Abstract
While a great deal of scholarly attention has been paid to the white military slaves and freedmen in the Mamluk Empire (1250- 1517), the black slaves ( ‘abīd ) have often been overlooked. In Egypt, Mamluk society, especially military society, was marked by a profound racial discourse that privileged white over black. This was by no means the only ethnic/racial categorization of people and groups, nor was it the only mechanism of privilege. But the definition of black slaves as the subaltern had social, economic and political ramifications that can not be ignored. Such definitions are especially evident in accounts of black slaves who are perceived to violate existing boundaries. My purpose in this paper is to explore the ways in which six Mamluk historians construct often mutually contradictory narratives of transgressive black slaves.
Highlights
While a great deal of scholarly attention has been paid to the white military slaves and freedmen in the Mamluk Empire (12501517), the black slaves (‘abêd) have often been overlooked
My purpose in this paper is to explore the ways in which six Mamluk historians construct often mutually contradictory narratives of transgressive black slaves
The historian Ibn Iy×s (852/1448-930/1524), unlike al-‘Aynê and Ibn Taghrêbirdê, was not alive when the black slaves gathered in Giza to set up their slave “Sultanate,” an event that occurred some two years prior to Ibn Iy×s’s birth
Summary
While a great deal of scholarly attention has been paid to the white military slaves and freedmen in the Mamluk Empire (12501517), the black slaves (‘abêd) have often been overlooked. In Egypt, Mamluk society, especially military society, was marked by a profound racial discourse that privileged white over black. This was by no means the only ethnic/racial categorization of people and groups, nor was it the only mechanism of privilege. The definition of black slaves as the subaltern had social, economic and political ramifications that can not be ignored. A pesar de que en los estudios sobre el Imperio Mameluco (1250-1517) se ha prestado gran atención a los esclavos blancos del ejército y a los libertos, se ha pasado por alto a los esclavos negros (‘abêd). Palabras clave: esclavitud; Imperio Mameluco; ejército; etnia; raza; esclavos negros (‘abêd)
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