The Role Of The Central Asians In The Socio-Political And Cultural Life Of Mamluk Egypt

Abstract

The article considers the strengthening of the Turkic factor in Egypt after the Mamluk Emirs, natives from the Khwarezm, Turkmen and Kipchak tribes, who came to power in the second half of the XIII century. The influence of the Turkic factor affected all aspects of life in Egypt. Under the leadership of the Turkic Emirs, the Egyptians defeated the crusaders who invaded Egypt in 1248. This defeat of the 7th crusade marked the beginning of the General collapse of the Crusades. Another crushing defeat of the Mamluks led by Sultan Kutuz caused the Mongols, stopping their victorious March through the Arab world. As a result of these brilliant victories, Egypt under the first Mamluk Sultans turned into a fairly strong state, which developed agriculture, irrigation, and foreign trade. The article also examines the factors contributing to the transformation of Egypt in the 13-14th centuries in the center of Muslim culture after the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate. Scientists from all over the Muslim world came to Egypt, educational institutions-madrassas were intensively built, and Muslim encyclopedias were created that absorbed the knowledge gained in various Sciences (geography, history, philology, astronomy, mathematics, etc.). Scholars from Khwarezm, the Golden Horde, Azerbaijan, and other Turkic-speaking regions along with Arab scholars taught hadith, logic, oratory, fiqh, and other Muslim Sciences in the famous madrassas of Egypt. In Mamluk Egypt, there was a great interest in the Turkic languages, especially the Oguz-Kipchak dialect. Arabic and Turkic philologists write special works on the vocabulary and grammar of the Turkic languages, and compile Arabic-Turkic dictionaries. In Egypt, a whole layer of artistic Turkic-language literature was created that has survived to the present day. The famous poet Saif Sarayi, who came from the lower reaches of the Syr Darya river in Mawaraunnahr was considered to be its founder. He wrote in Chigatai (old Uzbek) language and is recognized a poet who stands at the origins of Uzbek literature. In addition to his known the names of eight Turkish-speaking poets, most of whom have nisba “al-Khwarizmi”. Notable changes occurred in Arabic literature itself, especially after the decline of Palace Abbasid poetry. There is a convergence of literature with folk art, under the influence of which the poetic genres, such as “zazhal”, “mavval”, “muvashshah”, etc. emerge in the Egyptian poetry. In Mamluk Egypt, the genre of “adaba” is rapidly developing, aimed at bringing up and enlightening the good-natured Muslim in a popular scientific form. The works of “adaba” contained a large amount of poetic and folklore material from rivayats and hikayats, which makes it possible to have a more complete understanding of medieval Arabic literature in general. Unfortunately, the culture, including the fiction of the Mamluk period of Egypt, has been little studied, as well as the influence of the Turkic factor on the cultural and social life of the Egyptians. The Turkic influence is felt in the military and household vocabulary, the introduction of new rituals, court etiquette, changing the criteria for evaluating beauty, in food, clothing, etc. Natives of the Turkic regions, former slaves, historical figures such as the Sultan Shajarat ad-Durr, Mamluk sultans as Kutuz and Beybars became national heroes of the Egyptian people. Folk novels-Sirs were written about their deeds. And in modern times, their names are not forgotten. Prominent Egyptian writers have dedicated their historical novels to them, streets have been named after them, monuments have been erected to them, and series and TV shows dedicated to them are still shown on national television. This article for the first time examines some aspects of the influence of the Turkic factor on the cultural life of Mamluk Egypt and highlights some unknown pages of cultural relations between Egypt and Mawaraunnahr.