The Bodyguard of the Caliphs During the Umayyad and the Early Abbasid Periods

During early Islam, the <em>ḥaras</em> was a government unit that was responsible for the personal security of the caliph. Since the reign of the first Umayyad Caliph, Mu‘āwiya b. Abī Sufyān, the <em>ḥaras</em>, headed by a <em>ḥaras</em> chief, protected all caliphs. This paper will attempt to describe the functions of the <em>ḥaras</em> during the Umayyad and the early Abbasid caliphates by delineating the characteristics of the <em>ḥaras</em> chiefs under the different caliphs. As with other institutions during early Islam, accounts that refer to the <em>ḥaras</em> offer information about the men who headed it rather than about the institution itself, making it necessary to employ the method of prosopography in order to arrive at an adequate description of the institution. The majority of the <em>ḥaras</em> chiefs appear to have been <em>mawālī</em>, often entrusted with administrative offices in addition to heading the <em>ḥaras</em>. It seems that the <em>ḥaras</em> chiefs were responsible not only for protecting the caliphs, but also for carrying out executions. The establishment of the <em>ḥaras</em>, the qualifications of the <em>ḥaras</em> chiefs and the weapons used by members of this body are also discussed. This significant institution has not yet received due attention in the literature. I hope to provide a useful outline and to open up a space for further research.<br><br>Durante los principios del Islam el <em>ḥaras</em> fue una unidad del gobierno, responsable de la seguridad personal de los califas. Desde el reinado del primer califa omeya Mu‘āwiya b. Abī Sufyān, el <em>ḥaras</em> que estaba bajo las ordenes de su jefe, custodió a todos los califas. El propósito de este artículo es describir el papel del <em>ḥaras</em> durante el periodo del Califato Omeya y el principio del Califato Abbasí y describir las características de los jefes del <em>ḥaras</em> bajo los diferentes califas. Al igual que con otras instituciones durante el comienzo del Islam, la información relacionada con el <em>ḥaras</em> se basa en la vida y obra de los hombres que los encabezaban y no tanto en los datos específicos de la institución. Esto hace necesario el uso del método prosopográfico para conseguir una descripción adecuada de la institución. La mayoría de los dirigentes del <em>ḥaras</em> fueron <em>mawālī</em> y muchas veces eran responsables de las funciones administrativas, además de comandar el <em>ḥaras</em>. Sus dirigentes no solo eran responsables de la protección de los califas, sino tambien de ejecutar sus órdenes. Este artículo explica también la creación del <em>ḥaras</em>, las cualidades de sus líderes y las armas que utilizaban. Este grupo tan importante ha recibido poca atención por parte de la investigación actual

Jawāmiʻ ʻulūm al-nujūm wa-uṣūl al-ḥarakāt al-samāwīyah : manuscript, [19th century?].

A summary of Ptolemy's Almagest, "Al-Farghānī's best-known and most influential work ... a comprehensive account of the elements of Ptolemaic astronomy that is entirely descriptive and nonmathematical." A. I. Sabra, "Al-Farghānī," Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York, 1971), v. 4, pp. 541a-545a.Watermark: Andrea Galvani of Pordenone. See Edward Heawood, Watermarks, Mainly of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Hilversum, 1950), p. 36 and no. 860.Text rubricated; borders drawn in pencil.Text (not this copy) published.GAL,A summary of Ptolemy's Almagest, "Al-Farghānī's best-known and most influential work ... a comprehensive account of the elements of Ptolemaic astronomy that is entirely descriptive and nonmathematical." A. I. Sabra, "Al-Farghānī," Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York, 1971), v. 4, pp. 541a-545a.Mode of access: Internet.McGregor FundAstronomer-astrologer at Baghdād in employ of ʻAbbāsid caliph al-Maʾmūn.Purchased in Cairo, 1933/34. Owners' marks: name of copyist on p. [1]: hādhā kitāb nassakhahu al-mutawakkil ʻalá Allāh ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd Mūsá; on p. [1], manuscript notes in handwriting of Max Meyerhof

Caught between heredity and merit: Qūṣūn (d. 1342) and the legacy of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn (d. 1341)

From medieval times until today ideas of heredity through lineage and of merit through slave status have jostled for pre-eminence as explanations for transitions of Mamluk royal authority. This article contributes to this debate through an analysis of events in late 1341 marking the transition from the reign of one of the sultanate's most successful rulers, al-Nasir Muhammad b. Qalawun, to that of his sons. This is achieved by focusing on the whereabouts of one of al-Nasir Muhammad's most powerful agents, Qusun al-Saqi al-Nasiri, and on how this amir monopolized power in Egypt and Syria in such a way that his accession to the sultanate seemed inevitable. The article then demonstrates how things went wrong for Qusun and how his failed attempt to obtain the sultanate triggered a Qalawunid dynastic succession practice that was to remain dominant for many decades