Abstract A growing number of studies has contributed to our understanding of the different roles that Sayyids (descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad) played in many regions of the Muslim world. Still, many lineages remain unexplored and especially the socio-economic roles of Sayyids often remain unclear. This article studies the little-known Sayyid al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī from tenth-/sixteenth-century Medina, his genealogical writings, and those of one of his sons—Zayn al-Dīn ʿAlī—to trace the political rise and increasing economic affluence of their family, the Banū Shadqam. They combined their Ḥusaynid descent with the prestigious office of custodian ( mutawallī ) of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina and political leadership of the Medinese Sayyids ( naqīb al-ashrāf ). Marital relations with the Niẓāmshāhī Dynasty in the western Deccan and scholarly services at its court in Ahmadnagar provided them with significant royal patronage. Al-Ḥasan increasingly served as socio-economic intermediary in channelling charitable donations from the Deccan to Medina. The mutually beneficial relationship between charismatic and royal authority allowed the Banū Shadqam to advance their social position among the many Sayyid families in Medina. Transgenerational practices of writing genealogical texts served to legitimise their Sayyid claims, complementing transregional mobility and royal patronage to consolidate their social and political position ‘at home’.
Abstract This contribution analyses the mechanisms of control over the emirate of Mecca by the Ayyūbid, Rasūlid, Mamlūk, and Ilkhānid sultans during the seventh–eighth/thirteenth–fourteenth centuries. A systematic reading of Arabic sources, alongside modern scholarship, reveals intensified competition for dominance over the foremost holy city of Islam—an essential source of political legitimacy. Three principal modalities of control are identified. Firstly, the establishment of direct rule in Mecca through the appointment of representatives of the caliph or sultan from outside the Banū Qatāda Dynasty served to exercise direct oversight of the Meccan emirate. Although this attempt at centralised governance was met with resistance from local sharifs, internal dynastic rivalries prompted some into exile. This expatriation gave rise to a second form of control: the mobility of sharifs seeking social advancement in major regional capitals, where they frequented sultanic courts and, in certain cases, acted as intermediaries for regional powers. Finally, from the beginning of the eighth/fourteenth century, the Mamlūk regime implemented a more coercive form of control over sharifian elites, imprisoning and later releasing them from Egyptian prisons at the sultan’s discretion.
Abstract This article re-examines the waqf al-dashīshah founded by the Mamluk sultan Qāʾitbāy (r. AH 872–901/1468–1496 CE) for the distribution of dashīshah (porridge) and bread in the Ḥaramayn (Mecca and Medina), particularly in Medina. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of MS Arabe 1118 (Bibliothèque nationale de France) alongside related sources, it reconstructs the operational logic and historical trajectory of this endowment. The article argues that Qāʾitbāy’s waqf al-dashīshah functioned not merely as a personal charitable foundation but as a centrally managed provisioning system that channelled agrarian surplus from Egypt to the Hijaz. Its property base, transport infrastructure, and involvement of officials embedded the waqf within the administrative practices of the Mamluk or Cairo Sultanate, while the frequent use of state treasury land further blurred the boundary between public finance and pious endowment. Tracing the waqf ’s continued operation and adaptation under early Ottoman rule, moreover, the article demonstrates its durability as an institutional mechanism. Overall, it shows that the waqf al-dashīshah served simultaneously as charity, governance, and political representation, articulating the Cairo Sultanate’s claim to authority as khādim al-Ḥaramayn (the server of the Ḥaramayn ) within a context of intensifying inter-Muslim competition.
Abstract Despite the expansion of research on South Asian courtesans, there has been no attempt at a critical historiography on courtesans alone. Within this larger gap, the specific connections between travel, mobility, and female performers in South Asia have not been adequately theorised. By making a critical intervention into the historiography of courtesans, we hope to aid in the establishment of what could be termed ‘South Asian courtesan studies’ as a recognised field of scholarship. Foregrounding the historical method for research into courtesans, the articles here show that beyond conventional ethnographic sources, there is a rich textual, visual, and material archive, largely unexplored until recently. They reveal both the transnational and local, and the spectacular and quotidian circuits of female performers’ travels. These include religious sites and participation in rites of passage like weddings but also extend beyond South Asia into the theatre spectacles and exhibitions of Europe. In the context of empire, this volume maps how female performers travelled in local, regional, and transnational contexts, and whether they were able to transcend the hypersexualised colonial trope of the ‘ nautch girl’. This special issue offers a sample of the new developments in this growing field to catalyse its further expansion.
This article investigates how Li Yuanyang, a Yunnanese scholar of the Ming Dynasty, pursued cultural orthodoxy both for himself and his homeland. Through reconstructing Yunnan's history, harmonising Buddhism with Confucianism, and showcasing the Chinese values practised in Yunnan, he positions himself as an orthodox Confucian literatus and defines Yunnan as an integral part of Chinese civilisation. Simultaneously, Li exhibits strong regional characteristics, perhaps unconsciously at times. He adopts some Bai-centric accounts, inherits Dali's pre-Ming Buddhist legacy, and especially extols local moral exemplars, highlighting the cultural refinement of Yunnan individuals. Thus, his identity is double-sided, functioning as both a Chinese and a native scholar.
The founder of the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, John Francis Davis, published the first translation of a Chinese play into English, Laou-Seng-Urh, or 'An Heir in Old Age', in 1817. While significant in both literary and scholarly terms, Davis's work is also worthy of attention for its political undercurrents. An anonymously penned introduction draws connections between Davis's translation and theatrical performances in the context of Qing diplomacy, including Macartney's embassy of 1793, while an accompanying 'Advertisement' highlights Davis's role as interpreter on Amherst's subsequent embassy of 1816. This article conclusively attributes these paratexts to the second secretary of the Admiralty, Sir John Barrow. Records from the East India House library, the John Murray Archive, and back-numbers of The Quarterly Review reveal how Barrow exploited Davis's translation to promote British diplomatic engagement with China and celebrate the embassy on which he had staked his own reputation as a China expert. Though Laou-Seng-Urh achieved few of its political objectives, it nevertheless inadvertently influenced the trajectory of nineteenth-century academic sinology in Europe.
This study explores the intricate design of title pages in nineteenth-century Persian lithographed books, comparing the Eastern-style title pages prevalent in Indian publications with the Western-influenced designs found in Iranian lithographed books. Rooted in Indian publishing traditions, the Eastern model emphasised structured bibliographic details, refined calligraphy, and floral ornamentation. In contrast, the Western-style Iranian model drew inspiration from Persian manuscript and bookbinding traditions, a broader ornamental vocabulary shared across media, particularly the lachak va turanj (medallion-and-corner) compositional scheme. While Iranian designers rarely adopted the Eastern model in books published in Iran, Indian publications occasionally incorporated Persian design elements, demonstrating selective cross-regional exchanges in Persianate book design. Rather than developing a standardised informational layout, Iranian title pages prioritised visual composition and ornamental hierarchy, often relegating bibliographic information to colophons or extended dedicatory texts. Accordingly, the Western style is defined less by informational structure than by visual organisation, which distinguishes it fundamentally from the Eastern model. This study focuses on Iranian and Indian examples, drawing on rare Persian lithographed books to examine how differing conceptions of the book shaped title page design in the nineteenth century.
This article examines how the Ban & umacr; Fahd of Mecca successfully established and maintained a scholarly dynasty specialising in hadith transmission across multiple generations during the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods (eighth/fourteenth-eleventh/seventeenth centuries). Drawing on social reproduction theory, the study analyses the deliberate strategies through which this family transformed itself from judge-merchants into 'the hadith transmitters of the Hijaz'. The analysis focuses on Taq & imacr; al-D & imacr;n Muhammad (d. 871/1466) as the pivotal figure who systematically forged the family's scholarly identity through multiple interconnected strategies: intensive early education of children and relatives, strategic exploitation of Mecca's position as a pilgrimage centre to build networks with visiting scholars, creation of a family library that became a regional resource, development of sophisticated information management tools (indexes, notebooks, summaries), cultivation of excellence in manuscript copying, and elaboration of genealogical claims linking the family to 'Al & imacr; ibn Ab & imacr; T & amacr;lib. These practices were consciously transmitted across several generations, creating a cumulative effect that sustained the family's reputation into the early eleventh/seventeenth century. The study demonstrates that this scholarly dynasty succeeded not through passive inheritance but through active, systematic cultivation of multiple forms of capital-economic, social, cultural, and symbolic-deployed strategically to reproduce elite status across generations.
This article examines the endurance of timbering and rafting along the upper Yellow River in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a case study of Fernand Braudel's 'social time' of that critical section of the waterway, marked by intensified commerce and shifting political dynamics. The Muslim consolidation of midstream Ningxia, anchored in upstream Linxia, exemplified how Hui economic dominance intertwined with territorial control. These networks, later repurposed to support China's resistance against Japanese imperialism, were abruptly disrupted by mid-twentieth-century dam construction and socialist collectivisation. Beyond economic history, the article interrogates historiographical silences surrounding Hui economic territorialisation. While external observers, including Republican officials and Japanese strategists, acknowledged Hui commercial monopolies, state historiography under the People's Republic of China has often downplayed them to maintain narratives of ethnic harmony. Analysing cinematic representations across different eras of the twentieth century, the article further argues that film serves as a counterpoint to official narratives, offering an alternative medium where Hui agency and economic territoriality are articulated and contested. By bridging economic history, historiography, and visual culture, this study highlights the political stakes of ethnic commerce and the ways in which Hui identity has been shaped and reshaped across different political regimes.
This article shows that the Qar & amacr;mita (a Muslim group) strategically adapted the Islamic concept of the Mahd & imacr; to align with the spiritual figure of Jesus in order to render their eschatological message more acceptable within the Christian milieu of Syria. More broadly, however, it argues that the Qar & amacr;mita's discourse engaged with Christian theology, which also involved ideas of divine manifestation, the identification of the Qar & amacr;mita's leader Yahy & amacr; b. Zikrawayh (d. 290/903) with John the Baptist, and even the symbolic redirection of the qibla and hajj towards Jerusalem. The article examines what may be described as a pseudo-Christian discourse surrounding the figure of Yahy & amacr; b. Zikrawayh in Syria. The study considers two pathways leading to the establishment of such pseudo discourse. First, such Christianised motifs may have been deliberately employed by the Qar & amacr;mita themselves as a strategy to attract wider audiences and reinforce the legitimacy of their movement. This examination will offer a new perspective on the probability of how the Qar & amacr;mita sought legitimacy via adapting their so-called Mahd & imacr;ist discourse for a non-Muslim society and ideology. Second, this Christian colouring was later reinforced by sources seeking to demonise and marginalise those who stood outside the authorities' official position. This article critically examines the development of this syncretic Mahd & imacr;ist narrative by analysing the problematic nature of these sources that document these adaptations. The analysis therefore moves between the rhetoric of the preachers and the historiographical framing by their opponents, showing how both contributed to shaping the image of a pseudo-Christian Mahd & imacr;ist movement in Syria.
This article examines the cyclical nature of monetisation and demonetisation in Taizhou ((sic)(sic)) during the Song and Yuan dynasties. By analysing local fiscal policies, taxation systems, and economic structures, it reveals a complex process of monetary evolution. The Song Dynasty saw significant fiscal monetization, driven by military needs and implemented through innovative tax systems. However, the Yuan Dynasty witnessed a partial reversal, with a shift towards physical taxation and reduced monetary demands. This research highlights the interplay between central government policies, local fiscal structures, and broader economic trends. It challenges linear models of economic development and emphasises the importance of regional variations in understanding historical monetisation processes.
While the social and political contributions of Iranian Shii emigre scholars to the early modern Deccan have attracted some scholarly attention, the actual contents of their intellectual production remain understudied. An important reason for this is the broader neglect of the corpus of commentaries and translations in the early modern Islamicate world. To address this gap, this article analyses the ways in which Ibn Khatun al-'amili (d. 1059/1649) combines the genres of translation and gloss in his Persian rendition of a hadith collection by Baha' al-Din al-'amili (d. 1030/1621). After providing an overview of translation projects of Shii texts in the Deccan and a biographical sketch of Ibn Khatun, I examine the latter's translation and commentarial strategies. I show how, by merging elements of translation and gloss into his text, the author addresses the needs of an intellectual milieu characterised by a high level of pedagogical engagement in the transmission of Shii knowledge.
According to Islamic geographical texts, the route that passed along the southern bank of the Gamasiab River on the current Bisotun-Sahneh plain, connecting Kermanshah (Qarmisin) and Bisotun (Behistun) to Madharan, Kangavar (Qasr al-Lusus), and Nahavand, was very significant during the early Islamic centuries. However, based on archaeological evidence, it seems that a major part of this importance was attributed to the construction projects of the Sassanids, especially the later kings of the Sassanian Dynasty, such as Khosrow II, who focused on developing the current Kermanshah province, especially the Kermanshah-Bisotun region, and built extensive constructions including communication roads, bridges, palaces, and magnificent mansions along the southern bank of the Gamasiab River. The present research specifically and comprehensively investigates, for the first time, the southern route of the Gamasiab River in the southern part of the Bisotun-Sahneh plain and localises seven historical toponyms along this route. This research is mainly based on the analysis of Islamic geographical texts, especially those from the ninth and tenth centuries. Additionally, archaeological evidence such as the remains of old bridges, buildings, and sites, as well as the topographical and geographical features of the region, have been taken into consideration.
