The Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261-1517): History and Tradition in the Mamluk Court
[Thesis]
Mustafa Banister
Northrup, Linda S.
University of Toronto (Canada)
2015
553
Committee members: Bauden, Frederic; Ostapchuk, Victor; Saleh, Walid; Subtelny, Maria E.
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-47119-8
Ph.D.
Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto (Canada)
2015
This dissertation investigates the two-and-a-half century evolution of Islam's most prominent leadership institution, the Abbasid caliphate, after its restoration in Cairo following the Mongol destruction of Baghdad in 1258. Kept under the supervision of the Mamluk sultans of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), modern scholars tend to conclude that this so-called Abbasid "shadow" caliphate merely legitimized Mamluk rulers and little else within their society. Despite having shed much of its original power by the Mamluk period, the Abbasid caliphate of Cairo retained a definite measure of religious authority and enjoyed the reverence of significant sectors of the Cairene population including religious scholars, chroniclers, chancery scribes, poets, travelers, and, it seems, enjoyed even wider resonance among the masses of the local Muslim citizenry.