became increasingly powerful in the state, contrary to al-Mamun's desire to centralize and strengthen Caliphal power. The rising power of the Tahirid dynasty became a threat as al-Mamun's own policies alienated them and his other opponents.)
For most of the rest of his reign, there were disorders to be suppressed in various parts of the empire. Despite this fact, however, trade flourished, and the 'Abbasids were at the zenith of their prosperity. By 830, al-Mamun felt capable of mounting annual expeditions against the Byzantines. It was on one of these that he died in August 9, 833 at Tarsus. He was succeeded by his half-brother, al-Mu'tasim.
(At-Tabari recounts how al-Mamun was sitting on the river bank telling those with him hw splendid the water was. He asked what would go best with this water and was told a specific kind of fresh date. Noticing supplies arriving, he asked someone check whether such dates were included. As they were, he invited those with him to enjoy the water with these dates. All who did this fell ill. Others recovered. Al-Mamun died. As he was dying, he spoke, expressing his belief in the unity of God and his reliance on God's mercy. He encouraged his successor to continue his policies and not burden the people with more than they could bear.)
Al-Mamun became an enthusiast for Greek thought and is credited with the founding of the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), an institute for translating foreign, especially Greek, books into Arabic. Translations had been made of Sanskrit and Persian works in the time of his great-grandfather and of Greek books of that of his father. Many Greek books were already extant in Iraq in Syriac translations, and most of the first translations into Arabic were made by Christians from these Syriac versions. The earliest interest of the Arabs was in astronomy (with astrology) or medicine, but Greek philosophy also attracted attention.
The interest in Greek philosophy is linked with the rise of the theological school of the Mutazilites. Nineteenth century European scholars admired their apparent rationalism and liberal views, such as a belief in freedom of the will. It is now realized that, despite their interest in Greek ideas, they remained close to their Islamic basics. Several leading Mutazilites were prominent at al-Mamun's court, notably Thumama and Ahmad ibn-Abi Duad. Al-Mamun was probably attracted not only by the philosophical but also by the political aspect of their thought, for they were attempting to reconcile contemporary tensions. The stimulation of interest in Greek works influence the whole subsequent course of Islamic thought.
In accordance with Mutazilite teaching, al-Mamun established toward the end of his reign (perhaps in 827) the inquisition, or mihna. All higher officials had publicly to profess that they believed the Qur'an to be the created not the uncreated, word of God. This was not mere theological hairsplitting but the basis of a hoped for compromise between opposing forces. Most officials made the required declaration, but a leading jurist, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, refused and was prevented from lecturing. The inquisition lasted until about 850.
The mihna is comparable to Medieval European inquisitions only in the sense that it involved imprisonment, a religious text, and a loyalty oath. The casualties of 'Abbasid inquisition would not approach a fraction of those executed in Europe under similar circumstances. In the effort to centralize power and test the loyalty of his subjects, al-Mamun required elites, scholars, judges and other government officials to undergo the test, which was a series of questions relating to theology and faith. The penalty for failing the mihna could include death.
The controversy over the mihna was exacerbated by al-Mamun's sympathy for Mu'tazili theology. Mu'tazili theology was deeply influenced by Aristotelian thought and Greek rationalism, and stated that matters of belief and practice should be decided by reasoning on the basis of the Qur'an. This defied the literalist position, according to which everything a believer needed to know about faith and practice was spelled out literally in the Qur'an and the hadith. Moreover, the Mu'tazilis stated that the Qur'an was created rather than eternal, in opposition to general Muslim opinion that the Qur'an and the Divine were co-eternal. The fact that the Mu'tazili school had its foundations in teh paganism of Greece further disenchanted a majority of Islamic clerics.
Although al-Mahdi had proclaimed that the caliph was the protector of Islam against heresy, and had claimed the ability to declare orthodoxy, religious schlars in the Islamic world believed that al-Ma'mun was overstepping his bounds in the mihna. The penalties of the mihna became increasingly difficult to enforce as the ulama became firmer and more united in their opposition. Although the mihna persisted through the reigns of two more caliphs, al-Mutawakkil abandoned it in 848. The failure of the mihna seriously damaged caliphal authority and ruined the reputation of the office for succeeding caliphs. The caliph would lose much of his religious authority to the opinion of the ulama as a result of the mihna.
The ulama and the major Islamic law schools became truly defined in the period of al-Ma'mun and Sunnism, as a religion of legalism, became defined in parallel. Doctrinal differences between Sunni and Shi'a began to become more pronounced. Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the Hanbali legal school, became famous for his opposition to the mihna. Al-Mamun's simultaneous opposition and patronage of intellectuals led to the emergence of important dialogues on both secular and religious affairs, and the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) became an important center of translation for Greek and other ancient texts into Arabic. This Islamic renaissance spurred the rediscovery of Hellenism and ensured the survival of these texts into the European renaissance.
Al-Mamun's reign is marked by his efforts to the translation of Greek philosophy and science. Al-Mamun gathered scholars of many religions at Baghdad, whom he treated magnificently and with tolerance. He sent an emissary to the Byzantine Empire to collect the most famous manuscripts there, and had them translated into Arabic. It is said that, victorious over the Byzantine Emperor, Al-Mamun made a condition of peace be that the emperor hand over a copy of the Almagest. Al-Mamun also conducted, in the plains of Mesopotamia, two astronomical operations intended to determine the value of a terrestrial degree, Almanon crater, on the Moon, was named in recognition of al-Mamun's contributions to astronomy.
There were a number of other key developments in the reign of al-Mamun. The shakiriya, which were to trigger the movement of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra during al-Mu'tasim's reign, were raised in al-Mamun's time. The shakiriya were military units from Central Asia and North Africa, hired, complete with their commanders, to serve under the Caliph.
Al-Mamun also attempted to divorce his wife during his reign because she had failed to bear him any children. His wife hired a Syrian judge of her own before al-Mamun was able to select one himself. The judge, who sympathized with the caliph's wife, refused the divorce. Following al-Mamun's experience, no further 'Abbasid caliphs were to marry, preferring to find their heirs in the harem.
Shortly before his death, during a visit to Egypt in 832, al-Mamun ordered the breaching of the Great Pyramid of Giza. He apparently entered the pyramid by unblocking a tunnel made by grave robbers in ancient times. Because the pyramid had already been robbed, his expedition found only the empty granite sarcophagus.
The 'Abbasid empire grew during the reign of al-Mamun. Hindu rebellions in Sindh were put down, and most of Afghanistan was absorbed with the surrender of the leader of Kabul. Mountainous regions of Iran were brought under a tighter grip of the central 'Abbasid government, as were areas of Turkestan. However, battles against the Byzantine Empire continued in Asia Minor, and al-Mamun would die while leading an expedition in Sardis.
Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abd Allah al-Ma'mun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
'Abdallah al-Mamun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-Ma’mun) ('Abdallah al-Mamun) (Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun) (September 14, 786 - August 9, 833). ‘Abbasid caliph (r. 813-833). He restored the unity of the empire and, in 827, proclaimed Mu‘tazilism as the official doctrine. One of the logical consequences of this step was imposing the doctrine that the Qur’an was created. This measure inaugurated a period of “trial” (in Arabic, mihna) which was to last officially during the caliphates of his successors al-Mu‘tasim bi-Allah and al-Wathiq bi-‘llah. Al-Ma’mun’s measure was revoked by the Caliph al-Mutawakkil. This doctrine was strongly opposed by many, the most prominent among them being Ahmad ibn Hanbal, whom the caliph had flogged. Al-Ma’mun excelled in Hanafi jurisprudence and was distinguished by his love of knowledge. He encouraged the translation into Arabic of Greek and Syriac works on philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.
Al-Mamun was the son of Harun al-Rashid and a Persian slave girl, Marajil. Born about 786, he was slightly older than his half brother Amin, son of the Arab Zubayda, but Amin was first heir to the caliphate and al-Mamun second.
In 802, Harun al-Rashid father of al-Mamun and Amin ordered that Amin would succeed him and that al-Mamun would serve as governor of Khurasan (with Fadl ibn-Sahl as vizier) and as caliph after the death of Amin. Al-Mamun was reportedly the older of the two brothers, but his mother was a Persian woman while Amin's mother was a member of the reigning 'Abbasid family. After al-Rashid's death in 809, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated. In response to al-Mamun's moves toward independence, Amin declared his own son Musa to be his heir. This violation of al-Rashid's testament led to a civil war in which al-Mamun's newly recruited Khurasani troops, led by Tahir bin Husain, defeated Amin's armies and laid siege to Baghdad. In 811, Amin was beheaded and al-Mamun was recognized as caliph throughout the empire.
Al-Mamun became caliph but continued to reside in the East despite disturbances in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. In the struggle of rival interest groups, al-Mamun, hoping for wider support, in 817 designated as his successor Ali ar-Rida, head of the descendants of Ali, Muhammad's cousin. This step provoked a revolt in Baghdad, and Ibrahim, al-Mamun's uncle, was proclaimed caliph. Al-Mamun moved slowly back toward Iraq, entered Baghdad without difficulty, and ended the revolt (819). Ali ar-Rida had meanwhile died at Meshed.
(Al-Mamun, in an attempt to win over the Shi'a Muslims to his camp, named the eighth Imam, Ali ar-Rida, his successor, if he should oulive al-Mamun. Most Shi'ites realized, however, that ar-Rida was too old to survive al-Mamun and saw al-Mamun's gesture as empty. Indeed, ar-Rida died in 818. The incident served to further alienate the Shi'ites from the 'Abbasids, who had already been promised and denied the Caliphate by al-'Abbas.)
A significant development during al-Mamun's reign was the rise of a semi-independent hereditary dynasty under the caliph. A Persian general called Tahir played a large part in al-Mamun's success against his brother. After some time in the West, he was, in 821, made governor of Khurasan, where there was serious trouble. Tahir gave signs of aiming at independence, and, when he died in 822, al-Mamun, who could not risk losing the province, appointed Tahir's son Talha to the governorship. One of Talha's brothers succeeded in 828. On the model of the Tahirid, independent dynasties, nominally appointed by and subordinate to the caliph, became a feature of the Islamic world, until the caliphs had no real power left.
(Al-Mamun had been named governor of Khurasan by Harun, and after his ascension to power, the caliph named Tahir as governor for his military services in order to assure his loyalty. It was a move that al-Mamun soon regretted, as Tahir and his family became entrenched in Persian politics and became increasingly powerful in the state, contrary to al-Mamun's desire to centralize and strengthen Caliphal power. The rising power of the Tahirid dynasty became a threat as al-Mamun's own policies alienated them and his other opponents.)
For most of the rest of his reign, there were disorders to be suppressed in various parts of the empire. Despite this fact, however, trade flourished, and the 'Abbasids were at the zenith of their prosperity. By 830, al-Mamun felt capable of mounting annual expeditions against the Byzantines. It was on one of these that he died in August 9, 833 at Tarsus. He was succeeded by his half-brother, al-Mu'tasim.
(At-Tabari recounts how al-Mamun was sitting on the river bank telling those with him hw splendid the water was. He asked what would go best with this water and was told a specific kind of fresh date. Noticing supplies arriving, he asked someone check whether such dates were included. As they were, he invited those with him to enjoy the water with these dates. All who did this fell ill. Others recovered. Al-Mamun died. As he was dying, he spoke, expressing his belief in the unity of God and his reliance on God's mercy. He encouraged his successor to continue his policies and not burden the people with more than they could bear.)
Al-Mamun became an enthusiast for Greek thought and is credited with the founding of the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma), an institute for translating foreign, especially Greek, books into Arabic. Translations had been made of Sanskrit and Persian works in the time of his great-grandfather and of Greek books of that of his father. Many Greek books were already extant in Iraq in Syriac translations, and most of the first translations into Arabic were made by Christians from these Syriac versions. The earliest interest of the Arabs was in astronomy (with astrology) or medicine, but Greek philosophy also attracted attention.
The interest in Greek philosophy is linked with the rise of the theological school of the Mutazilites. Nineteenth century European scholars admired their apparent rationalism and liberal views, such as a belief in freedom of the will. It is now realized that, despite their interest in Greek ideas, they remained close to their Islamic basics. Several leading Mutazilites were prominent at al-Mamun's court, notably Thumama and Ahmad ibn-Abi Duad. Al-Mamun was probably attracted not only by the philosophical but also by the political aspect of their thought, for they were attempting to reconcile contemporary tensions. The stimulation of interest in Greek works influence the whole subsequent course of Islamic thought.
In accordance with Mutazilite teaching, al-Mamun established toward the end of his reign (perhaps in 827) the inquisition, or mihna. All higher officials had publicly to profess that they believed the Qur'an to be the created not the uncreated, word of God. This was not mere theological hairsplitting but the basis of a hoped for compromise between opposing forces. Most officials made the required declaration, but a leading jurist, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, refused and was prevented from lecturing. The inquisition lasted until about 850.
The mihna is comparable to Medieval European inquisitions only in the sense that it involved imprisonment, a religious text, and a loyalty oath. The casualties of 'Abbasid inquisition would not approach a fraction of those executed in Europe under similar circumstances. In the effort to centralize power and test the loyalty of his subjects, al-Mamun required elites, scholars, judges and other government officials to undergo the test, which was a series of questions relating to theology and faith. The penalty for failing the mihna could include death.
The controversy over the mihna was exacerbated by al-Mamun's sympathy for Mu'tazili theology. Mu'tazili theology was deeply influenced by Aristotelian thought and Greek rationalism, and stated that matters of belief and practice should be decided by reasoning on the basis of the Qur'an. This defied the literalist position, according to which everything a believer needed to know about faith and practice was spelled out literally in the Qur'an and the hadith. Moreover, the Mu'tazilis stated that the Qur'an was created rather than eternal, in opposition to general Muslim opinion that the Qur'an and the Divine were co-eternal. The fact that the Mu'tazili school had its foundations in teh paganism of Greece further disenchanted a majority of Islamic clerics.
Although al-Mahdi had proclaimed that the caliph was the protector of Islam against heresy, and had claimed the ability to declare orthodoxy, religious schlars in the Islamic world believed that al-Ma'mun was overstepping his bounds in the mihna. The penalties of the mihna became increasingly difficult to enforce as the ulama became firmer and more united in their opposition. Although the mihna persisted through the reigns of two more caliphs, al-Mutawakkil abandoned it in 848. The failure of the mihna seriously damaged caliphal authority and ruined the reputation of the office for succeeding caliphs. The caliph would lose much of his religious authority to the opinion of the ulama as a result of the mihna.
The ulama and the major Islamic law schools became truly defined in the period of al-Ma'mun and Sunnism, as a religion of legalism, became defined in parallel. Doctrinal differences between Sunni and Shi'a began to become more pronounced. Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the Hanbali legal school, became famous for his opposition to the mihna. Al-Mamun's simultaneous opposition and patronage of intellectuals led to the emergence of important dialogues on both secular and religious affairs, and the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) became an important center of translation for Greek and other ancient texts into Arabic. This Islamic renaissance spurred the rediscovery of Hellenism and ensured the survival of these texts into the European renaissance.
Al-Mamun's reign is marked by his efforts to the translation of Greek philosophy and science. Al-Mamun gathered scholars of many religions at Baghdad, whom he treated magnificently and with tolerance. He sent an emissary to the Byzantine Empire to collect the most famous manuscripts there, and had them translated into Arabic. It is said that, victorious over the Byzantine Emperor, Al-Mamun made a condition of peace be that the emperor hand over a copy of the Almagest. Al-Mamun also conducted, in the plains of Mesopotamia, two astronomical operations intended to determine the value of a terrestrial degree, Almanon crater, on the Moon, was named in recognition of al-Mamun's contributions to astronomy.
There were a number of other key developments in the reign of al-Mamun. The shakiriya, which were to trigger the movement of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra during al-Mu'tasim's reign, were raised in al-Mamun's time. The shakiriya were military units from Central Asia and North Africa, hired, complete with their commanders, to serve under the Caliph.
Al-Mamun also attempted to divorce his wife during his reign because she had failed to bear him any children. His wife hired a Syrian judge of her own before al-Mamun was able to select one himself. The judge, who sympathized with the caliph's wife, refused the divorce. Following al-Mamun's experience, no further 'Abbasid caliphs were to marry, preferring to find their heirs in the harem.
Shortly before his death, during a visit to Egypt in 832, al-Mamun ordered the breaching of the Great Pyramid of Giza. He apparently entered the pyramid by unblocking a tunnel made by grave robbers in ancient times. Because the pyramid had already been robbed, his expedition found only the empty granite sarcophagus.
The 'Abbasid empire grew during the reign of al-Mamun. Hindu rebellions in Sindh were put down, and most of Afghanistan was absorbed with the surrender of the leader of Kabul. Mountainous regions of Iran were brought under a tighter grip of the central 'Abbasid government, as were areas of Turkestan. However, battles against the Byzantine Empire continued in Asia Minor, and al-Mamun would die while leading an expedition in Sardis.
Abu'l-'Abbas 'Abd Allah al-Ma'mun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
'Abdallah al-Mamun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Abbas ‘Abd Allah al-
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al-
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al- (Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al-Ma’mun) (b. 1185). Sovereign of the Almohad dynasty (r.1229-1232). He was very well-read, and equally versed in profane and religious learning.
Abu'l-'Ala' Idris al-Ma'mun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al-
Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al- (Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al-Ma’mun) (b. 1185). Sovereign of the Almohad dynasty (r.1229-1232). He was very well-read, and equally versed in profane and religious learning.
Abu'l-'Ala' Idris al-Ma'mun see Ma’mun, Abu’l-‘Ala’ Idris al-
Manaf
Manaf. Name of a deity of ancient Arabia whose cult was widespread among the Quraysh. The statute of Manaf was caressed by women, but when they had their menstrual cycle they were not allowed to go near it.
Manaf. Name of a deity of ancient Arabia whose cult was widespread among the Quraysh. The statute of Manaf was caressed by women, but when they had their menstrual cycle they were not allowed to go near it.
Manastirli Mehmed Rif‘at
Manastirli Mehmed Rif‘at (1851-1907). Ottoman Turkish officer, writer, poet, and playwright. He is mainly remembered for his contribution to the Turkish theater by writing, translating and adapting many plays.
Rif'at, Manastirli Mehmed see Manastirli Mehmed Rif‘at
Manastirli Mehmed Rif‘at (1851-1907). Ottoman Turkish officer, writer, poet, and playwright. He is mainly remembered for his contribution to the Turkish theater by writing, translating and adapting many plays.
Rif'at, Manastirli Mehmed see Manastirli Mehmed Rif‘at
Manat, al-
Manat, al-. Meccan female deity which was prominent before the advent of Islam. Al-Manat was one of the most ancient dieties of the Semitic pantheon. Like al-Lat and al-‘Uzza, al-Manat was worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Prophet ordered it to be destroyed in 629.
Al-Manat was the ancient Arabian goddess of fate and destiny, and the personification of the evening star. Al-Manat ("fate") was one of the daughters of the pre-Islamic Allah. Her cult was situated between Medina and Mecca, where she was worshipped in the form of a black stone.
Al-Manāt was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. The pre-Islamic Arabs believed Manāt to be the goddess of fate. She was known by the cognate name Manawat to the Nabataeans of Petra, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddess Nemesis and she was considered the wife of Hubal. She is also mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:20) that pre-Islamic Arabs believed as one of the daughters of Allāh along with Allāt and Al-‘Uzzá. According to Grunebaum in Classical Islam, the Arabic name of Manat is the linguistic counterpart of the Hellenistic Tyche, Dahr, fateful 'Time' who snatches men away and robs their existence of purpose and value. There are also connections with Chronos of Mithraism and Zurvan mythology.
The ruling tribes of al-Madinah, and other Arabs continued to worship Manat until the time of Muhammad.
Manawat see Manat, al-.
Manat, al-. Meccan female deity which was prominent before the advent of Islam. Al-Manat was one of the most ancient dieties of the Semitic pantheon. Like al-Lat and al-‘Uzza, al-Manat was worshipped by the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Prophet ordered it to be destroyed in 629.
Al-Manat was the ancient Arabian goddess of fate and destiny, and the personification of the evening star. Al-Manat ("fate") was one of the daughters of the pre-Islamic Allah. Her cult was situated between Medina and Mecca, where she was worshipped in the form of a black stone.
Al-Manāt was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. The pre-Islamic Arabs believed Manāt to be the goddess of fate. She was known by the cognate name Manawat to the Nabataeans of Petra, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddess Nemesis and she was considered the wife of Hubal. She is also mentioned in the Qur'an (Sura 53:20) that pre-Islamic Arabs believed as one of the daughters of Allāh along with Allāt and Al-‘Uzzá. According to Grunebaum in Classical Islam, the Arabic name of Manat is the linguistic counterpart of the Hellenistic Tyche, Dahr, fateful 'Time' who snatches men away and robs their existence of purpose and value. There are also connections with Chronos of Mithraism and Zurvan mythology.
The ruling tribes of al-Madinah, and other Arabs continued to worship Manat until the time of Muhammad.
Manawat see Manat, al-.
Ma‘n, Banu
Ma‘n, Banu (Banu Ma‘n). Arab family of chiefs of the Druze district of the Shuf, in the southern parts of Mount Lebanon. They enjoyed a special political prominence in Syria in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Banu Ma'n see Ma‘n, Banu
Ma‘n, Banu (Banu Ma‘n). Arab family of chiefs of the Druze district of the Shuf, in the southern parts of Mount Lebanon. They enjoyed a special political prominence in Syria in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Banu Ma'n see Ma‘n, Banu
Mandeans
Mandeans. Only surviving Gnostic religion, now with no more than 20,000 adherents, living in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Their main city is Nasiriyya. Mandeans are often called the Christians of Saint John, as he is held to be a very sacred person in, although not indispensable to, Mandean theology. Their name is Aramaic for “knowledge”, i.e., a translation from the Greek “gnosis”.
John the Baptist is central in Mandean teaching as a representative of their faith. Jesus is also central, but he plays a totally different role than in religions like Christianity and Islam, and is considered to be a false prophet, almost depicted as evil.
The central religious book to Mandeans is the Ginza, “Treasure”, containing mythological and theological moral and narrative tracts as well as hymns to be used in the mass for the dead.
There are many other, less central books, mainly written in East Aramaic, or Mandean as the language is also called. The content in these books varies, and many have magical texts and exorcisms. The collection of books was started in the time of Islam, which differs strongly between “book-religions” and other religions, and the Mandeans soon conformed to the Qur’anic concept of “Sabians” – the fourth “book-religion”, which can be translated to “baptizers.”
Baptism is central to the cult of Mandeans, and the Mandean sanctuary, Mandi, is a very simple and small house with a slanting roof. In front of it is a pool which is connected to a nearby river. The river is called “Jordan” and is used for baptism. The whole area is surrounded by a high fence or a wall. Baptisms are performed on Sundays, and every believer passes through this several times every year. Mandean baptism can be compared to the Christian communion, and the Muslim prayer, salat.
The other central ritual is the mass for the dead, with recitations from the Ginza. The soul is released from the body the third day after the moment of death. Meals are central in these rituals. Traditional Mandean graves are unmarked, as what is buried is only the dark body. However, in modern times, these customs have adjusted themselves to Muslim customs.
The ethics of Mandeans are not all too different from Jewish ethics and the laws of the Mandeans apply to all Mandeans, man or woman, leaders or not. Monogamy, dietary laws, ritual slaughtering and alms-giving are all central acts. According to the Mandeans, the cosmos is made up of two forces, the world of light, located to the north, and the world of darkness, located to the south. There is a ruler to both, and around the rulers smaller gods, called kings. Between the two forces there are hostilities, and it is in the fights between the two that the world is created. Man is created by the forces of darkness, but in every man, there is a “hidden Adam”, the soul, which has its origin in the world of light.
The religion’s origin is difficult to reconstruct, as there is so much unknown. The origin of Mandeanism could be a continuation of traditions from Mesopotamia, or Palestine, or both. The Mandean religion could be pre-Christian, or it could date to the first or second century of the Christian calendar. It could actually be John the Baptist who founded the sect, or it could be a continuation of the Jewish sect that to which John the Baptist belonged (a sect believed to be the Essenes).
Elements of the Mandean language indicate that the Mandean community is of Jewish origin. One of the texts of the Mandeans tells about a flight of a group called “Nasoreans,” from areas that probably were in today’s Jordan, to the Mesopotamian region, in the times of the Jewish wars following the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 of the Christian calendar. The Mandeans appear first to have gained a strong position in Babylon, but lost this with the appearance of the Sassanids in the year 226. In the time of Mani, there were contacts between Mani and the Mandeans. This contact resulted in a love-hate relationship.
With the arrival of Islam in Iraq in 636, the Mandeans were considered as the third “people of the book”, as the mysterious Sabians of the Qur’an. However, the Mandeans still faced a difficult relationship with Islam, and Muhammad is in their writings called the “demon Bizbat.” The Mandeans moved from the cities to the marshlands in Southern Iraq. It is first in modern times that the Mandeans moved back to the cities, especially Nasiriyya, Baghdad and Basra, where many of them work as gold and silver smiths, iron smiths and boat builders.
Mandeans are also found in medium sized towns between Baghdad and Basra. Some small groups of Mandeans even live in Iran, in cities like Ahvas and Shushtar in the southwestern corner of the country.
Today Mandean theology is seriously threatened, as recruiting new priests is difficult, and many offices are vacant. Mandean laymen are often highly educated, but know little of the old language and the scripts, and they attend ceremonies only seldom, as in weddings. Yet, there was a strong feeling of pride of their heritage, and they often claim to belong to a religion older than Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Sabians see Mandeans.
Mandeans. Only surviving Gnostic religion, now with no more than 20,000 adherents, living in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Their main city is Nasiriyya. Mandeans are often called the Christians of Saint John, as he is held to be a very sacred person in, although not indispensable to, Mandean theology. Their name is Aramaic for “knowledge”, i.e., a translation from the Greek “gnosis”.
John the Baptist is central in Mandean teaching as a representative of their faith. Jesus is also central, but he plays a totally different role than in religions like Christianity and Islam, and is considered to be a false prophet, almost depicted as evil.
The central religious book to Mandeans is the Ginza, “Treasure”, containing mythological and theological moral and narrative tracts as well as hymns to be used in the mass for the dead.
There are many other, less central books, mainly written in East Aramaic, or Mandean as the language is also called. The content in these books varies, and many have magical texts and exorcisms. The collection of books was started in the time of Islam, which differs strongly between “book-religions” and other religions, and the Mandeans soon conformed to the Qur’anic concept of “Sabians” – the fourth “book-religion”, which can be translated to “baptizers.”
Baptism is central to the cult of Mandeans, and the Mandean sanctuary, Mandi, is a very simple and small house with a slanting roof. In front of it is a pool which is connected to a nearby river. The river is called “Jordan” and is used for baptism. The whole area is surrounded by a high fence or a wall. Baptisms are performed on Sundays, and every believer passes through this several times every year. Mandean baptism can be compared to the Christian communion, and the Muslim prayer, salat.
The other central ritual is the mass for the dead, with recitations from the Ginza. The soul is released from the body the third day after the moment of death. Meals are central in these rituals. Traditional Mandean graves are unmarked, as what is buried is only the dark body. However, in modern times, these customs have adjusted themselves to Muslim customs.
The ethics of Mandeans are not all too different from Jewish ethics and the laws of the Mandeans apply to all Mandeans, man or woman, leaders or not. Monogamy, dietary laws, ritual slaughtering and alms-giving are all central acts. According to the Mandeans, the cosmos is made up of two forces, the world of light, located to the north, and the world of darkness, located to the south. There is a ruler to both, and around the rulers smaller gods, called kings. Between the two forces there are hostilities, and it is in the fights between the two that the world is created. Man is created by the forces of darkness, but in every man, there is a “hidden Adam”, the soul, which has its origin in the world of light.
The religion’s origin is difficult to reconstruct, as there is so much unknown. The origin of Mandeanism could be a continuation of traditions from Mesopotamia, or Palestine, or both. The Mandean religion could be pre-Christian, or it could date to the first or second century of the Christian calendar. It could actually be John the Baptist who founded the sect, or it could be a continuation of the Jewish sect that to which John the Baptist belonged (a sect believed to be the Essenes).
Elements of the Mandean language indicate that the Mandean community is of Jewish origin. One of the texts of the Mandeans tells about a flight of a group called “Nasoreans,” from areas that probably were in today’s Jordan, to the Mesopotamian region, in the times of the Jewish wars following the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 of the Christian calendar. The Mandeans appear first to have gained a strong position in Babylon, but lost this with the appearance of the Sassanids in the year 226. In the time of Mani, there were contacts between Mani and the Mandeans. This contact resulted in a love-hate relationship.
With the arrival of Islam in Iraq in 636, the Mandeans were considered as the third “people of the book”, as the mysterious Sabians of the Qur’an. However, the Mandeans still faced a difficult relationship with Islam, and Muhammad is in their writings called the “demon Bizbat.” The Mandeans moved from the cities to the marshlands in Southern Iraq. It is first in modern times that the Mandeans moved back to the cities, especially Nasiriyya, Baghdad and Basra, where many of them work as gold and silver smiths, iron smiths and boat builders.
Mandeans are also found in medium sized towns between Baghdad and Basra. Some small groups of Mandeans even live in Iran, in cities like Ahvas and Shushtar in the southwestern corner of the country.
Today Mandean theology is seriously threatened, as recruiting new priests is difficult, and many offices are vacant. Mandean laymen are often highly educated, but know little of the old language and the scripts, and they attend ceremonies only seldom, as in weddings. Yet, there was a strong feeling of pride of their heritage, and they often claim to belong to a religion older than Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Sabians see Mandeans.
Mandil, Banu
Mandil, Banu (Banu Mandil) (Awlad Mandil). Family of the Maghrawa, prominent in the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries in what is now western Algeria.
The Banu Mandi are derived from Khazrun bin Falful, the ancestor of the Banu Khazrun, who ruled Tripoli from 1001 to 1146. From the Banu Khazrun, several tribal branches were issued, but the main ones were the ones that ruled Tripoli and one that ruled Chelif. From the Banu Khazrun came the Abu Nas. The son of Abu Nas was Ibn Abu Nas who, in turn, was the father of Mandil I, the Almohad governor of Chelif around 1160 and the namesake founder of the Banu Mandil.
Awlad Mandil or Banu Madil were a family of the Maghrawa that ruled several regions in North Africa from c. 1160 to 1372.
His origin was Khazrun ben Falful ancestor of the Banu Khazrun, who ruled Tripoli from 1001 to 1146. From the Banu Khazrum issued several branches, but the main ones were: one that ruled Tripoli and one that ruled Chelif.
This last one was originated from Abu Nas; his son was Ibn Abu Nas; this has a son called Mandil I, Almohad governor of Chelif c. 1160. His son, Abd al-Rhaman ben Mandil was also governor of Chelif c. 1180.
Mandil II ben Abd al-Rahman was governor of Chelif, Uarsenis, Madiyya (Medea) and Mitidja c. 1190-1126. Was killed in 1126 by Yahya Ibn Ghaniya that occupied Mitidja. Mandil II has several sons:
* Al Abbas ben Mandil, governor of Chelif 1226-1249, that lost Medea and Uersenis against the Banu Tudjin but received Mliana, Tenes, Brechk and Cherchell from the Hafsids, as vassal.
* Muhammad I ben Mandil, heir of his brother 1249-1263 (killed by Aid)
* Aid ben Mandil, governor of Uersenis and Madiyya 1263-1269
* Umar ben Mandil, emir of Maghrawa 1269-1278 (installed by the Abdalwadid dynasty)
* Thabit ben Mandil, emir of Maghrawa 1278-1294 sold Tlemcen to Abdalwadid waiting obtain Mliana in exchange.
Muhammad ben Thabit was emir from 1294 to 1295 in absence of his father. The Abdalwadid dynasty occupied their lands in 1295. Rashid ben Thabit ben Mandil asked for help to Marinid dynasty of Morocco (1295), but the emirate was assigned to Umar ben Waghram ben Mandil (c. 1299-13002). Rashid revolted in Mazuna and defeated Umar ben Waghram, ruling the Maghrawa 1302-1310, allied to Hafsid dynasty of Bugia (Bidjaya) after 1307. In 1310 Rashid died, and his son Ali ben Rashid was deposed by the Hafsid dynasty, migrating to Morocco with his followers. In 1342, after a defeat of Hafsid against Marinids, he took Mliana, Tenes, Brechk and Cherchel, reestablishing the emirate of Maghrawa, but defeated by the Addalwadid (1351/1352) he committed suicide. His son Hamza ben Ali moved to Morocco. He come back to the Chelif and revolted with the help of the Maghrawa (1371) against Marinids, but was defeated in 1371, and fled to the lands of the tribe of Banu Husayn (that were revolted against Marinids with the help of Abdalwadids) and took the title of emir of Titteri. Defeated in Timzught was captured and executed (1372).
Banu Mandil see Mandil, Banu
Awlad Mandil see Mandil, Banu
Mandil, Banu (Banu Mandil) (Awlad Mandil). Family of the Maghrawa, prominent in the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries in what is now western Algeria.
The Banu Mandi are derived from Khazrun bin Falful, the ancestor of the Banu Khazrun, who ruled Tripoli from 1001 to 1146. From the Banu Khazrun, several tribal branches were issued, but the main ones were the ones that ruled Tripoli and one that ruled Chelif. From the Banu Khazrun came the Abu Nas. The son of Abu Nas was Ibn Abu Nas who, in turn, was the father of Mandil I, the Almohad governor of Chelif around 1160 and the namesake founder of the Banu Mandil.
Awlad Mandil or Banu Madil were a family of the Maghrawa that ruled several regions in North Africa from c. 1160 to 1372.
His origin was Khazrun ben Falful ancestor of the Banu Khazrun, who ruled Tripoli from 1001 to 1146. From the Banu Khazrum issued several branches, but the main ones were: one that ruled Tripoli and one that ruled Chelif.
This last one was originated from Abu Nas; his son was Ibn Abu Nas; this has a son called Mandil I, Almohad governor of Chelif c. 1160. His son, Abd al-Rhaman ben Mandil was also governor of Chelif c. 1180.
Mandil II ben Abd al-Rahman was governor of Chelif, Uarsenis, Madiyya (Medea) and Mitidja c. 1190-1126. Was killed in 1126 by Yahya Ibn Ghaniya that occupied Mitidja. Mandil II has several sons:
* Al Abbas ben Mandil, governor of Chelif 1226-1249, that lost Medea and Uersenis against the Banu Tudjin but received Mliana, Tenes, Brechk and Cherchell from the Hafsids, as vassal.
* Muhammad I ben Mandil, heir of his brother 1249-1263 (killed by Aid)
* Aid ben Mandil, governor of Uersenis and Madiyya 1263-1269
* Umar ben Mandil, emir of Maghrawa 1269-1278 (installed by the Abdalwadid dynasty)
* Thabit ben Mandil, emir of Maghrawa 1278-1294 sold Tlemcen to Abdalwadid waiting obtain Mliana in exchange.
Muhammad ben Thabit was emir from 1294 to 1295 in absence of his father. The Abdalwadid dynasty occupied their lands in 1295. Rashid ben Thabit ben Mandil asked for help to Marinid dynasty of Morocco (1295), but the emirate was assigned to Umar ben Waghram ben Mandil (c. 1299-13002). Rashid revolted in Mazuna and defeated Umar ben Waghram, ruling the Maghrawa 1302-1310, allied to Hafsid dynasty of Bugia (Bidjaya) after 1307. In 1310 Rashid died, and his son Ali ben Rashid was deposed by the Hafsid dynasty, migrating to Morocco with his followers. In 1342, after a defeat of Hafsid against Marinids, he took Mliana, Tenes, Brechk and Cherchel, reestablishing the emirate of Maghrawa, but defeated by the Addalwadid (1351/1352) he committed suicide. His son Hamza ben Ali moved to Morocco. He come back to the Chelif and revolted with the help of the Maghrawa (1371) against Marinids, but was defeated in 1371, and fled to the lands of the tribe of Banu Husayn (that were revolted against Marinids with the help of Abdalwadids) and took the title of emir of Titteri. Defeated in Timzught was captured and executed (1372).
Banu Mandil see Mandil, Banu
Awlad Mandil see Mandil, Banu
Mandingo
Mandingo. See Mandinka.
Mandingo. See Mandinka.
Manding speaking peoples
Manding speaking peoples. Manding speakers make up one of the largest groups of West African peoples speaking closely related forms of the same language. Mostly rural, agricultural peoples, those who speak the Manding languages inhabit the western savannas in a broad area around a geographical and cultural center on the upper Niger River in eastern Guinea and southwestern Mali. Although Manding speakers share a strong cultural identity in addition to their often mutually intelligible languages, they have no common name for themselves or their languages. The word “Manding,” which scholars in increasing numbers have been using in the past decade to refer to the group of languages, comes from the name “Mandingue,” which French colonial officials used when referring to all speakers of the languages. The French took Mandingue from Manden or Mande, the name for the traditional heartland on the upper Niger to which most Manding speakers look for their common heritage.
The Manding languages are a fairly mutually intelligible group of dialects or languages in West Africa, belonging to the Mande languages. Their best known members are Bambara (the most widely spoken language in Mali), Mandinka (the main language of Gambia), Maninka (or Malinke, a major language of Guinea), and Dioula (Dyula or Jula) (an important language of the northern Cote d'Ivoire and western Burkina Faso). Smaller languages belonging to the group include Khassonke or Xaasongaxango.
In addition to language, what gives Manding speakers a sense of unity is their knowledge of having common origins and a common cultural heritage. At the root of this heritage is the once-great Mali Empire. A small state of Mali – al-Bakri, the Arab geographer of the mid-eleventh century, called it “Malil” – founded by several Mandinka clans and centered on the upper Niger, existed from early in the second millennium, but its period of expansion and greatness came later. In the thirteenth century, the “lion king,” Sundiata, unified the Mandinka, conquered others and took advantage of the lucrative trade passing between the Sahara Desert and the goldfields of the more southerly forests to make Mali strong and its leading families wealthy.
Foreign merchants from across the Sahara came to Mali’s leading cities, and with them came Islam. The religion blended with local religious practices and maintained an importance, particularly among the Mandinka and Dyula, down through the centuries. Mali’s famous ruler, Mansa Musa, provided evidence of Islam’s influence when in 1324 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. In Cairo, he spent or gave away so much gold that he disrupted the monetary standard of the eastern Mediterranean. Evidence of Islam’s penetration among Manding speakers today is reflected in the fact that over ninety percent of Senegambia Mandinka and Ivory Coast – Guinea Dyula are Muslims. Such percentages decline considerably among the Bambara and some fringe groups.
Manding speaking peoples. Manding speakers make up one of the largest groups of West African peoples speaking closely related forms of the same language. Mostly rural, agricultural peoples, those who speak the Manding languages inhabit the western savannas in a broad area around a geographical and cultural center on the upper Niger River in eastern Guinea and southwestern Mali. Although Manding speakers share a strong cultural identity in addition to their often mutually intelligible languages, they have no common name for themselves or their languages. The word “Manding,” which scholars in increasing numbers have been using in the past decade to refer to the group of languages, comes from the name “Mandingue,” which French colonial officials used when referring to all speakers of the languages. The French took Mandingue from Manden or Mande, the name for the traditional heartland on the upper Niger to which most Manding speakers look for their common heritage.
The Manding languages are a fairly mutually intelligible group of dialects or languages in West Africa, belonging to the Mande languages. Their best known members are Bambara (the most widely spoken language in Mali), Mandinka (the main language of Gambia), Maninka (or Malinke, a major language of Guinea), and Dioula (Dyula or Jula) (an important language of the northern Cote d'Ivoire and western Burkina Faso). Smaller languages belonging to the group include Khassonke or Xaasongaxango.
In addition to language, what gives Manding speakers a sense of unity is their knowledge of having common origins and a common cultural heritage. At the root of this heritage is the once-great Mali Empire. A small state of Mali – al-Bakri, the Arab geographer of the mid-eleventh century, called it “Malil” – founded by several Mandinka clans and centered on the upper Niger, existed from early in the second millennium, but its period of expansion and greatness came later. In the thirteenth century, the “lion king,” Sundiata, unified the Mandinka, conquered others and took advantage of the lucrative trade passing between the Sahara Desert and the goldfields of the more southerly forests to make Mali strong and its leading families wealthy.
Foreign merchants from across the Sahara came to Mali’s leading cities, and with them came Islam. The religion blended with local religious practices and maintained an importance, particularly among the Mandinka and Dyula, down through the centuries. Mali’s famous ruler, Mansa Musa, provided evidence of Islam’s influence when in 1324 he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. In Cairo, he spent or gave away so much gold that he disrupted the monetary standard of the eastern Mediterranean. Evidence of Islam’s penetration among Manding speakers today is reflected in the fact that over ninety percent of Senegambia Mandinka and Ivory Coast – Guinea Dyula are Muslims. Such percentages decline considerably among the Bambara and some fringe groups.
Mandinka (Mandingo). Although they collectively look to “Manden,” the small region near where the Niger River crosses the Guinea-Mali border, as their cultural homeland, the Mandinka are widely dispersed throughout a considerable portion of West Africa’s westernmost savannas. They inhabit eastern Guinea, extreme southern Mali, northwestern Ivory Coast, eastern Guinea-Bissau, southeastern Senegal and most of Gambia. There are small groups of Mandinka in eastern Sierra Leone and Liberia as well. Sometimes called Malinke (as they are known to the Fulani and many French-speaking Africans), Maninka, Mandinko or Mandingo, they are also often identified locally by place of origin (a Mandinka from Kaabu in Guinea-Bissau is called a Kaabunka, for instance). As with most groups where ethnic mixture has been extreme, it is not easy to determine just who is and who is not a Mandinka.
The location and distribution of Mandinka today is a result of movements of people and cultural diffusion over the last millennium and especially during the period of greatness of the Mali Empire from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. For social, political and economic reasons, and also because long periods of drought seem to have made support of a large population difficult in the more central portions of Mali, Manding speakers gradually spread from the upper Niger River homelands into their present locations. The Mandinka movement was primarily west and southwest. Where they moved, they mixed with local peoples, while keeping the essence of Mandinka culture, so that Mandinka today – especially those on the periphery of the major Mandinka culture area – have a heritage of mixed ethnicity.
Islam has been penetrating Mandinka society since the days of Mali or perhaps before. Muslim scribes and clerics played important roles in the affairs of the Malian court for many years. However, conversion of an individual ruler and influence in the centers of Mandinka political power did not mean conversion of most Mandinka. Into the eighteenth century, there were pockets of Muslim clericalism within small Mandinka states, but the majorities of people in these states practiced pre-Islamic religions that involved worship of spirits of the land upon which they live. Muslim clerics were valued at court for their literacy and for their abilities to make protective amulets. Otherwise, Islam was a minority religion.
It was largely
a series of Islamic jihads among the Mandinka that led to their general conversion. Catalysts for these movements of religious revival were members of a Fulani clan, the Torodbe, many of whom lived among the larger Mandinka population.
The Mandinka are also known as the Mandingo and were the people who formed the Mandingo Kingdom. The Mandingo Kingdom was an ancient African state centered around the Upper Niger Valley. It embraced Islam between 1230 and 1255 and flourished during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when it extended to the Slave Coast on the Gulf of Guinea. Allied with the Portuguese in 1530, it became a source of black slaves for the Brazilian plantations. It began to decline in the seventeenth century and disintegrated as an empire in 1670. Later it was reduced to a small province whose ruler was a French vassal until modern times. Mandingo slaves, in the colonial West Indies and Brazil, were Sudanese, non-black slaves who converted to Islam and were brought mainly from the Mandingo Kingdom. Of Arabic and Tuareg ancestry, they were known for their tendency toward group suicide, which they considered a means of freeing themselves from a cruel servitude and of escaping to a better world. In Bahia, Brazil, former Mandingo slaves conducted trade between their city and African towns such as Lagos and Ardra. Indeed, a significant part of the African-Americans in North America descended from Mandinka people.
Mandinka in Guinea felt the effects of a Fulani-led jihad in the first half of the eighteenth century, and most Mandinka were influenced much more directly by Al-Hajj Umar Tall’s great movement of Islamic revival in Guinea and eastern Senegal in the 1850s. Mandinka in Guinea-Bissau were converted forcefully by the Fulani of Futa Jalon in Guinea in the 1860s. A series of wars, led by Muslim clerics of varying religious fervor, brought Islam to many Mandinka in Gambia in the last half of the nineteenth century. Most of those who did not convert as a result of jihad movements came to accept Islam because clerics – especially Jahanka – spread the religion in the early decades of the colonial period. Today the degree of Islamization among the Mandinka varies from about ninety percent in Senegambia to less than 50 percent in certain parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Mandingo see Mandinka
Malinke see Mandinka
Maninka see Mandinka
Mandinko see Mandinka
The Mandinka are also known as the Mandingo and were the people who formed the Mandingo Kingdom. The Mandingo Kingdom was an ancient African state centered around the Upper Niger Valley. It embraced Islam between 1230 and 1255 and flourished during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when it extended to the Slave Coast on the Gulf of Guinea. Allied with the Portuguese in 1530, it became a source of black slaves for the Brazilian plantations. It began to decline in the seventeenth century and disintegrated as an empire in 1670. Later it was reduced to a small province whose ruler was a French vassal until modern times. Mandingo slaves, in the colonial West Indies and Brazil, were Sudanese, non-black slaves who converted to Islam and were brought mainly from the Mandingo Kingdom. Of Arabic and Tuareg ancestry, they were known for their tendency toward group suicide, which they considered a means of freeing themselves from a cruel servitude and of escaping to a better world. In Bahia, Brazil, former Mandingo slaves conducted trade between their city and African towns such as Lagos and Ardra. Indeed, a significant part of the African-Americans in North America descended from Mandinka people.
Mandinka in Guinea felt the effects of a Fulani-led jihad in the first half of the eighteenth century, and most Mandinka were influenced much more directly by Al-Hajj Umar Tall’s great movement of Islamic revival in Guinea and eastern Senegal in the 1850s. Mandinka in Guinea-Bissau were converted forcefully by the Fulani of Futa Jalon in Guinea in the 1860s. A series of wars, led by Muslim clerics of varying religious fervor, brought Islam to many Mandinka in Gambia in the last half of the nineteenth century. Most of those who did not convert as a result of jihad movements came to accept Islam because clerics – especially Jahanka – spread the religion in the early decades of the colonial period. Today the degree of Islamization among the Mandinka varies from about ninety percent in Senegambia to less than 50 percent in certain parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Mandingo see Mandinka
Malinke see Mandinka
Maninka see Mandinka
Mandinko see Mandinka
Mandur, Muhammad
Mandur, Muhammad (1907-1965). Egyptian journalist, translator and literary critic. In intellectual vigor and critical insight he surpassed his teacher Taha Husayn, but did not possess the latter’s versatility nor did he acquire the latter’s fame.
Muhammad Mandur see Mandur, Muhammad
Mandur, Muhammad (1907-1965). Egyptian journalist, translator and literary critic. In intellectual vigor and critical insight he surpassed his teacher Taha Husayn, but did not possess the latter’s versatility nor did he acquire the latter’s fame.
Muhammad Mandur see Mandur, Muhammad
Mangits
Mangits (Manghits) (Manghuds) (Mangghuds) (Mangudais) (Nogais) . Uzbek dynasty of the khans of Bukhara (r.1753 -1921). A tribe of the Nogal federation, originally settlers in the territory of the Golden Horde, the Mangits later moved to Transoxiana with the Shaybanids at the start of the sixteenth century. Their rise came under the related Jalayirids. Mir Masum Shah (r. 1785-1800), regent in Bukhara from 1770, deposed the last Jalayirids and seized power for himself. Following unrest during the early days, Mangit rule stabilized under Nasrullah Bahadur (r. 1826-1860). In 1873, under Sayid Muzaffar (r. 1860-1885), Russia occupied their territory. The last khans were ousted by the Soviets in 1921.
The Manġits (Manghuds) originally were a Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation. They established the Nogai Horde in the 14th century of the Christian calendar. The clan name was used for Mongol vanguards as well. Their descendants live in several regions of the former Mongol Empire.
According to ancient sources, the Manghuds were derived from the Kiyad Mongols. The Manghuds and the Uruuds were war-like people from the Mongolian plateau. Some notable Manghud warriors supported Genghis Khan (1162–1227) while a body of them resisted his rise to power. When the Mongol Empire began to expand westward, the Manghud people were spread westward into the Middle East along with many other Mongol tribes. In the Golden Horde, the Manghuds supported Nogai (d.1299) and established their own semi-independent horde from the khans in Sarai. After Nogai's death in 1299, the majority of Manghud warriors joined the service of Tokhta Khan. Their chieftain Edigu, the powerful warlord of the Golden Horde, officially founded Nogai Horde or Manghit Horde in the 14th-15th century. Turkish historians would record their tribal name as Manghit or Nogais, as opposed to the original Manghud or Mangudai.
The mangudai or mungadai were military units of the Mongol Empire, but sources differ wildly in their descriptions. Some sources state that references to Mongol light cavalry "suicide troops" date back to the 13th century. However, other sources assert that Mangudai was the name of a 13th-century Mongol warlord who created an arduous selection process to test potential leaders. The term is used by elements of the United States Army as a name for multi-day tests of Soldiers' endurance and warrior skills.
The Nogais protected the northern borders of Astrakhan and Crimean khanates, and through organized raids to the northern steppes prevented Russian and Lithuanian settlements. Many Nogais joined the service of Crimean khan. Settling there, they contributed to the formation of the Crimean Tatars. However, Nogais were not only good soldiers, they also had considerable agricultural skills. Their basic social unit was the semi-autonomous 'ulus' or band. But Nogais were proud of their nomadic traditions and independence, which they considered superior to settled agricultural life.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Kalmyks or the Oirats, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River to the Lower Volga region about 1630. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais who fled to the plains of northern Caucasus and to the Crimea under the Ottoman Empire.
In the 1700s the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya passed under the control of three Uzbek khanates claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan. These were, from west to east, the Qunggirats based on Khiva in Khwārezm (1717–1920), the Mangits in Bukhara (1753–1920), and the Mings in Kokand (Qǔqon; c. 1710–1876).
The Manghit dynasty was founded by an Uzbek family that ruled the Emirate of Bukhara from 1785 to 1920. Manġit power in the Khanate of Bukhara began to grow in the early 1700s, due to the emirs position as ataliq to the khan. The family effectively came to power after Nader Shah's death in 1747, and the assassination of the ruling Abulfayz Khan and his young son Abdalmumin by the ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi. From the 1750s to the 1780s, the Manġits ruled behind the scenes, until the emir Shah Murad declared himself the open ruler, establishing the Emirate of Bukhara. The last emir of the dynasty, Mohammed Alim Khan, was ousted by the Russian Red Army in September, 1920, and fled to Afghanistan. The dynasty descends from the great Mongol khans of the Golden Horde.
The Manghit dynasty issued coins from 1787 up until the Soviet takeover.
A list of Emirs of the Manghit Dynasty (1785–1920) reads as follows:
* Shah Murad Khan (1785 - 13 December 1799)
* Haydar Tura Khan (13 December 1799 - January 1826)
* Husayn Khan (January - March 1826)
* 'Umar Khan (March - 22 March 1826)
* Nasr Allah Bahadur Khan (22 March 1826 - 21 September 1860)
* Muzaffar ad-Din Bahadur Khan (23 September 1860 - 12 November 1885)
* 'Abd al-Ahad Khan (12 November 1885 - 3 January 1911)
* Muhammed Alim Khan (3 January 1911 - 30 August 1920)
Manghuds see Mangits
Mangghuds see Mangits
Mangudais see Mangits
Manghits see Mangits
Nogais see Mangits
Mangits (Manghits) (Manghuds) (Mangghuds) (Mangudais) (Nogais) . Uzbek dynasty of the khans of Bukhara (r.1753 -1921). A tribe of the Nogal federation, originally settlers in the territory of the Golden Horde, the Mangits later moved to Transoxiana with the Shaybanids at the start of the sixteenth century. Their rise came under the related Jalayirids. Mir Masum Shah (r. 1785-1800), regent in Bukhara from 1770, deposed the last Jalayirids and seized power for himself. Following unrest during the early days, Mangit rule stabilized under Nasrullah Bahadur (r. 1826-1860). In 1873, under Sayid Muzaffar (r. 1860-1885), Russia occupied their territory. The last khans were ousted by the Soviets in 1921.
The Manġits (Manghuds) originally were a Mongol tribe of the Urud-Manghud federation. They established the Nogai Horde in the 14th century of the Christian calendar. The clan name was used for Mongol vanguards as well. Their descendants live in several regions of the former Mongol Empire.
According to ancient sources, the Manghuds were derived from the Kiyad Mongols. The Manghuds and the Uruuds were war-like people from the Mongolian plateau. Some notable Manghud warriors supported Genghis Khan (1162–1227) while a body of them resisted his rise to power. When the Mongol Empire began to expand westward, the Manghud people were spread westward into the Middle East along with many other Mongol tribes. In the Golden Horde, the Manghuds supported Nogai (d.1299) and established their own semi-independent horde from the khans in Sarai. After Nogai's death in 1299, the majority of Manghud warriors joined the service of Tokhta Khan. Their chieftain Edigu, the powerful warlord of the Golden Horde, officially founded Nogai Horde or Manghit Horde in the 14th-15th century. Turkish historians would record their tribal name as Manghit or Nogais, as opposed to the original Manghud or Mangudai.
The mangudai or mungadai were military units of the Mongol Empire, but sources differ wildly in their descriptions. Some sources state that references to Mongol light cavalry "suicide troops" date back to the 13th century. However, other sources assert that Mangudai was the name of a 13th-century Mongol warlord who created an arduous selection process to test potential leaders. The term is used by elements of the United States Army as a name for multi-day tests of Soldiers' endurance and warrior skills.
The Nogais protected the northern borders of Astrakhan and Crimean khanates, and through organized raids to the northern steppes prevented Russian and Lithuanian settlements. Many Nogais joined the service of Crimean khan. Settling there, they contributed to the formation of the Crimean Tatars. However, Nogais were not only good soldiers, they also had considerable agricultural skills. Their basic social unit was the semi-autonomous 'ulus' or band. But Nogais were proud of their nomadic traditions and independence, which they considered superior to settled agricultural life.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Kalmyks or the Oirats, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River to the Lower Volga region about 1630. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais who fled to the plains of northern Caucasus and to the Crimea under the Ottoman Empire.
In the 1700s the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya passed under the control of three Uzbek khanates claiming legitimacy in their descent from Genghis Khan. These were, from west to east, the Qunggirats based on Khiva in Khwārezm (1717–1920), the Mangits in Bukhara (1753–1920), and the Mings in Kokand (Qǔqon; c. 1710–1876).
The Manghit dynasty was founded by an Uzbek family that ruled the Emirate of Bukhara from 1785 to 1920. Manġit power in the Khanate of Bukhara began to grow in the early 1700s, due to the emirs position as ataliq to the khan. The family effectively came to power after Nader Shah's death in 1747, and the assassination of the ruling Abulfayz Khan and his young son Abdalmumin by the ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi. From the 1750s to the 1780s, the Manġits ruled behind the scenes, until the emir Shah Murad declared himself the open ruler, establishing the Emirate of Bukhara. The last emir of the dynasty, Mohammed Alim Khan, was ousted by the Russian Red Army in September, 1920, and fled to Afghanistan. The dynasty descends from the great Mongol khans of the Golden Horde.
The Manghit dynasty issued coins from 1787 up until the Soviet takeover.
A list of Emirs of the Manghit Dynasty (1785–1920) reads as follows:
* Shah Murad Khan (1785 - 13 December 1799)
* Haydar Tura Khan (13 December 1799 - January 1826)
* Husayn Khan (January - March 1826)
* 'Umar Khan (March - 22 March 1826)
* Nasr Allah Bahadur Khan (22 March 1826 - 21 September 1860)
* Muzaffar ad-Din Bahadur Khan (23 September 1860 - 12 November 1885)
* 'Abd al-Ahad Khan (12 November 1885 - 3 January 1911)
* Muhammed Alim Khan (3 January 1911 - 30 August 1920)
Manghuds see Mangits
Mangghuds see Mangits
Mangudais see Mangits
Manghits see Mangits
Nogais see Mangits
Mangkubumi
Mangkubumi (Hamengkubuwana I) (Hamengkubuwono I) (Raden Mas Sujana) (d.1792). Founder (1755-1756) of the court of Yogyakarta and the greatest monarch of Java’s Mataram dynasty in the eighteenth century. Sultan Mangkubumi rebelled in 1746 and was proclaimed king by his followers in 1749. In 1755, he agreed with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) -- which supported King Pakubuwana III (r.1749-1788) of Surakarta but could not defeat Mangkubumi -- to partition the kingdom between Pakubuwana III and himself. Thereafter he proved himself to be a firm and able monarch who made Yogyakarta the greatest military power of Central Java in the last half of the eighteenth century.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, born Raden Mas Sujana, was the first sultan of Yogyakarta. Sujana, the Crown Prince, was known as Prince Mangkubumi prior to becoming sultan of Yogyakarta Sultanate. As a son of Sultan Sunan Prabu of Mataram, and brother of Prince Heir Apparent Pakubuwono II of Surakarta, a dispute arose concerning succession to the Mataram throne. Prince Mangkubumi challenged his brother Pakubuwono II who was aided by the Dutch East India Company seeking a more pliant VOC puppet as Central Javanese king. The war that eventuated was known as the Third Succession War in Mataram.
During the war, Prince Mangkubumi was aided by brilliant legendary army commander-in-chief Raden Mas Said who fought in a highly effective strategic manner. Mangkubumi won decisive battles at Grobogan, Demak and Bogowonto River. During the War in 1749, Pakubuwono II died and the Crown Prince Mangkubumi became Sultan. At the Battle of Bogowonto River in 1751, the Dutch Army under De Clerck was destroyed by Mangkubumi's forces. Raden Mas Said revolted in dispute with Prince Mangkubumi. The Succession War and revolt of Raden Mas Said ended with the signing of the Gyanti Treaty of 1755.
According to the Giyanti Treaty, Mataram was divided into two kingdoms, Surakarta with Pakubuwono III as ruler, and Yogyakarta Sultanate with Prince Mangkubumi as sultan with the title Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I Senopati Ing Ngalaga Sayidin Panatagama Kalifatulah. Yogyakarta became capital and a new palace was built.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono died in 1792 and was interred in the Royal cemetery of Astana Kasuwargan in Imogiri. He was succeeded by Hamengkubuwono II, his son.
Hamengkubuwana I see Mangkubumi
Hamengkubuwono I see Mangkubumi
Raden Mas Sujana see Mangkubumi
Sujana, Raden Mas see Mangkubumi
Mangkubumi (Hamengkubuwana I) (Hamengkubuwono I) (Raden Mas Sujana) (d.1792). Founder (1755-1756) of the court of Yogyakarta and the greatest monarch of Java’s Mataram dynasty in the eighteenth century. Sultan Mangkubumi rebelled in 1746 and was proclaimed king by his followers in 1749. In 1755, he agreed with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) -- which supported King Pakubuwana III (r.1749-1788) of Surakarta but could not defeat Mangkubumi -- to partition the kingdom between Pakubuwana III and himself. Thereafter he proved himself to be a firm and able monarch who made Yogyakarta the greatest military power of Central Java in the last half of the eighteenth century.
Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I, born Raden Mas Sujana, was the first sultan of Yogyakarta. Sujana, the Crown Prince, was known as Prince Mangkubumi prior to becoming sultan of Yogyakarta Sultanate. As a son of Sultan Sunan Prabu of Mataram, and brother of Prince Heir Apparent Pakubuwono II of Surakarta, a dispute arose concerning succession to the Mataram throne. Prince Mangkubumi challenged his brother Pakubuwono II who was aided by the Dutch East India Company seeking a more pliant VOC puppet as Central Javanese king. The war that eventuated was known as the Third Succession War in Mataram.
During the war, Prince Mangkubumi was aided by brilliant legendary army commander-in-chief Raden Mas Said who fought in a highly effective strategic manner. Mangkubumi won decisive battles at Grobogan, Demak and Bogowonto River. During the War in 1749, Pakubuwono II died and the Crown Prince Mangkubumi became Sultan. At the Battle of Bogowonto River in 1751, the Dutch Army under De Clerck was destroyed by Mangkubumi's forces. Raden Mas Said revolted in dispute with Prince Mangkubumi. The Succession War and revolt of Raden Mas Said ended with the signing of the Gyanti Treaty of 1755.
According to the Giyanti Treaty, Mataram was divided into two kingdoms, Surakarta with Pakubuwono III as ruler, and Yogyakarta Sultanate with Prince Mangkubumi as sultan with the title Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I Senopati Ing Ngalaga Sayidin Panatagama Kalifatulah. Yogyakarta became capital and a new palace was built.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono died in 1792 and was interred in the Royal cemetery of Astana Kasuwargan in Imogiri. He was succeeded by Hamengkubuwono II, his son.
Hamengkubuwana I see Mangkubumi
Hamengkubuwono I see Mangkubumi
Raden Mas Sujana see Mangkubumi
Sujana, Raden Mas see Mangkubumi
Mangkunagaran
Mangkunagaran. Minor court established by the Surakarta prince Raden Mas Said (later Adipati Aria Mangkunagara) in 1757 after fighting against the combined forces of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and his erstwhile ally Mangkubumi (Sultan Hamengkubuwana I of Yogyakarta, r. 1749-1792). During the end of Mangkunagara’s reign and that of his successor Mangkunagara II (1796-1835), the fortunes of the Mangkunagaran court became ever more closely allied with that of the Dutch government, especially after the reorganization of the Mangkunagaran forces along European lines by Herman Daendels. The cultural style of the court synthesized European and Javanese elements (particularly in military affairs), and the energetic entrepreneurial policies of Mangkunagara II and Mangkunagara IV (r. 1853-1881) laid the foundations of a thriving Mangkunagaran estate sector. The fourth Mangkunagara also achieved renown as a litterateur (Javanese, pujangga) and philosopher of distinction. In 1896, the Mangkunagaran became fully independent from the senior Surakarta court (Kasunanan) but lost most of its lands and income after Indonesian independence in 1945 because of its equivocal attitude to the nationalists.
A list of Mangkunegaran rulers reads as follows:
* Mangkunegara I (Raden Mas Said), 1757- 1796
* Mangkunegara II, 1796 - 1835
* Mangkunegara III, 1835 - 1853
* Mangkunegara IV, 1853 - 1881
* Mangkunegara V, 1881 - 1896
* Mangkunegara VI, 1896 - 1916
* Mangkunegara VII, 1916 -1944
* Mangkunegara VIII, 1944 - 1987
* Mangkunegara IX, 1987 -
Mangkunagaran. Minor court established by the Surakarta prince Raden Mas Said (later Adipati Aria Mangkunagara) in 1757 after fighting against the combined forces of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and his erstwhile ally Mangkubumi (Sultan Hamengkubuwana I of Yogyakarta, r. 1749-1792). During the end of Mangkunagara’s reign and that of his successor Mangkunagara II (1796-1835), the fortunes of the Mangkunagaran court became ever more closely allied with that of the Dutch government, especially after the reorganization of the Mangkunagaran forces along European lines by Herman Daendels. The cultural style of the court synthesized European and Javanese elements (particularly in military affairs), and the energetic entrepreneurial policies of Mangkunagara II and Mangkunagara IV (r. 1853-1881) laid the foundations of a thriving Mangkunagaran estate sector. The fourth Mangkunagara also achieved renown as a litterateur (Javanese, pujangga) and philosopher of distinction. In 1896, the Mangkunagaran became fully independent from the senior Surakarta court (Kasunanan) but lost most of its lands and income after Indonesian independence in 1945 because of its equivocal attitude to the nationalists.
A list of Mangkunegaran rulers reads as follows:
* Mangkunegara I (Raden Mas Said), 1757- 1796
* Mangkunegara II, 1796 - 1835
* Mangkunegara III, 1835 - 1853
* Mangkunegara IV, 1853 - 1881
* Mangkunegara V, 1881 - 1896
* Mangkunegara VI, 1896 - 1916
* Mangkunegara VII, 1916 -1944
* Mangkunegara VIII, 1944 - 1987
* Mangkunegara IX, 1987 -
Mangu-Timur (Mongke-Temur) (Mengu-Timur) (d. 1280). Khan of the Golden Horde (r.1267-1280). Unlike his predecessor Berke, he apparently did not embrace Islam.
Möngke Temür (Mengu-Timur) was the son of Toqoqan Khan and Buka Ujin of Oirat and the grandson of Batu Khan. He was a khan of the Golden Horde in 1266-1280.
His name literally means "Eternal Iron" in the Mongolian language.
During his reign, the Mongols together with their allied Russian princes undertook military campaigns against Byzantium (c. 1269-1271), Lithuania (1275), and Alans in Caucasus (1277). The very first yarlyk (license) found by historians was written on behalf of Mengu-Timur and contained information on the release of the Russian Orthodox Church from paying tribute to the Golden Horde. However, Mengu-Timur was a shamanist. During the reign of Mengu-Timur, the Genoese traders purchased Caffa from the Mongols. But those Italian merchants paid taxes to Mongol khans and sometimes to Nogai.
Both German crusaders and Lithuanians endangered the safety of Russian lands. In 1268, Mengu-Timur sent a Tatar-Mongol force to Novgorod, and forced Livonian Knights to withdraw. In 1274 Smolensk, the last of Russian principalities, became subject to Mengu-Timür khan of the Golden Horde. The Khan also dispatched his army along with Russian princes to Lithuania at the request of the Duke Lev of Galicia-Volhynia in 1275.
In 1277, Mengu-Timur ended the long-duration siege of the Alani city Dyadkov with the assistance of his Russian vassals and crushed the rebellion of Bulgars in Kazan.
Mengu-Timur
was originally nominated by Kublai Khan. But he sided with Kaidu who was a competitor of the latter. Kublai only stopped him to invade Ilkhanate with a large force. The Golden Horde helped Kaidu put down the force of the Chagatai Khanate. In 1265, Kaidu was defeated by the Chagatai army under Baraq. The khan of Jochid Ulus sent 30,000 armed-men headed by his uncle Berkhchir to support Kaidu's force. Their victory over the Chagatai army forced Baraq to initiate a peace treaty with them. Together they formed an alliance and demarcated borders of their realms in Talas.
Though Mengu-Timur and Kaidu urged Baraq to invade Ilkhanate, Mengu-Timur congratulated Ilkhan Abagha upon his stunning victory over the Chagatai army in order to hide his true intention. The two had been fighting with each other up until 1270's. However, by the 1270's, they had signed a peace treaty. In addition to the peace treaty, Abagha allowed Mengu-Timur to collect tax income from some of workshops in his khanate.
Although there was no serious war between the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde, Mengu-Timur intended to restore his ancestors authority over Azerbaijan and Caucasus. He sent delegates to the Mameluke Sultan Baybars and suggested a joint attack on Abagha's khanate.
During that time, Kublai dispatched his favorite son Nomukhan against Kaidu. Nomukhan sent letters to Chingisid nobles to reassert their supports. Mengu-Timur responded that he would protect Kublai from Kaidu if Kaidu assaulted him. In 1276, Chingisid princes Shiregi and Tokhtemur defected to Kaidu's side and arrested Kublai's son. Then they sent Nomukhan and his brother Kokhcu to Mengu-Timur and his general to Kaidu. The court of the Golden Horde released Nomukhan in 1278. It appears that Mengu-Timur held Nomukhan to use as a pawn in the wars of the Mongol world.
Mengu-Timur died of a neck injury in 1280.
Mengu-Timur was the father of Tochtu Khan by Oljei Khatun of the Khunggirad clan, the great granddaughter of Genghis Khan.
His children include:
* Tochtu Khan, khan of the Golden Horde from 1291-1312
* Toghrilcha, parent of Ozbeg
Mongke-Temur see Mangu-Timur
Mengu-Timur see Mangu-Timur
Though Mengu-Timur and Kaidu urged Baraq to invade Ilkhanate, Mengu-Timur congratulated Ilkhan Abagha upon his stunning victory over the Chagatai army in order to hide his true intention. The two had been fighting with each other up until 1270's. However, by the 1270's, they had signed a peace treaty. In addition to the peace treaty, Abagha allowed Mengu-Timur to collect tax income from some of workshops in his khanate.
Although there was no serious war between the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde, Mengu-Timur intended to restore his ancestors authority over Azerbaijan and Caucasus. He sent delegates to the Mameluke Sultan Baybars and suggested a joint attack on Abagha's khanate.
During that time, Kublai dispatched his favorite son Nomukhan against Kaidu. Nomukhan sent letters to Chingisid nobles to reassert their supports. Mengu-Timur responded that he would protect Kublai from Kaidu if Kaidu assaulted him. In 1276, Chingisid princes Shiregi and Tokhtemur defected to Kaidu's side and arrested Kublai's son. Then they sent Nomukhan and his brother Kokhcu to Mengu-Timur and his general to Kaidu. The court of the Golden Horde released Nomukhan in 1278. It appears that Mengu-Timur held Nomukhan to use as a pawn in the wars of the Mongol world.
Mengu-Timur died of a neck injury in 1280.
Mengu-Timur was the father of Tochtu Khan by Oljei Khatun of the Khunggirad clan, the great granddaughter of Genghis Khan.
His children include:
* Tochtu Khan, khan of the Golden Horde from 1291-1312
* Toghrilcha, parent of Ozbeg
Mongke-Temur see Mangu-Timur
Mengu-Timur see Mangu-Timur
Mani
Mani (Manes) (Manichaeus) (c.216-276). Founder of a religion which is now called Manichaeism. He was born in the province Babylon which was under Persian rule. His family was Persian, but his name is Aramaic. Mani may have originally belonged to a Christian sect, -- a sect now called Elkhasitts (Elkasites), a group of heretical Jewish-Christians. Between the ages of 12 and 24, Mani had visions where an angel told him that he would be the prophet of a last divine revelation. At the age of 26, Mani embarked on a long journey, where he proclaimed himself the “Messenger of Truth.” Mani traveled through the Persian Empire and reached as far as India, where he became influenced by Buddhism. Mani practiced under the protection of the Persian governor, Shapur I, most of his life. As his teaching gained followers, he elicited opposition from the Zoroastrian priests, and from the Emperor Bahram I. After 274, Mani lost his protection, and he either died in prison or was executed. The death of Mani, is retold as an incident similar to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Mani was the founder of Manicheaism, an ancient gnostic religion that was once widespread but is now extinct. Mani was born of Iranian (Parthian) parents in Assuristan, modern day Iraq, which was part of the Persian Empire during Mani's life. Mani's father, Fatik or Pattig, was from Hamadan and his mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kinship with the Parthian royal house, but the names of his father and mother are both Syriac. Although Mani's original writings have been lost, portions were preserved in Egyptian Coptic and in later Chinese Manichaean writings.
Mani's native languages are thought to have been Middle Persian and Syriac. Mani was an exceptionally gifted child. Mani first encountered religion in his early youth while living with a Jewish ascetic group known as the Elkasites. Mani was influenced by Mandaeanism. Mani followed the holy books Pusan and Kural. According to biographical accounts by al-Biruni, preserved in the tenth century encyclopedia the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim. Mani received a revelation in his youth from a spirit whom he later called the Syzygos or Twin, who taught him the divine truths of the religion. In his mid-twenties, Mani decided that salvation is possible through education, self-denial, vegetarianism, fasting and chastity. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, the Last Prophet or Seal of the Prophets. The other prophets included Seth, Noah, Abraham, Shem, Nikotheos, Enoch, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus. Mani presented himself as a savior and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Mani wrote his seven holy books in Syriac, the main language spoken in the Near East before the Arab-Islamic conquest. Mani's most important book was called Arjang. Mani is thought to have been an extraordinary painter who illustrated Arjang with colorful objects.
During this period, the large existing religious groups, including Christianity and Zoroastrianism, were competing for political and social power. Manichaeism had fewer adherents than Zoroastrianism, but won the support of high ranking political figures. With the aid of the Persian Empire, Mani would initiate several missionary excursions. Mani's earliest missionaries were active in Turkestan, India, Mesopotamis, Persia, Palestine, Syria and Egypt. Mani's first excursion was to the Kushan Empire in northwestern India. Mani is believed to have lived and taught in India for some time, and several religious paintings in Bamiyan are attributed to Mani. Mani is said to have sailed to the Indus valley area of India in 240 or 241, and to have converted a Buddhist King, the Turan Shah of India. On that occasion Manichaeism seems to have been influenced by Buddhism. After forty years of travel Mani returned with his retinue to Persia and converted Peroz, King Shapur's brother.
Mani failed to win the favor of the next generation. The disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy resulted in Mani being sent to prison, where he is reported to have died after several months.
Until the late twentieth century, Mani's life was known largely from remarks by his detractors and from late works. In 1969, in Upper Egypt, a Greek parchment codex from around 400 C. C. was discovered. It is now designated Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis because it is conserved at the University of Cologne. It combines a hagiographic account of Mani's career and spiritual development with information about Mani's religious teachings and contains fragments of his Living (or Great) Gospel and his Letter to Edessa.
Manes see Mani
Manichaeus see Mani
Mani (Manes) (Manichaeus) (c.216-276). Founder of a religion which is now called Manichaeism. He was born in the province Babylon which was under Persian rule. His family was Persian, but his name is Aramaic. Mani may have originally belonged to a Christian sect, -- a sect now called Elkhasitts (Elkasites), a group of heretical Jewish-Christians. Between the ages of 12 and 24, Mani had visions where an angel told him that he would be the prophet of a last divine revelation. At the age of 26, Mani embarked on a long journey, where he proclaimed himself the “Messenger of Truth.” Mani traveled through the Persian Empire and reached as far as India, where he became influenced by Buddhism. Mani practiced under the protection of the Persian governor, Shapur I, most of his life. As his teaching gained followers, he elicited opposition from the Zoroastrian priests, and from the Emperor Bahram I. After 274, Mani lost his protection, and he either died in prison or was executed. The death of Mani, is retold as an incident similar to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Mani was the founder of Manicheaism, an ancient gnostic religion that was once widespread but is now extinct. Mani was born of Iranian (Parthian) parents in Assuristan, modern day Iraq, which was part of the Persian Empire during Mani's life. Mani's father, Fatik or Pattig, was from Hamadan and his mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kinship with the Parthian royal house, but the names of his father and mother are both Syriac. Although Mani's original writings have been lost, portions were preserved in Egyptian Coptic and in later Chinese Manichaean writings.
Mani's native languages are thought to have been Middle Persian and Syriac. Mani was an exceptionally gifted child. Mani first encountered religion in his early youth while living with a Jewish ascetic group known as the Elkasites. Mani was influenced by Mandaeanism. Mani followed the holy books Pusan and Kural. According to biographical accounts by al-Biruni, preserved in the tenth century encyclopedia the Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim. Mani received a revelation in his youth from a spirit whom he later called the Syzygos or Twin, who taught him the divine truths of the religion. In his mid-twenties, Mani decided that salvation is possible through education, self-denial, vegetarianism, fasting and chastity. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete promised in the New Testament, the Last Prophet or Seal of the Prophets. The other prophets included Seth, Noah, Abraham, Shem, Nikotheos, Enoch, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus. Mani presented himself as a savior and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Mani wrote his seven holy books in Syriac, the main language spoken in the Near East before the Arab-Islamic conquest. Mani's most important book was called Arjang. Mani is thought to have been an extraordinary painter who illustrated Arjang with colorful objects.
During this period, the large existing religious groups, including Christianity and Zoroastrianism, were competing for political and social power. Manichaeism had fewer adherents than Zoroastrianism, but won the support of high ranking political figures. With the aid of the Persian Empire, Mani would initiate several missionary excursions. Mani's earliest missionaries were active in Turkestan, India, Mesopotamis, Persia, Palestine, Syria and Egypt. Mani's first excursion was to the Kushan Empire in northwestern India. Mani is believed to have lived and taught in India for some time, and several religious paintings in Bamiyan are attributed to Mani. Mani is said to have sailed to the Indus valley area of India in 240 or 241, and to have converted a Buddhist King, the Turan Shah of India. On that occasion Manichaeism seems to have been influenced by Buddhism. After forty years of travel Mani returned with his retinue to Persia and converted Peroz, King Shapur's brother.
Mani failed to win the favor of the next generation. The disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy resulted in Mani being sent to prison, where he is reported to have died after several months.
Until the late twentieth century, Mani's life was known largely from remarks by his detractors and from late works. In 1969, in Upper Egypt, a Greek parchment codex from around 400 C. C. was discovered. It is now designated Codex Manichaicus Coloniensis because it is conserved at the University of Cologne. It combines a hagiographic account of Mani's career and spiritual development with information about Mani's religious teachings and contains fragments of his Living (or Great) Gospel and his Letter to Edessa.
Manes see Mani
Manichaeus see Mani
Manichaeans
Manichaeans (Āyin e Māni) (Móní Jiào). Followers of a world religion founded by Mani -- Manichaeism. Manichaeism spread out over most of the known world of the first millennium of the Christian calendar, from Spain to China. However, the religion disappeared from the West around the tenth century, and from China in the fourteenth century. Today, it is moribund.
During the Roman Empire, Manichaeism attained a strong position in North Africa. Augustine was a Manichaean for nine years before his conversion to Christianity. For about 80 years, starting in 762, Manichaeism was the state religion of the Turkic Uighurs.
Manichaeism is the largest and most important example of Gnosticism. Central in the Manichaean teaching was dualism, that the world itself, and all creatures, was part of a battle between the good, represented by God, and the bad, the darkness, represented by a power driven by envy and lust.
These two powers were independent from each other. However, in the world, they were mixed. Most human beings were built from material needed to be released from the dark material of the body. In Manichaeism, creation was regarded as a cosmic catastrophe, this even applied to man.
What had happened was that the good forces had been forced to create the world, as a defense of the divine realms. The threat came from the bad powers that had discovered that there was a world of light, and this they could not resist. When the world and all creatures were created, the attacking darkness was mixed with some of the divine light.
While the battle between light and darkness had been fought in the cosmos until creation, creation made the world of man the new battleground. Everything that gives light in this world belongs to the divine realms, while everything that absorbs light, belongs to the darkness.
In this world, small pieces of light are constantly disentangled from the darkness, and the sun and the moon are two chariots bringing these pieces from the world and back to the divine world. The meaning of life is therefore the same as the meaning of the world, namely to participate on the divine side of this battle. Every man carries inside him a seed of light, and the only way to help free this seed from darkness is through gnosis. Gnosis is the insight in this process of cosmic battle and insight in how to fight envy and lust. The actual liberation happens when a human with gnosis dies.
The gnosis can be discovered by man’s intellectual capacities, but is at the same time something that is revealed, through messengers like Buddha, Jesus and Mani. Buddha and Jesus are depicted quite differently from what is the case in Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.
There were two groups of Manichaeans, the class of elected, and the laymen. The class of elected had only male members, and they were the ones deemed to disentangle their seed of light from their bodies. They did not marry, did not eat meat, drink wine or work. All they did was preach.
The laymen lived fairly normal lives. They married, but it was considered a good act not to have many children, as an increasing number of humans would mean that the light was spread in more bodies. They had only limited access to the teachings of Manichaeism, and left much of the religious matters to the class of elected, who acted as their representatives.
The laymen attended weekly fasts, but little is known of both their and the electeds’ religious services. Central to what we believe that Mani picked up in India, is the teaching of transmigration of souls. What the laymen could hope for was that they would be re-born as elected.
It is currently unknown how the Manichaeans decided who where elected, and who were not. Schooling and family background are two possible decisive factors.
There were only few texts left after the Manichaeans, but Mani himself wrote many books. Most of these have been lost since the religion became moribund, and only fragments can be found in northwestern China and Egypt.
Ayin e Mani see Manichaeans
Moni Jiao see Manichaeans
Manichaeans (Āyin e Māni) (Móní Jiào). Followers of a world religion founded by Mani -- Manichaeism. Manichaeism spread out over most of the known world of the first millennium of the Christian calendar, from Spain to China. However, the religion disappeared from the West around the tenth century, and from China in the fourteenth century. Today, it is moribund.
During the Roman Empire, Manichaeism attained a strong position in North Africa. Augustine was a Manichaean for nine years before his conversion to Christianity. For about 80 years, starting in 762, Manichaeism was the state religion of the Turkic Uighurs.
Manichaeism is the largest and most important example of Gnosticism. Central in the Manichaean teaching was dualism, that the world itself, and all creatures, was part of a battle between the good, represented by God, and the bad, the darkness, represented by a power driven by envy and lust.
These two powers were independent from each other. However, in the world, they were mixed. Most human beings were built from material needed to be released from the dark material of the body. In Manichaeism, creation was regarded as a cosmic catastrophe, this even applied to man.
What had happened was that the good forces had been forced to create the world, as a defense of the divine realms. The threat came from the bad powers that had discovered that there was a world of light, and this they could not resist. When the world and all creatures were created, the attacking darkness was mixed with some of the divine light.
While the battle between light and darkness had been fought in the cosmos until creation, creation made the world of man the new battleground. Everything that gives light in this world belongs to the divine realms, while everything that absorbs light, belongs to the darkness.
In this world, small pieces of light are constantly disentangled from the darkness, and the sun and the moon are two chariots bringing these pieces from the world and back to the divine world. The meaning of life is therefore the same as the meaning of the world, namely to participate on the divine side of this battle. Every man carries inside him a seed of light, and the only way to help free this seed from darkness is through gnosis. Gnosis is the insight in this process of cosmic battle and insight in how to fight envy and lust. The actual liberation happens when a human with gnosis dies.
The gnosis can be discovered by man’s intellectual capacities, but is at the same time something that is revealed, through messengers like Buddha, Jesus and Mani. Buddha and Jesus are depicted quite differently from what is the case in Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.
There were two groups of Manichaeans, the class of elected, and the laymen. The class of elected had only male members, and they were the ones deemed to disentangle their seed of light from their bodies. They did not marry, did not eat meat, drink wine or work. All they did was preach.
The laymen lived fairly normal lives. They married, but it was considered a good act not to have many children, as an increasing number of humans would mean that the light was spread in more bodies. They had only limited access to the teachings of Manichaeism, and left much of the religious matters to the class of elected, who acted as their representatives.
The laymen attended weekly fasts, but little is known of both their and the electeds’ religious services. Central to what we believe that Mani picked up in India, is the teaching of transmigration of souls. What the laymen could hope for was that they would be re-born as elected.
It is currently unknown how the Manichaeans decided who where elected, and who were not. Schooling and family background are two possible decisive factors.
There were only few texts left after the Manichaeans, but Mani himself wrote many books. Most of these have been lost since the religion became moribund, and only fragments can be found in northwestern China and Egypt.
Ayin e Mani see Manichaeans
Moni Jiao see Manichaeans
Mansa
Mansa. Title of rulers in many west African societies of the Mande culture complex. It is best known as the title for Mansa Musa.
Mansa is a Mandinka word meaning "king of kings." It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. Powers of the mansa included the right to dispense justice and to monopolize trade, particularly in gold.
Sundiata was the first to assume the title of mansa (emperor), which was passed down through the Keita line with few interruptions well into the 15th century. Other notable mansas include his son Wali Keita and the powerful Mansa Musa (Kankan Musa), whose hajj helped define a new direction for the Empire. The succession of the Mali Empire is primarily known through Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun's History of the Berbers.
King of Kings see Mansa.
Mansa. Title of rulers in many west African societies of the Mande culture complex. It is best known as the title for Mansa Musa.
Mansa is a Mandinka word meaning "king of kings." It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. Powers of the mansa included the right to dispense justice and to monopolize trade, particularly in gold.
Sundiata was the first to assume the title of mansa (emperor), which was passed down through the Keita line with few interruptions well into the 15th century. Other notable mansas include his son Wali Keita and the powerful Mansa Musa (Kankan Musa), whose hajj helped define a new direction for the Empire. The succession of the Mali Empire is primarily known through Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun's History of the Berbers.
King of Kings see Mansa.
Mansa Mahmud
Mansa Mahmud. See Niani Mansa Mamadu.
Niani Mansa Mamadu see Mansa Mahmud.
Mamadu, Niani Mansa see Mansa Mahmud.
Mahmud, Mansa see Mansa Mahmud.
Mansa Mahmud. See Niani Mansa Mamadu.
Niani Mansa Mamadu see Mansa Mahmud.
Mamadu, Niani Mansa see Mansa Mahmud.
Mahmud, Mansa see Mansa Mahmud.
Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa (Musa) (Kankan Musa) (d. 1337). The king -- the mansa -- of Mali who ruled the Mali Empire from 1312 to 1337. He was perhaps the best known West African in Renaissance times. His name and portrait remained synonymous with the western Sudan on European maps for 400 years after his death.
Mansa Musa was the ninth ruler of Mali, he was the grand-nephew of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the empire. Musa does not share Sundiata’s reputation in traditions, but he was highly regarded by Muslim chroniclers because of his religious good works. He expanded Mali through conquests, incorporating major trading entrepots (although the annexation of the towns of Timbuktu and Gao, often attributed to him, probably occurred later). Musa extended Mali’s diplomatic contacts to the Marinid sultans of Morocco. He promoted trade within the empire and oversaw an era of internal peace and prosperity. He encouraged Islam, built mosques, and established Friday prayer services. Nevertheless, during his reign, Islam remained strong only within the major cities.
Musa is best remembered for his spectacular pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324/25. Descriptions of the pilgrimage defy belief. One source claims he was accompanied by a caravan consisting of 60,000 men including a personal retinue of 12,000 slaves, all clad in brocade and Persian silk. He also brought with him 80 to 100 camels loaded with 300 pounds of gold each. The emperor himself rode on horseback and was directly preceded by 500 slaves, each carrying a four pound staff of gold. In Cairo, his lavish spending and alms-giving are said to have caused a severe inflation, observed twelve years later by al-Umari, who recorded much of what is known about Musa and Mali.
Mansa Musa died in 1337 and was succeeded by his son, Magha. Magha ruled for only four years and was followed by Musa’s brother Sulayman.
Musa see Mansa Musa
Kankan Musa see Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa (Musa) (Kankan Musa) (d. 1337). The king -- the mansa -- of Mali who ruled the Mali Empire from 1312 to 1337. He was perhaps the best known West African in Renaissance times. His name and portrait remained synonymous with the western Sudan on European maps for 400 years after his death.
Mansa Musa was the ninth ruler of Mali, he was the grand-nephew of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the empire. Musa does not share Sundiata’s reputation in traditions, but he was highly regarded by Muslim chroniclers because of his religious good works. He expanded Mali through conquests, incorporating major trading entrepots (although the annexation of the towns of Timbuktu and Gao, often attributed to him, probably occurred later). Musa extended Mali’s diplomatic contacts to the Marinid sultans of Morocco. He promoted trade within the empire and oversaw an era of internal peace and prosperity. He encouraged Islam, built mosques, and established Friday prayer services. Nevertheless, during his reign, Islam remained strong only within the major cities.
Musa is best remembered for his spectacular pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324/25. Descriptions of the pilgrimage defy belief. One source claims he was accompanied by a caravan consisting of 60,000 men including a personal retinue of 12,000 slaves, all clad in brocade and Persian silk. He also brought with him 80 to 100 camels loaded with 300 pounds of gold each. The emperor himself rode on horseback and was directly preceded by 500 slaves, each carrying a four pound staff of gold. In Cairo, his lavish spending and alms-giving are said to have caused a severe inflation, observed twelve years later by al-Umari, who recorded much of what is known about Musa and Mali.
Mansa Musa died in 1337 and was succeeded by his son, Magha. Magha ruled for only four years and was followed by Musa’s brother Sulayman.
Musa see Mansa Musa
Kankan Musa see Mansa Musa
Man Singh I
Man Singh I (Raja Shri Man Singh Ji Saheb) (May 9 [December 21], 1550 - July 6, 1614). Maharaja of Amber, Rajasthan district, India, and an outstanding general under the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Man Singh I was the Kacchwaha Rajah Saheb of Amber, a state later known as Jaipur. He was a trusted general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who included him among the Navranas, or the nine gems of the royal court. However, he was a devotee of Shri Krishna, and not an adherent of Akbar's religion, Din-i-Ilahi.
Man Singh was the son of Rani Sa Bhagawati Ji Sahiba at Amber. Initially known as Kumwar (prince), Man Singh received the title of Mirza Raja and the mansab (rank) of 5000 after the death of his father on December 10, 1589 from Akbar. On August 26, 1605, Man Singh became a mansabdar of 7,000; a commander of 7,000 cavalry in the Mughal forces, which was the maximum command for anyone other than a son of the Mughal emperor and the guardian of Khusrau, the eldest son Jahangir. Akbar called him "Farzand" (son). He fought many important campaigns for Akbar. Kunwar Man Singh led the mughal army in the well-known Battle of Haldighati fought in 1576 between the Mughal Empire and Maharana Pratap.
Man Singh was sent by Akbar to persuade Rana Pratap to make a treaty with Akbar and accept Mughal sovereignty. However, Rana Pratap, as a grandson of Rana Sanga, considered the Mughals invaders and intruders on Indian territory. He declined to accept Akbar's sovereignty. The great grandfather of Man Singh, Raja Prithviraj, was married to Rana Sanga's niece (Rana Raimal's daughter). Thus, Rana Pratap was his relative.
On the day of their meeting Rana Pratap invited Man Singh for dinner. Rana Pratap deliberately avoided attending the dinner in person and sent his son "Kunwar" Amar Singh to dine with "Kunwar" Man Singh (as a custom Rajput men are called "Kunwar" in the life time of their father). The attitude of other Rajput nobles was also discouraging. They were secretly making mockery of Man Singh as his aunt Hira kunwar or Jodhabai was married to Akbar. Man Singh took this as an insult to Akbar and himself. He knew Rana Pratap was making an excuse to avoid him. He refused to dine with Amar Singh. Man Singh remarked, "I will come again and then will have a dinner." Understanding the hidden meaning, a noble of Pratap remarked, "Well don't forget to bring your uncle Akbar." This exchange of insults laid the foundation of war between the Mughals and Rana Pratap, who already had many decades of rivalry and enmity.
Appointed by Akbar to lead the Mughal Army against Rana Pratap, Kunwar
Raja Shri Man Singh Ji Saheb see Man Singh I
Man Singh I (Raja Shri Man Singh Ji Saheb) (May 9 [December 21], 1550 - July 6, 1614). Maharaja of Amber, Rajasthan district, India, and an outstanding general under the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Man Singh I was the Kacchwaha Rajah Saheb of Amber, a state later known as Jaipur. He was a trusted general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, who included him among the Navranas, or the nine gems of the royal court. However, he was a devotee of Shri Krishna, and not an adherent of Akbar's religion, Din-i-Ilahi.
Man Singh was the son of Rani Sa Bhagawati Ji Sahiba at Amber. Initially known as Kumwar (prince), Man Singh received the title of Mirza Raja and the mansab (rank) of 5000 after the death of his father on December 10, 1589 from Akbar. On August 26, 1605, Man Singh became a mansabdar of 7,000; a commander of 7,000 cavalry in the Mughal forces, which was the maximum command for anyone other than a son of the Mughal emperor and the guardian of Khusrau, the eldest son Jahangir. Akbar called him "Farzand" (son). He fought many important campaigns for Akbar. Kunwar Man Singh led the mughal army in the well-known Battle of Haldighati fought in 1576 between the Mughal Empire and Maharana Pratap.
Man Singh was sent by Akbar to persuade Rana Pratap to make a treaty with Akbar and accept Mughal sovereignty. However, Rana Pratap, as a grandson of Rana Sanga, considered the Mughals invaders and intruders on Indian territory. He declined to accept Akbar's sovereignty. The great grandfather of Man Singh, Raja Prithviraj, was married to Rana Sanga's niece (Rana Raimal's daughter). Thus, Rana Pratap was his relative.
On the day of their meeting Rana Pratap invited Man Singh for dinner. Rana Pratap deliberately avoided attending the dinner in person and sent his son "Kunwar" Amar Singh to dine with "Kunwar" Man Singh (as a custom Rajput men are called "Kunwar" in the life time of their father). The attitude of other Rajput nobles was also discouraging. They were secretly making mockery of Man Singh as his aunt Hira kunwar or Jodhabai was married to Akbar. Man Singh took this as an insult to Akbar and himself. He knew Rana Pratap was making an excuse to avoid him. He refused to dine with Amar Singh. Man Singh remarked, "I will come again and then will have a dinner." Understanding the hidden meaning, a noble of Pratap remarked, "Well don't forget to bring your uncle Akbar." This exchange of insults laid the foundation of war between the Mughals and Rana Pratap, who already had many decades of rivalry and enmity.
Appointed by Akbar to lead the Mughal Army against Rana Pratap, Kunwar
Raja Shri Man Singh Ji Saheb see Man Singh I
Mansur
Mansur (d. c. 1624). Painter of miniatures at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. He was the only artist who made his reputation by nature painting. Jahangir made animal portraiture one of his primary interests and, having a strong scientific curiosity, he demanded from his artists realistic renderings of a very high standard.
Mansur (d. c. 1624). Painter of miniatures at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. He was the only artist who made his reputation by nature painting. Jahangir made animal portraiture one of his primary interests and, having a strong scientific curiosity, he demanded from his artists realistic renderings of a very high standard.
Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-Mansur) (Almanzor) (Al-Mansur) (712/714-775). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.754-775), who began the construction of Baghdad. He was challenged by Abu Muslim who wished that eastern Persia should be effectively independent, and by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. A politician of genius, he established the ‘Abbasid caliphate as a centralized state under the caliph’s control.
Al-Mansur was the second 'Abbasid caliph. He was born at al-Humaymah, the home of the 'Abbasid family after their emigration from the Hijaz in 687-688. His father, Muhammad, was a great-grandson of 'Abbas. His mother was a Berber woman. He reigned from 754 until 775. In 762, he founded as the new imperial residence and palace city Madinat as-Salam, which became the core of the imperial capital Baghdad.
Al-Mansur was concerned with the unity of his regime after the death of his brother, Abu'l 'Abbas, who later became known as-Saffah (the bloodshedder). In 755, he arranged the assassination of Abu Muslim. Abu Muslim was a loyal freed man from the eastern Iranian province of Khorasan who had led the 'Abbasid forces to victory over the Umayyads during the Third Islamic Civil War in 749-750. At the time of al-Mansur he was the subordinate, but undisputed ruler of Iran and Transoxiana. The assassination seems to have been made to preclude a power struggle in the empire.
Al-Mansur certainly saw himself as a universal ruler with religious and secular authority. His victory against Nafs az-Zakiya, a Shi'ite rebel in Southern Iraq and in the Arabian Peninsula further alienated certain Shi'ite groups. They had been hoping that an 'Abbasid victory would restore the caliphate to the Imamate, and that the rule of the "Al Muhammad", the family of the prophet would begin. However, they were disappointed.
During the reign of al-Mansur, literature and scholarly work in the Islamic world began to emerge in full force, supported by new 'Abbasid tolerances for Persians and other groups suppressed by the Umayyads. Although the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik had adopted Persian court practices, it was not until al-Mansur's reign that Persian literature and scholarship were truly appreciated in the Islamic world. The emergence of Shu'ubiya was a literary movement among Persians expressing their belief that Persian art and culture was superior to that of the Arabs. The movement served to catalyze the emergence of Arab-Persian dialogues in the eighth century. Al-Mansur also founded the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.
Perhaps more importantly than the emergence of Persian scholarship was the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam. The Umayyads actively tried to discourage conversion in order to continue the collection of the jizya, or the tax on non-Muslims. The inclusiveness of the 'Abbasid regime, and that of al-Mansur, saw the expansion of Islam among its territory. In 750, roughly 8% of residents in the Caliphate were Muslims. This would double to 15% by the end of al-Mansur's reign.
Al-Mansur died in 775 while on his way to Mecca to make hajj. He was buried somewhere along the way in one of the hundreds of graves that had been dug in order to hide his body from the Umayyads. He was succeeded by his son, el-Mahdi.
According to Shi'ite sources, the scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man was imprisoned by al-Mansur and tortured. He also had Imam Malik, the founder of another school of law, flogged.
Abu Ja'far 'Abd Allah al-Mansur see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Almanzor see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Al-Mansur see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al- (Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-Mansur) (Almanzor) (Al-Mansur) (712/714-775). ‘Abbasid caliph (r.754-775), who began the construction of Baghdad. He was challenged by Abu Muslim who wished that eastern Persia should be effectively independent, and by Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. A politician of genius, he established the ‘Abbasid caliphate as a centralized state under the caliph’s control.
Al-Mansur was the second 'Abbasid caliph. He was born at al-Humaymah, the home of the 'Abbasid family after their emigration from the Hijaz in 687-688. His father, Muhammad, was a great-grandson of 'Abbas. His mother was a Berber woman. He reigned from 754 until 775. In 762, he founded as the new imperial residence and palace city Madinat as-Salam, which became the core of the imperial capital Baghdad.
Al-Mansur was concerned with the unity of his regime after the death of his brother, Abu'l 'Abbas, who later became known as-Saffah (the bloodshedder). In 755, he arranged the assassination of Abu Muslim. Abu Muslim was a loyal freed man from the eastern Iranian province of Khorasan who had led the 'Abbasid forces to victory over the Umayyads during the Third Islamic Civil War in 749-750. At the time of al-Mansur he was the subordinate, but undisputed ruler of Iran and Transoxiana. The assassination seems to have been made to preclude a power struggle in the empire.
Al-Mansur certainly saw himself as a universal ruler with religious and secular authority. His victory against Nafs az-Zakiya, a Shi'ite rebel in Southern Iraq and in the Arabian Peninsula further alienated certain Shi'ite groups. They had been hoping that an 'Abbasid victory would restore the caliphate to the Imamate, and that the rule of the "Al Muhammad", the family of the prophet would begin. However, they were disappointed.
During the reign of al-Mansur, literature and scholarly work in the Islamic world began to emerge in full force, supported by new 'Abbasid tolerances for Persians and other groups suppressed by the Umayyads. Although the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn 'Abd al-Malik had adopted Persian court practices, it was not until al-Mansur's reign that Persian literature and scholarship were truly appreciated in the Islamic world. The emergence of Shu'ubiya was a literary movement among Persians expressing their belief that Persian art and culture was superior to that of the Arabs. The movement served to catalyze the emergence of Arab-Persian dialogues in the eighth century. Al-Mansur also founded the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.
Perhaps more importantly than the emergence of Persian scholarship was the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam. The Umayyads actively tried to discourage conversion in order to continue the collection of the jizya, or the tax on non-Muslims. The inclusiveness of the 'Abbasid regime, and that of al-Mansur, saw the expansion of Islam among its territory. In 750, roughly 8% of residents in the Caliphate were Muslims. This would double to 15% by the end of al-Mansur's reign.
Al-Mansur died in 775 while on his way to Mecca to make hajj. He was buried somewhere along the way in one of the hundreds of graves that had been dug in order to hide his body from the Umayyads. He was succeeded by his son, el-Mahdi.
According to Shi'ite sources, the scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man was imprisoned by al-Mansur and tortured. He also had Imam Malik, the founder of another school of law, flogged.
Abu Ja'far 'Abd Allah al-Mansur see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Almanzor see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Al-Mansur see Mansur, Abu Ja‘far ‘Abd Allah al-
Mansur, al-Malik Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-
Mansur, al-Malik Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al- (1171-1220). Member of the Ayyubid family, local ruler of Hamat, historian and patron of letters. Among other works, he wrote a chronicle of his time.
Malik Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Mansur, al- see Mansur, al-Malik Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-
Mansur, al-Malik Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al- (1171-1220). Member of the Ayyubid family, local ruler of Hamat, historian and patron of letters. Among other works, he wrote a chronicle of his time.
Malik Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Mansur, al- see Mansur, al-Malik Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-
Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim
Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim (Ibn Hawshab) (d. 914). Founder of the Isma‘ili missionary activity in Yemen. From there he sent missionaries to Egypt, Bahrain, Sind and Gujarat.
Ibn Hawshab see Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim
Abu'l-Qasim, Mansur al-Yaman see Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim
Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim (Ibn Hawshab) (d. 914). Founder of the Isma‘ili missionary activity in Yemen. From there he sent missionaries to Egypt, Bahrain, Sind and Gujarat.
Ibn Hawshab see Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim
Abu'l-Qasim, Mansur al-Yaman see Mansur al-Yaman Abu’l-Qasim
Mansur bi-‘llah, al- (Almanzor) (Ibn Abi ‘Amir al-Ma‘afiri) (Abu Aamir Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abi Aamir) (Al-Hajib Al-Mansur) (Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir) (938 - August 8, 1002). Vizier of the Spanish Umayyad Hisham II al-Mu’ayyad (r.978-1002). He was de facto the real master of al-Andalus. He purged the splendid library of the Spanish Umayyad Caliph al-Hakam II and conducted 52 expeditions against the Christian states.
Almanzor, was the de facto ruler of Muslim Al-Andalus in the late 10th to early 11th centuries. His rule marked the peak of power for Moorish Iberia. He was born Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir, into a noble Arab family from the area of Algeciras. He arrived at the Court of Cordoba as a student studying law and literature. He became manager of the estates of Prince Hisham II.
In a few years, he schemed his way from this humble position to considerable heights of influence, eliminating his political rivals in the process. Caliph Al-Hakam II died in 976 and Almanzor was instrumental in securing the succession of the young Hisham II, aged twelve, to the throne. Almanzor had a great influence on Subh, ruler as mother of the young Hisham II. Two years later he became Hajib (a title similar to that of Grand Vizier in the Muslim East), or Chancellor. During the next three years, he consolidated his
power with the building of his new palace on the outskirts of Córdoba, al-Madina az-Zahira (Medina Azahara), while at the same time completely isolating the young Caliph, who became a virtual prisoner in Medina Azahara.
In 981, upon his return to Cordoba from the Battle of Torrevicente, in which he crushed his last remaining rival (and father-in-law, Ghalib Al-Nasiri), he assumed the title of Al-Mansur bi-llah, Victorious by Grace of God. In Christian Europe, he was referred to as Almanzor.
Almanzor's grip on power within Al-Andalus was now absolute. He dedicated himself to military campaigns against the Christian states of the peninsula. He organized and took part in 57 campaigns, and was victorious in all of them. To wage these campaigns against the Christian states, he brought in many Berber mercenaries, which upset the political order over time.
Although he mainly fought against León and Castile, in 985 he sacked Barcelona and in 997 Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, although he spared the tomb of James, son of Zebedee. He also waged several campaigns against the Kingdom of Navarra, including his longest, in which he defeated a Castilian army at the Battle of Cervera.
He married Abda, daughter of Sancho Garcés king of Navarra, who bore him a son by the name of Abd al-Rahman. He was commonly known as Sanchuelo (Little Sancho, in Arabic: Shanjoul).
The consequence of his victories in the north was to prompt the Christian rulers of the Peninsula into an alliance against him (c. 1000). He was succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar, who continued to rule Al-Andalus as Hajib until his death in 1008.
After Abd al-Malik, his ambitious half brother Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo took over. He however tried to take the Caliphate for himself from Hisham as al-Mansur had effectively made the caliph a figurehead ruler. This plunged the country into a civil war. The Caliphate disintegrated it into rival Taifa kingdoms. This proved disastrous for Muslim Iberia as, being divided, the Christian Kingdoms were able to conquer the Taifas one by one.
Almanzor see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Ibn Abi 'Amir al-Ma'afiri see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Abu Aamir Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abi Aamir see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Al-Hajib Al-Mansur see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Victorious by Grace of God see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
In 981, upon his return to Cordoba from the Battle of Torrevicente, in which he crushed his last remaining rival (and father-in-law, Ghalib Al-Nasiri), he assumed the title of Al-Mansur bi-llah, Victorious by Grace of God. In Christian Europe, he was referred to as Almanzor.
Almanzor's grip on power within Al-Andalus was now absolute. He dedicated himself to military campaigns against the Christian states of the peninsula. He organized and took part in 57 campaigns, and was victorious in all of them. To wage these campaigns against the Christian states, he brought in many Berber mercenaries, which upset the political order over time.
Although he mainly fought against León and Castile, in 985 he sacked Barcelona and in 997 Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, although he spared the tomb of James, son of Zebedee. He also waged several campaigns against the Kingdom of Navarra, including his longest, in which he defeated a Castilian army at the Battle of Cervera.
He married Abda, daughter of Sancho Garcés king of Navarra, who bore him a son by the name of Abd al-Rahman. He was commonly known as Sanchuelo (Little Sancho, in Arabic: Shanjoul).
The consequence of his victories in the north was to prompt the Christian rulers of the Peninsula into an alliance against him (c. 1000). He was succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar, who continued to rule Al-Andalus as Hajib until his death in 1008.
After Abd al-Malik, his ambitious half brother Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo took over. He however tried to take the Caliphate for himself from Hisham as al-Mansur had effectively made the caliph a figurehead ruler. This plunged the country into a civil war. The Caliphate disintegrated it into rival Taifa kingdoms. This proved disastrous for Muslim Iberia as, being divided, the Christian Kingdoms were able to conquer the Taifas one by one.
Almanzor see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Ibn Abi 'Amir al-Ma'afiri see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Abu Aamir Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abi Aamir see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Al-Hajib Al-Mansur see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Victorious by Grace of God see Mansur bi-‘llah, al-
Mansur bi-‘llah al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, al-
Mansur bi-‘llah al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, al- (b. 1559). Eponymous founder of the Qasimi line of the Zaydi Imams in Yemen (r.1597-1620). In 1597, he started the revolt against the Ottomans who had established themselves in Yemen in the wake of their conquest of Mameluke Egypt.
Mansur bi-‘llah al-Qasim ibn Muhammad, al- (b. 1559). Eponymous founder of the Qasimi line of the Zaydi Imams in Yemen (r.1597-1620). In 1597, he started the revolt against the Ottomans who had established themselves in Yemen in the wake of their conquest of Mameluke Egypt.
Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al- (Isma‘il al-Mansur bi-‘llah) (Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr) ( (913/914 - March 19, 953). Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty in Ifriqiya (r.946-953). He defeated the Khariji rebel Abu Yazid and re-established order in Sicily where rule was entrusted to the Kalbids.
Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr was the third Caliph of the Fatimids in Ifriqiya (r. 946-953). Ismāʿīl was born in Raqqada near Kairouan and succeeded his father Abū l-Qāṣim al-Qā'im (934-946) in 946. The Fatimid realm found itself deep in crisis due to the revolt of Abū Yazīd (943-947). However, after the unity of the rebels began to crack, Ismāʿīl managed to put down the revolt with the help of the Berber Zirids. Following this victory he took the epithet al-Mansur, and built a new residence at al-Manṣūriyyah near Kairouan.
Al-Manṣūr concerned himself with the reorganization of the Fatimid state until the end of his reign. He resumed the struggle with the Umayyads of Córdoba in Morocco, and reoccupied Sicily, from where raids into Italy were recommenced. Rule in Sicily was reinforced through the installation of the Kalbids as Emirs.
Al-Manṣūr died after a severe illness on March 19, 953 and left his realm to his son al-Mu‘izz (r. 953-975).
Isma'il al-Mansur bi-'llah see Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr see Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al- (Isma‘il al-Mansur bi-‘llah) (Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr) ( (913/914 - March 19, 953). Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty in Ifriqiya (r.946-953). He defeated the Khariji rebel Abu Yazid and re-established order in Sicily where rule was entrusted to the Kalbids.
Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr was the third Caliph of the Fatimids in Ifriqiya (r. 946-953). Ismāʿīl was born in Raqqada near Kairouan and succeeded his father Abū l-Qāṣim al-Qā'im (934-946) in 946. The Fatimid realm found itself deep in crisis due to the revolt of Abū Yazīd (943-947). However, after the unity of the rebels began to crack, Ismāʿīl managed to put down the revolt with the help of the Berber Zirids. Following this victory he took the epithet al-Mansur, and built a new residence at al-Manṣūriyyah near Kairouan.
Al-Manṣūr concerned himself with the reorganization of the Fatimid state until the end of his reign. He resumed the struggle with the Umayyads of Córdoba in Morocco, and reoccupied Sicily, from where raids into Italy were recommenced. Rule in Sicily was reinforced through the installation of the Kalbids as Emirs.
Al-Manṣūr died after a severe illness on March 19, 953 and left his realm to his son al-Mu‘izz (r. 953-975).
Isma'il al-Mansur bi-'llah see Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Ismāʿīl al-Manṣūr see Mansur bi-‘llah, Isma‘il al-
Mansur ibn al-Nasir, al-
Mansur ibn al-Nasir, al-. Ruler of the Hammadid dynasty (r.1088 -1105). He re-established Hammadid power in Ifriqiya.
Mansur ibn al-Nasir, al-. Ruler of the Hammadid dynasty (r.1088 -1105). He re-established Hammadid power in Ifriqiya.
Mansuriyya
Mansuriyya. Shi‘a sect of the eighth century named after its founder Abu Mansur al-‘Ijli from Kufa.
Mansuriyya. Shi‘a sect of the eighth century named after its founder Abu Mansur al-‘Ijli from Kufa.
Mansur Syah (Mansur Shah). Sixth sultan of Melaka (r. 1459-1477). During his reign Melaka came to dominate most of the important tin-, gold-, and pepper-producing areas of the Malay Peninsula, East Sumatra, and the intervening islands. Mansur successfully opposed Thai influence in the peninsula by mounting an expedition against Pahang. His chief minister (bendahara), Tun Perak, probably inspired these expansionist policies and personally led many of the expeditions.
Mansur Shah ruled Malacca (Melaka) from 1459 to 1477. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, Muzaffar Shah.
Mansur Shah implemented a policy of expansionism during his rule. Many territories in
Peninsular Malaysia and eastern Sumatra and the surrounding islands were under the control of Malacca during his rule such as Selangor, Bernam, Kampar, Siak, Manjung, Rupat, Singapore, and Bintan. Mansur Shah also ordered the attack of Pahang by Tun Perak, the Bendahara of Malacca, to secure the defense of Malacca on the east coast. Siantan and Inderagiri in Sumatra were also given to Malacca as dowry for his marriage to the princess of Majapahit.
Mansur Shah also used marriage alliances between princesses of Malacca and the rulers of conquered states to strengthen Malacca's control over those states. This was one of the ways of Islam's expansion in the Malay archipelago.
An example of these marriage alliances is the marriage between the king of Siak to Mansur Shah's daughter, Princess Mahadewi.
Besides that, princesses of those conquered states were also married to sons of Malaccan ministers. For example, Princess Wanang Seri of Pahang and Raden Galoh Candra Kirana were married to sons of ministers like Tun Putih Nur Pualam.
Mansur Shah also married concubines who were foreign princesses such as Hang Li Po and daughters of merchants from India and Pasai to strengthen trade relationships. These princesses were also converted to Islam. following the lead of the sultan, others married foreigners as well making foreign marriage customs a not uncommon sight in Malacca.
Mansur Shah reduced taxes on trade items during his reign. This increased the interest of merchants to trade in the port of Malacca. The Preferential Tariff System was introduced. Merchants from the west of Malacca such as Arabia and India were subjected to a six percent (6%) tax on trade items while merchants from around the Malay archipelago were subjected to a three percent (3%) tax. However, merchants from China, Japan and Java were not taxed at all. Another economic advantage of Malacca was the easy access to laborers.
Mansur Shah, who had a great interest in Islam, encouraged scholarship in Islamic theological studies. He studied tasawuf himself. He also studied under Maulana Abu Bakar, who brought the Ab Darul Manzum scriptures to Malacca. He also ordered the translation of the scripture to Malay by Makhdum Patakan. Mansur Shah referred to scholars from Pasai on religious issues due to their expertise.
Mansur Shah see Mansur Syah
Mansur Shah also used marriage alliances between princesses of Malacca and the rulers of conquered states to strengthen Malacca's control over those states. This was one of the ways of Islam's expansion in the Malay archipelago.
An example of these marriage alliances is the marriage between the king of Siak to Mansur Shah's daughter, Princess Mahadewi.
Besides that, princesses of those conquered states were also married to sons of Malaccan ministers. For example, Princess Wanang Seri of Pahang and Raden Galoh Candra Kirana were married to sons of ministers like Tun Putih Nur Pualam.
Mansur Shah also married concubines who were foreign princesses such as Hang Li Po and daughters of merchants from India and Pasai to strengthen trade relationships. These princesses were also converted to Islam. following the lead of the sultan, others married foreigners as well making foreign marriage customs a not uncommon sight in Malacca.
Mansur Shah reduced taxes on trade items during his reign. This increased the interest of merchants to trade in the port of Malacca. The Preferential Tariff System was introduced. Merchants from the west of Malacca such as Arabia and India were subjected to a six percent (6%) tax on trade items while merchants from around the Malay archipelago were subjected to a three percent (3%) tax. However, merchants from China, Japan and Java were not taxed at all. Another economic advantage of Malacca was the easy access to laborers.
Mansur Shah, who had a great interest in Islam, encouraged scholarship in Islamic theological studies. He studied tasawuf himself. He also studied under Maulana Abu Bakar, who brought the Ab Darul Manzum scriptures to Malacca. He also ordered the translation of the scripture to Malay by Makhdum Patakan. Mansur Shah referred to scholars from Pasai on religious issues due to their expertise.
Mansur Shah see Mansur Syah
Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan (Sa'adat Hasan Mantu) (Saadat Hassan Manto) (May 11, 1912 – January 18, 1955). Urdu short-story writer, was born in Sambalpur, in the Amritsar district of Panjab, India, and educated at Amritsar and later at the Muslim University, Aligarh. Mantu then worked in Lahore, Bombay and Delhi in journalism, films and broadcasting. His literary activity began early. His first works included translations from Victor Hugo, Tolstoy, Gorki, Oscar Wilde and other Europeans. But most of his work was original.
Short stories comprise the greater part of Mantu’s work. From 1940 until his death, Mantu published more than 20 collections of short stories. However, Mantu also wrote numerous radio dramas, sketches and essays.
Mantu’s preoccupation with sexual themes and with eccentricities of behavior led to prosecutions for obscenity, but most were unsuccessful. There is little which European taste would find obscene. His best writing is frank, realistic and informed by a deep but unobtrusive sympathy. After the formation of Pakistan, Mantu settled in Lahore. Heavy drinking in his later years hastened Mantu’s death.
Saadat Hassan Manto migrated to Pakistan after the Partition of India. He is best known for his Urdu short stories, Bu (Odor), Khol Do (Open It), Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat), and his magnum opus, Toba Tek Singh.
Saadat Hasan Manto was also a film and radio scriptwriter, and journalist. In his short life, he published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches.
Saadat Hasan Manto was tried for obscenity half-a-dozen times, thrice before 1947 and thrice after 1947 in Pakistan, but was never convicted. Some of his works have been translated into other languages.
Combining psychoanalysis with human behavior, he was arguably one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century of the Christian calendar, and one of the most controversial as well. When it comes to chronicling the collective madness that prevailed, during and after the Partition of India in 1947, the work of Saadat Hassan Manto is most profound.
Manto started his literary career translating works of literary giants, like Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and many Russian masters like Chekov and Gorky. The collective influence of these writers made Manto search for his own moorings. This search resulted in his first story, Tamasha, based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar.
Though his earlier works, influenced by the progressive writers of his times, Manto showed marked leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became stark in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as humanist values progressively declined around the Partition. His final works that came out in the dismal social climate and his own financial struggles reflected an innate sense of human impotency towards darkness that prevailed in the larger society, cultivating in satirism that verged on dark comedy, as seen in his final great work, Toba Tek Singh, that not just showed a direct influence of his own stay in a veritable mental asylum, but also a reflection of collective madness that he saw in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, his numerous court cases and societal rebukes, deepened his cynical view of society, from which he felt ever so isolated. No part of human existence remain untouched or taboo for him. He sincerely brought out stories of prostitutes and pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive sexual slavery of the women of his times. To many contemporary women writers, his language far from being obscene brought out the women of the times in realism, seen as never before, and provided them with the human dignity they long deserved. Unlike his fellow luminaries, he never indulged in didacticism or romanticized his character, nor offered any judgment on his characters. No matter how macabre or immoral they might seem, he simply presented the characters in a realistic light, and left the judgment on to the reader's eyes. This allows his works to be interpreted in myriad ways, depending on the viewpoint of the reader. They would appear sensationalist or prurient to one, while exceedingly human to another. Yet it was this very non-judgmental and rather unhindered truism of his pen that put him in an opposite camp from the media censors, social prejudices and the legal system of his times, so much so that he remained banned for many years and lost out on many opportunities to earn a healthy living. He is still known for his scathing insight into human behavior as well as his revelation of the macabre animalistic nature of an enraged people.
Saadat Hasan Manto is often compared with D. H. Lawrence, and like Lawrence he also wrote about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani Society. His topics range from the socio-economic injustice prevailing in the pre- and post- colonial era, to the more controversial topics of love, sex, incest, prostitution and the typical hypocrisy of a traditional male. In dealing with these topics, he doesn't take any pains to conceal the true state of the affair - although his short stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good sense of humor. In chronicling the lives and tribulations of the people living in the lower depths of the human existence, no writer of 20th century, came close to Manto. His concerns on the socio-political issues, from the local to the global level are revealed in his series, Letters to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru.
In many ways, Manto's writings can be considered a precursor to the minimalist writing movement. Instead of focusing on composition, Manto created literary effect through narration of facts, often mini-stories, often gritty. Characters are not defined exclusively by the way they look, but by what they have done in their lives. Places are not described as a collection of sensory observations but as settings for events, sad, poignant, happy or otherwise.
Saadat Hassan Manto was born in a Kashmiri Muslim family of barristers. He received his early education at Muslim High School in Amritsar, but he remained a misfit throughout in school years, rapidly losing motivation in studies, ending up failing twice in matriculation. His only love during those days, was reading English novels, for which he even stole a book, once from a Book-Stall in Amritsar Railway Station.
In 1931, he finally passed out of school and joined Hindu Sabha College in Amritsar, which was already volatile due to the independence movement, soon it reflected in his first story, 'Tamasha', based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
After his father died in 1932, he sobered up a bit to support his mother. The big turning point in his life came, when in 1933 at age 21, he met Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and polemic writer, in Amritsar who encouraged to him find his true talents and read Russian and French authors.
Within a matter of months, Manto produced an Urdu translation of Victor Hugo's The Last Days of a Condemned Man, which was published by Urdu Book Stall, Lahore as Sarguzasht-e-Aseer (A Prisoner's Story). Soon afterwards, he joined the editorial staff of Masawat, a daily published from Ludhiana. His 1934 Urdu translation of Oscar Wilde's Vera won him due recognition amongst the literary circles. At the continued encouragement of Abdul Bari, he published a collection of Urdu translations of Russian stories as Russi Afsane.
This heightened enthusiasm pushed Manto to pursue graduation at Aligarh Muslim University, which he joined in February 1934, and soon became associated with the Indian Progressive Writers' Association (IPWA). It was here that he met writer Ali Sardar Jafri and found a new impetus to his writing. His second story 'Inqlaab Pasand' was published in Aligarh magazine in March 1935.
His first collection of original short stories in Urdu, Atish Pare (Sparks; also Quarrel-Provokers), was published in 1936, at age 24.
Manto left Aligarh within a year, initially for Lahore and ultimately for Bombay.
After 1936, he moved to Bombay where he stayed for the next few years editing Musawwir, a monthly film magazine. He also started writing scripts and dialogues for Hindi films, including Kishan Kanhaya (1936) and Apni Nagariya (1939). Soon he was making enough money, though by the time he married Safia on April 26, 1939, he was once again in dire financial crisis. Despite financial ups and downs he continued writing for films until he left for Delhi in January 1941.
Saadat Hasan Manto had accepted the job of writing for the Urdu Service of All India Radio in 1941. This proved to be his most productive period as in the next eighteen months he published over four collections of radio plays, Aao (Come), Manto ke Drame (Manto's Dramas), Janaze (Funerals) and Teen Auraten (Three women). He continued to write short stories and his next short story collection Dhuan (Smoke) came out soon followed by Manto ke Afsane and his first collection of topical essays, Manto ke Mazamin. This period culminated with the publication of his mixed collection Afsane aur Drame in 1943. Meanwhile, due to a quarrel with the then director of the All India Radio, poet N. M. Rashid, he left his job and returned to Bombay in July 1942 and again started working with the film industry. He entered his best phase in screenwriting giving films like Aatth Din, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was finally released in 1954. Some of his best short stories also came from this phase including Kaali Shalwar, Dhuan (1943) and Bu which was published in Qaumi Jang (Bombay) in February 1945. Another highlight of his second phase in Bombay was the publication of an important collection of his stories, Chugad, which also included the story Babu Gopinath. Manto continued to stay in Bombay until he moved to Pakistan in January 1948 much after the partition of India in 1947.
Saadat Hassan Manto arrived in Lahore sometime in early 1948. In Bombay his friends had tried to stop him from migrating to Pakistan because he was quite popular as a film writer and was making reasonably good money. Among his friends there were top actors and directors of that age — many of them Hindus — who were trying to prevail upon him to forget about migrating. They thought that he would be unhappy in Pakistan because the film industry of Lahore stood badly disrupted with the departure of Hindu film-makers and studio owners. But the law and order situation post-partition of British India was such that many Muslims felt insecure in India, just as many Hindus felt insecure in newly created Pakistan. That was the reason that Manto had already sent his family to Lahore and was keen to join them. Manto and his family were among the millions of Muslims who left present-day India for the newly created Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan.
Manto had at least one consolation. His nephew Hamid Jalal had already settled his family in a flat next to his own in Lakshmi Mansions near the main mall. The complex was centrally located. From there every place of importance was at a stone's throw. These flats were occupied by families of some of the people who were destined to become important in the intellectual and academic fields. Manto's next door neighbor was his nephew Hamid Jalal who later became an important mediaman. In another flat, lived Professor G. M. Asar who taught Urdu at Government College, Lahore. Hailing from Madras, he wrote and spoke excellent English as well. Then there was Malik Meraj Khalid who was to play an important role in the politics of Pakistan. Thus when Manto arrived in Lahore from Bombay he found an intellectual atmosphere around him. His only problem was how to care for his family. Sadly for him, Lahore of that period did not have many economic opportunities to offer.
After the writers who had migrated from various Indian cities settled in Lahore, they started their literary activities. Soon Lahore saw a number of newspapers and periodicals appearing. Manto initially wrote for some literary magazines. These were the days when his controversial stories like Khol Do (Open it) and Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) created a furor among the conservatives. People like Choudhry Muhammad Hussain played a role in banning and prosecuting the writer as well as the publishers and editors of the magazines that printed his stories. Among the editors were such amiable literary figures as Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Hajira Masroor and Arif Abdul Matin. Soon the publishers who were more interested in commercial aspects of their ventures, slammed their doors shut to Manto's writings. He, therefore, started contributing stories to the literary supplements of some newspapers. Even this practice could not go on for long. Masood Ashar who was then editing the literary page of Daily Ehsan published some of his stories but the conservative owner of the paper soon asked him to refrain from the practice.
During those days, Manto also tried his hand at newspaper column writing. he started off with writing under the title Chashm-e-Rozan for daily Maghribi Pakistan on the insistence of his friends of Bombay days Ehsan BA and Murtaza Jillani who were editing that paper. But after a few columns one day the space appeared blank under the column saying that due to his indisposition Manto could not write the column. Actually Manto was not indisposed, the owner was not favorably disposed to some of the sentences in the column.
The only paper that published Manto's articles regularly for quite some time was Daily Afaq, for which he wrote some of his well known sketches. These sketches were later collected in his book Ganjay Farishtay (Bald Angels). The sketches include those of famous actors and actresses like Ashok Kumar, Shyam, Nargis, Noor Jehan and Naseem (mother of Saira Banu). He also wrote about some literary figures like Meera Ji, Hashar Kashmiri and Ismat Chughtai. Manto's sketch of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also first published in Afaq under the title Mera Sahib. It was based on an interview with Haneef Azad, Quaid-e-Azam's driver of Bombay days who after leaving his job as driver became a well known actor. The article included some of the remarks related to the incident when Dina Jinnah married Wadia. Later when the sketch was included in the book these lines were omitted.
Manto created a new tell-all style of writing sketches. He would mince no words, writing whatever he saw.
Manto once tried to present the sketch of Maulana Chiragh Hasan Hasrat in a literary gathering organized in YMCA Hall Lahore to celebrate the Maulana's recovery from a heart attack. The sketch entitled Bail Aur Kutta was written in his characteristic style exposing some aspects of Maulana's life. The presiding dignitary stopped him from reading the article and ordered him to leave the rostrum. Manto, however, was in high spirits. He refused to oblige and squatted on the floor, and only with difficulty was he prevailed upon by his wife, Safia, to leave the stage.
Those days Manto was writing indiscriminately in order to provide for his family and to be able to drink every evening. For everything he wrote, he would demand cash in advance. In later days, he started writing for magazines like Director. He would go to its office, ask for pen and paper, write his article, collect the remuneration and go away. This Manto was different from the one who arrived in Lahore in 1948.
The necessity to earn his livelihood consumed Manto very fast. In a few years, his complexion became pale and his hair turned grey.
Manto lived in Laxmi Mansion, The Mall Lahore for seven years. For him those years were full of a continuous struggle for his survival. In return, he produced some of his best writings. It was in Lahore that he wrote his masterpieces that include Thanda Gosht, Khol Do, Toba Tek Singh, Iss Manjdhar Mein, Mozalle, Babu Gopi Nath.
Simultaneously, he had embarked on a journey of self-destruction. The substandard alcohol that he consumed destroyed his liver and in the winter of 1955 he fell victim to liver cirrhosis. During all the years in Lahore he waited for the good old days to return, never to find them again.He was 42 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife Safiyah and three daughters.
On January 18, 2005, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp.
The works of Manto include:
* Atishparay -1936 (Nuggets Of Fire)
* Manto Ke Afsanay (Stories of Manto)-1940
* Dhuan (Smoke) -1941
* Afsane Aur Dramay (Fiction and Drama)-1943
* Lazzat-e-Sang-1948 (The Taste Of Rock)
* Siyah Hashiye-1948 (Black Borders)
* Badshahat Ka Khatimah (The End of Kingship)-1950
* Khali Botlein (Empty Bottles)-1950
* Nimrud Ki Khudai (Nimrod The God)-1950
* Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat)-1950
* Yazid-1951
* Pardey Ke Peechhey (Behind The Curtains)-1953
* Sarak Ke Kinarey (By the Roadside)- 1953
* Baghair Unwan Ke (Without a Title)-1954
* Baghair Ijazit (Without Permission)-1955
* Burquey-1955
* Phunduney-1955 (Tassles)
* Sarkandon Ke Peechhey-1955 (Behind The Reeds)
* Shaiytan (Satan)-1955
* Shikari Auratein - 1955 (Women Of Prey)
* Ratti, Masha, Tolah-1956
* Kaali Shalwar (Black Pants)-1961
* Manto Ki Behtareen Kahanian (Best Stories of Manto)-1963
* Tahira Se Tahir (From Tahira to Tahir)-1971
Saadat Hassan Manto see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Manto, Saadat Hassan see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Sa'adat Hasan Mantu see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan (Sa'adat Hasan Mantu) (Saadat Hassan Manto) (May 11, 1912 – January 18, 1955). Urdu short-story writer, was born in Sambalpur, in the Amritsar district of Panjab, India, and educated at Amritsar and later at the Muslim University, Aligarh. Mantu then worked in Lahore, Bombay and Delhi in journalism, films and broadcasting. His literary activity began early. His first works included translations from Victor Hugo, Tolstoy, Gorki, Oscar Wilde and other Europeans. But most of his work was original.
Short stories comprise the greater part of Mantu’s work. From 1940 until his death, Mantu published more than 20 collections of short stories. However, Mantu also wrote numerous radio dramas, sketches and essays.
Mantu’s preoccupation with sexual themes and with eccentricities of behavior led to prosecutions for obscenity, but most were unsuccessful. There is little which European taste would find obscene. His best writing is frank, realistic and informed by a deep but unobtrusive sympathy. After the formation of Pakistan, Mantu settled in Lahore. Heavy drinking in his later years hastened Mantu’s death.
Saadat Hassan Manto migrated to Pakistan after the Partition of India. He is best known for his Urdu short stories, Bu (Odor), Khol Do (Open It), Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat), and his magnum opus, Toba Tek Singh.
Saadat Hasan Manto was also a film and radio scriptwriter, and journalist. In his short life, he published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches.
Saadat Hasan Manto was tried for obscenity half-a-dozen times, thrice before 1947 and thrice after 1947 in Pakistan, but was never convicted. Some of his works have been translated into other languages.
Combining psychoanalysis with human behavior, he was arguably one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century of the Christian calendar, and one of the most controversial as well. When it comes to chronicling the collective madness that prevailed, during and after the Partition of India in 1947, the work of Saadat Hassan Manto is most profound.
Manto started his literary career translating works of literary giants, like Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and many Russian masters like Chekov and Gorky. The collective influence of these writers made Manto search for his own moorings. This search resulted in his first story, Tamasha, based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar.
Though his earlier works, influenced by the progressive writers of his times, Manto showed marked leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became stark in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as humanist values progressively declined around the Partition. His final works that came out in the dismal social climate and his own financial struggles reflected an innate sense of human impotency towards darkness that prevailed in the larger society, cultivating in satirism that verged on dark comedy, as seen in his final great work, Toba Tek Singh, that not just showed a direct influence of his own stay in a veritable mental asylum, but also a reflection of collective madness that he saw in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, his numerous court cases and societal rebukes, deepened his cynical view of society, from which he felt ever so isolated. No part of human existence remain untouched or taboo for him. He sincerely brought out stories of prostitutes and pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive sexual slavery of the women of his times. To many contemporary women writers, his language far from being obscene brought out the women of the times in realism, seen as never before, and provided them with the human dignity they long deserved. Unlike his fellow luminaries, he never indulged in didacticism or romanticized his character, nor offered any judgment on his characters. No matter how macabre or immoral they might seem, he simply presented the characters in a realistic light, and left the judgment on to the reader's eyes. This allows his works to be interpreted in myriad ways, depending on the viewpoint of the reader. They would appear sensationalist or prurient to one, while exceedingly human to another. Yet it was this very non-judgmental and rather unhindered truism of his pen that put him in an opposite camp from the media censors, social prejudices and the legal system of his times, so much so that he remained banned for many years and lost out on many opportunities to earn a healthy living. He is still known for his scathing insight into human behavior as well as his revelation of the macabre animalistic nature of an enraged people.
Saadat Hasan Manto is often compared with D. H. Lawrence, and like Lawrence he also wrote about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani Society. His topics range from the socio-economic injustice prevailing in the pre- and post- colonial era, to the more controversial topics of love, sex, incest, prostitution and the typical hypocrisy of a traditional male. In dealing with these topics, he doesn't take any pains to conceal the true state of the affair - although his short stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good sense of humor. In chronicling the lives and tribulations of the people living in the lower depths of the human existence, no writer of 20th century, came close to Manto. His concerns on the socio-political issues, from the local to the global level are revealed in his series, Letters to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru.
In many ways, Manto's writings can be considered a precursor to the minimalist writing movement. Instead of focusing on composition, Manto created literary effect through narration of facts, often mini-stories, often gritty. Characters are not defined exclusively by the way they look, but by what they have done in their lives. Places are not described as a collection of sensory observations but as settings for events, sad, poignant, happy or otherwise.
Saadat Hassan Manto was born in a Kashmiri Muslim family of barristers. He received his early education at Muslim High School in Amritsar, but he remained a misfit throughout in school years, rapidly losing motivation in studies, ending up failing twice in matriculation. His only love during those days, was reading English novels, for which he even stole a book, once from a Book-Stall in Amritsar Railway Station.
In 1931, he finally passed out of school and joined Hindu Sabha College in Amritsar, which was already volatile due to the independence movement, soon it reflected in his first story, 'Tamasha', based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre
After his father died in 1932, he sobered up a bit to support his mother. The big turning point in his life came, when in 1933 at age 21, he met Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and polemic writer, in Amritsar who encouraged to him find his true talents and read Russian and French authors.
Within a matter of months, Manto produced an Urdu translation of Victor Hugo's The Last Days of a Condemned Man, which was published by Urdu Book Stall, Lahore as Sarguzasht-e-Aseer (A Prisoner's Story). Soon afterwards, he joined the editorial staff of Masawat, a daily published from Ludhiana. His 1934 Urdu translation of Oscar Wilde's Vera won him due recognition amongst the literary circles. At the continued encouragement of Abdul Bari, he published a collection of Urdu translations of Russian stories as Russi Afsane.
This heightened enthusiasm pushed Manto to pursue graduation at Aligarh Muslim University, which he joined in February 1934, and soon became associated with the Indian Progressive Writers' Association (IPWA). It was here that he met writer Ali Sardar Jafri and found a new impetus to his writing. His second story 'Inqlaab Pasand' was published in Aligarh magazine in March 1935.
His first collection of original short stories in Urdu, Atish Pare (Sparks; also Quarrel-Provokers), was published in 1936, at age 24.
Manto left Aligarh within a year, initially for Lahore and ultimately for Bombay.
After 1936, he moved to Bombay where he stayed for the next few years editing Musawwir, a monthly film magazine. He also started writing scripts and dialogues for Hindi films, including Kishan Kanhaya (1936) and Apni Nagariya (1939). Soon he was making enough money, though by the time he married Safia on April 26, 1939, he was once again in dire financial crisis. Despite financial ups and downs he continued writing for films until he left for Delhi in January 1941.
Saadat Hasan Manto had accepted the job of writing for the Urdu Service of All India Radio in 1941. This proved to be his most productive period as in the next eighteen months he published over four collections of radio plays, Aao (Come), Manto ke Drame (Manto's Dramas), Janaze (Funerals) and Teen Auraten (Three women). He continued to write short stories and his next short story collection Dhuan (Smoke) came out soon followed by Manto ke Afsane and his first collection of topical essays, Manto ke Mazamin. This period culminated with the publication of his mixed collection Afsane aur Drame in 1943. Meanwhile, due to a quarrel with the then director of the All India Radio, poet N. M. Rashid, he left his job and returned to Bombay in July 1942 and again started working with the film industry. He entered his best phase in screenwriting giving films like Aatth Din, Chal Chal Re Naujawan and Mirza Ghalib, which was finally released in 1954. Some of his best short stories also came from this phase including Kaali Shalwar, Dhuan (1943) and Bu which was published in Qaumi Jang (Bombay) in February 1945. Another highlight of his second phase in Bombay was the publication of an important collection of his stories, Chugad, which also included the story Babu Gopinath. Manto continued to stay in Bombay until he moved to Pakistan in January 1948 much after the partition of India in 1947.
Saadat Hassan Manto arrived in Lahore sometime in early 1948. In Bombay his friends had tried to stop him from migrating to Pakistan because he was quite popular as a film writer and was making reasonably good money. Among his friends there were top actors and directors of that age — many of them Hindus — who were trying to prevail upon him to forget about migrating. They thought that he would be unhappy in Pakistan because the film industry of Lahore stood badly disrupted with the departure of Hindu film-makers and studio owners. But the law and order situation post-partition of British India was such that many Muslims felt insecure in India, just as many Hindus felt insecure in newly created Pakistan. That was the reason that Manto had already sent his family to Lahore and was keen to join them. Manto and his family were among the millions of Muslims who left present-day India for the newly created Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan.
Manto had at least one consolation. His nephew Hamid Jalal had already settled his family in a flat next to his own in Lakshmi Mansions near the main mall. The complex was centrally located. From there every place of importance was at a stone's throw. These flats were occupied by families of some of the people who were destined to become important in the intellectual and academic fields. Manto's next door neighbor was his nephew Hamid Jalal who later became an important mediaman. In another flat, lived Professor G. M. Asar who taught Urdu at Government College, Lahore. Hailing from Madras, he wrote and spoke excellent English as well. Then there was Malik Meraj Khalid who was to play an important role in the politics of Pakistan. Thus when Manto arrived in Lahore from Bombay he found an intellectual atmosphere around him. His only problem was how to care for his family. Sadly for him, Lahore of that period did not have many economic opportunities to offer.
After the writers who had migrated from various Indian cities settled in Lahore, they started their literary activities. Soon Lahore saw a number of newspapers and periodicals appearing. Manto initially wrote for some literary magazines. These were the days when his controversial stories like Khol Do (Open it) and Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) created a furor among the conservatives. People like Choudhry Muhammad Hussain played a role in banning and prosecuting the writer as well as the publishers and editors of the magazines that printed his stories. Among the editors were such amiable literary figures as Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Hajira Masroor and Arif Abdul Matin. Soon the publishers who were more interested in commercial aspects of their ventures, slammed their doors shut to Manto's writings. He, therefore, started contributing stories to the literary supplements of some newspapers. Even this practice could not go on for long. Masood Ashar who was then editing the literary page of Daily Ehsan published some of his stories but the conservative owner of the paper soon asked him to refrain from the practice.
During those days, Manto also tried his hand at newspaper column writing. he started off with writing under the title Chashm-e-Rozan for daily Maghribi Pakistan on the insistence of his friends of Bombay days Ehsan BA and Murtaza Jillani who were editing that paper. But after a few columns one day the space appeared blank under the column saying that due to his indisposition Manto could not write the column. Actually Manto was not indisposed, the owner was not favorably disposed to some of the sentences in the column.
The only paper that published Manto's articles regularly for quite some time was Daily Afaq, for which he wrote some of his well known sketches. These sketches were later collected in his book Ganjay Farishtay (Bald Angels). The sketches include those of famous actors and actresses like Ashok Kumar, Shyam, Nargis, Noor Jehan and Naseem (mother of Saira Banu). He also wrote about some literary figures like Meera Ji, Hashar Kashmiri and Ismat Chughtai. Manto's sketch of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also first published in Afaq under the title Mera Sahib. It was based on an interview with Haneef Azad, Quaid-e-Azam's driver of Bombay days who after leaving his job as driver became a well known actor. The article included some of the remarks related to the incident when Dina Jinnah married Wadia. Later when the sketch was included in the book these lines were omitted.
Manto created a new tell-all style of writing sketches. He would mince no words, writing whatever he saw.
Manto once tried to present the sketch of Maulana Chiragh Hasan Hasrat in a literary gathering organized in YMCA Hall Lahore to celebrate the Maulana's recovery from a heart attack. The sketch entitled Bail Aur Kutta was written in his characteristic style exposing some aspects of Maulana's life. The presiding dignitary stopped him from reading the article and ordered him to leave the rostrum. Manto, however, was in high spirits. He refused to oblige and squatted on the floor, and only with difficulty was he prevailed upon by his wife, Safia, to leave the stage.
Those days Manto was writing indiscriminately in order to provide for his family and to be able to drink every evening. For everything he wrote, he would demand cash in advance. In later days, he started writing for magazines like Director. He would go to its office, ask for pen and paper, write his article, collect the remuneration and go away. This Manto was different from the one who arrived in Lahore in 1948.
The necessity to earn his livelihood consumed Manto very fast. In a few years, his complexion became pale and his hair turned grey.
Manto lived in Laxmi Mansion, The Mall Lahore for seven years. For him those years were full of a continuous struggle for his survival. In return, he produced some of his best writings. It was in Lahore that he wrote his masterpieces that include Thanda Gosht, Khol Do, Toba Tek Singh, Iss Manjdhar Mein, Mozalle, Babu Gopi Nath.
Simultaneously, he had embarked on a journey of self-destruction. The substandard alcohol that he consumed destroyed his liver and in the winter of 1955 he fell victim to liver cirrhosis. During all the years in Lahore he waited for the good old days to return, never to find them again.He was 42 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife Safiyah and three daughters.
On January 18, 2005, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp.
The works of Manto include:
* Atishparay -1936 (Nuggets Of Fire)
* Manto Ke Afsanay (Stories of Manto)-1940
* Dhuan (Smoke) -1941
* Afsane Aur Dramay (Fiction and Drama)-1943
* Lazzat-e-Sang-1948 (The Taste Of Rock)
* Siyah Hashiye-1948 (Black Borders)
* Badshahat Ka Khatimah (The End of Kingship)-1950
* Khali Botlein (Empty Bottles)-1950
* Nimrud Ki Khudai (Nimrod The God)-1950
* Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat)-1950
* Yazid-1951
* Pardey Ke Peechhey (Behind The Curtains)-1953
* Sarak Ke Kinarey (By the Roadside)- 1953
* Baghair Unwan Ke (Without a Title)-1954
* Baghair Ijazit (Without Permission)-1955
* Burquey-1955
* Phunduney-1955 (Tassles)
* Sarkandon Ke Peechhey-1955 (Behind The Reeds)
* Shaiytan (Satan)-1955
* Shikari Auratein - 1955 (Women Of Prey)
* Ratti, Masha, Tolah-1956
* Kaali Shalwar (Black Pants)-1961
* Manto Ki Behtareen Kahanian (Best Stories of Manto)-1963
* Tahira Se Tahir (From Tahira to Tahir)-1971
Saadat Hassan Manto see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Manto, Saadat Hassan see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Sa'adat Hasan Mantu see Mantu, Sa’adat Hasan
Manucihri, Abu’l-Najm
Manucihri, Abu’l-Najm (d. c. 1041). Third and last (after ‘Unsuri and Farrukhi) of the major panegyrists of the early Ghaznavid court. Unlike his contemporary Persian writing poets, he was enthusiastic for Arabic poetry, and his engaging lyricism is remarked upon by all commentators.
Manucihri, Abu’l-Najm (d. c. 1041). Third and last (after ‘Unsuri and Farrukhi) of the major panegyrists of the early Ghaznavid court. Unlike his contemporary Persian writing poets, he was enthusiastic for Arabic poetry, and his engaging lyricism is remarked upon by all commentators.
Mappila
Mappila. Name generally used to identify the Muslims who reside along the Malabar coast of southwestern India. The word Mappila is of uncertain origin and is not used by these people to refer to themselves, they prefer to be known simply as Muslims. The Hindus of Malabar originally employed the term as a label for the three foreign mercantile communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims who permanently settled in the area, but during the European colonial period the term came to be applied exclusively to Muslims.
Mappila is the name of the dominant Muslim community of southwest India, located mainly in the state of Kerala, primarily in its northern area, popularly known as Malabar. The Mappilas comprise what may be the oldest Islamic community in the South Asian subcontinent, one that was founded by Arab-speaking Muslim traders perhaps as early as the end of the seventh century of the Christian calendar. These Muslims initially settled in port towns such as Calicut, where some of them intermarried with and/or converted local Hindus. By 1500 of the Christian calendar, the Mappilas were estimated to make up twenty percent of the population of the northern Malabar coast.
The Muslims of Malabar, estimated at ten percent (10%) of the population by the middle of the sixteenth century, lived generally in harmony with the surrounding Hindus until the arrival of the Portuguese in Calicut in 1498. During the ensuing period of “pepper politics,” the Portuguese were replaced by the Dutch (1656), the British (1662) and the French (1725), the position of the Mappilas deteriorating rapidly. The British assumed full power in 1792, which was continued until 1947. In 1921, the Malabar Rebellion, frequently called the Mappila Rebellion, broke out with disastrous results. Theological reform was inaugurated by Wakkom Muhammad Abdul Khader Maulavi (d. 1932), devotion to Islam remaining the key element in Mappila character. At present, many Mappilas are employed in the oil production centers of Southwest Asia.
In post-independence India, they represent more than eleven percent (11%) of the population of the entire coast, which is now incorporated into the modern Kerala State. The contemporary Mapilla community is made up of both merchants and agriculturalists. The majority of the population speaks Malayalam, although some still know the hybrid Arabi-Malayalam dialect, a mixture of Arabic, Malayalam, Tamil, and Sanskrit that uses a modified Arabic script. The community is especially well-known for its long resistance to European commercial imperialism and for its turbulent history during the colonial period, culminating in the Mappila Rebellion of 1921-1922, one of the most serious outbreaks of violence in British Indian history.
The Muslims of Kerala along the Malabar coast in south India are known as Mappilla, often transliterated into English as Mopiah. The term is variously interpreted, but is taken by Kerala Muslims as deriving from maha pillai, “great person”, referring to the respected status of the early Muslim settlers. The nearly 5.8 million Mappilla traditionally trace their origin in Kerala to the ninth century when Arab traders brought Islam to the west coast of India. The community has been characterized as consisting of those of pure Arab ancestry, of the descendants of Arabs and Hindu women of the country and of converts to Islam, mainly from among the lower castes.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Portuguese and Arab chronicles provide the first descriptions of the Malabar coast, the Mappilla were largely a mercantile community concentrated along the coast of what is now northern Kerala in urban centers, dominating inter-coastal and overseas trade. Segregated from the Hindu population in separate settlements, the Mappilla had considerable autonomy, and under the patronage of the Zamorin of Calicut, they enjoyed prestige as well as economic power. With the rise of Portuguese power in challenge to Mappilla commercial interests, many Mappilla moved inland in search of new economic opportunities, and in time, through intermarriage and conversion (especially from the most depressed Hindu castes), they increasingly came to be agricultural tenants, low in status and desperately poor. Reduced to insecure tenancy and vulnerable to rack renting and eviction at the hands of Hindu landlords, the Mappilla responded in a series of violent outbreaks during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, culminating in 1921 in the Mappilla Rebellion. Extending over some 2,000 square miles of Malabar District, the rebellion, nurtured by the ideology of the Khilafat movement, was carried on for six months by peasant bands in what was described by British authorities as open war against the king.
The Mappilla today remain concentrated in those areas of northern Kerala which were the scene of the rebellion. In 1969, in response to the demands of the Muslim League in Kerala and as a reward for its political support, the government of the state redrew district boundaries so as to carve out the new, predominantly Muslim district of Malappuram.
Mappila. Name generally used to identify the Muslims who reside along the Malabar coast of southwestern India. The word Mappila is of uncertain origin and is not used by these people to refer to themselves, they prefer to be known simply as Muslims. The Hindus of Malabar originally employed the term as a label for the three foreign mercantile communities of Jews, Christians, and Muslims who permanently settled in the area, but during the European colonial period the term came to be applied exclusively to Muslims.
Mappila is the name of the dominant Muslim community of southwest India, located mainly in the state of Kerala, primarily in its northern area, popularly known as Malabar. The Mappilas comprise what may be the oldest Islamic community in the South Asian subcontinent, one that was founded by Arab-speaking Muslim traders perhaps as early as the end of the seventh century of the Christian calendar. These Muslims initially settled in port towns such as Calicut, where some of them intermarried with and/or converted local Hindus. By 1500 of the Christian calendar, the Mappilas were estimated to make up twenty percent of the population of the northern Malabar coast.
The Muslims of Malabar, estimated at ten percent (10%) of the population by the middle of the sixteenth century, lived generally in harmony with the surrounding Hindus until the arrival of the Portuguese in Calicut in 1498. During the ensuing period of “pepper politics,” the Portuguese were replaced by the Dutch (1656), the British (1662) and the French (1725), the position of the Mappilas deteriorating rapidly. The British assumed full power in 1792, which was continued until 1947. In 1921, the Malabar Rebellion, frequently called the Mappila Rebellion, broke out with disastrous results. Theological reform was inaugurated by Wakkom Muhammad Abdul Khader Maulavi (d. 1932), devotion to Islam remaining the key element in Mappila character. At present, many Mappilas are employed in the oil production centers of Southwest Asia.
In post-independence India, they represent more than eleven percent (11%) of the population of the entire coast, which is now incorporated into the modern Kerala State. The contemporary Mapilla community is made up of both merchants and agriculturalists. The majority of the population speaks Malayalam, although some still know the hybrid Arabi-Malayalam dialect, a mixture of Arabic, Malayalam, Tamil, and Sanskrit that uses a modified Arabic script. The community is especially well-known for its long resistance to European commercial imperialism and for its turbulent history during the colonial period, culminating in the Mappila Rebellion of 1921-1922, one of the most serious outbreaks of violence in British Indian history.
The Muslims of Kerala along the Malabar coast in south India are known as Mappilla, often transliterated into English as Mopiah. The term is variously interpreted, but is taken by Kerala Muslims as deriving from maha pillai, “great person”, referring to the respected status of the early Muslim settlers. The nearly 5.8 million Mappilla traditionally trace their origin in Kerala to the ninth century when Arab traders brought Islam to the west coast of India. The community has been characterized as consisting of those of pure Arab ancestry, of the descendants of Arabs and Hindu women of the country and of converts to Islam, mainly from among the lower castes.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Portuguese and Arab chronicles provide the first descriptions of the Malabar coast, the Mappilla were largely a mercantile community concentrated along the coast of what is now northern Kerala in urban centers, dominating inter-coastal and overseas trade. Segregated from the Hindu population in separate settlements, the Mappilla had considerable autonomy, and under the patronage of the Zamorin of Calicut, they enjoyed prestige as well as economic power. With the rise of Portuguese power in challenge to Mappilla commercial interests, many Mappilla moved inland in search of new economic opportunities, and in time, through intermarriage and conversion (especially from the most depressed Hindu castes), they increasingly came to be agricultural tenants, low in status and desperately poor. Reduced to insecure tenancy and vulnerable to rack renting and eviction at the hands of Hindu landlords, the Mappilla responded in a series of violent outbreaks during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, culminating in 1921 in the Mappilla Rebellion. Extending over some 2,000 square miles of Malabar District, the rebellion, nurtured by the ideology of the Khilafat movement, was carried on for six months by peasant bands in what was described by British authorities as open war against the king.
The Mappilla today remain concentrated in those areas of northern Kerala which were the scene of the rebellion. In 1969, in response to the demands of the Muslim League in Kerala and as a reward for its political support, the government of the state redrew district boundaries so as to carve out the new, predominantly Muslim district of Malappuram.
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