In this episode Kenneth Goudie is joined by Dr Mustafa Banister to talk about the historian he is studying, Ibn ʿArabshah (d. 1450). 

Ibn ʿArabshah was variously a litterateur, religious scholar, chancery scribe, and historian. Although he donned these many caps later in life, the young Ibn ‘Arabshāh would never be the same again after his hometown of Damascus was sacked and he was taken prisoner by Tamerlane in 1400. He devoted the next twenty-two years of his life to learning Islamic sciences and seeking out masters in the courts and capitals of pre-modern Muslim West Asia, before returning in 1422 to the lands under the control of the Cairo sultanate, ultimately settling in Damascus and trying to re-establish himself in existing social structures.  

He benefitted from a patronage relationship with the scholar ‘Alā’ al-Dīn al-Bukhārī who relocated to Damascus in 1429. After al-Bukhārī’s death in 1438, Ibn ‘Arabshāh focused on creating several works of literature and historiography that helped enhance his reputation. Frequent trips between Cairo and Damascus brought him into the orbit of other well-connected fifteenth century scholars among the civilian elite including Ibn Ḥajar, al-Maqrīzī, Ibn Taghrībirdī, and al-Sakhāwī.

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All music by Yadayn, from the track "Adem" https://yadayn.bandcamp.com/

Ibn ʿArabshah: the Itinerant Son Returns

DAWLA: New Histories of the Medieval Middle East introduces the research being carried out on the historiography of fifteenth-century Egypt and Syria at Ghent University to the broader public. 

Following a two-part introductory episode which introduces our current ERC project, “The Mamlukisation of the Mamluk Sultanate–II (MMS-II)”, we’re going to devote episodes to the historians we’re studying, thinking about their lives and works, what made them tick (or–in the case of one historian–what made him explode his career in spectacular fashion).