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Zusatztext The present monograph is a very important contribution to what is now termed 'global medieval studies' and, of course, the cultural history of the Islamicate world of the pre-modern era. Fozia Bora's book should be read by all who are interested in understanding modes of knowledge production, creating narratives of the past and what constitutes an archive. She also asks very pertinent questions about how we approach pre-modern texts and as such this book should be really read by anybody interested in epistemological issues in medieval studies. Informationen zum Autor Fozia Bora is a lecturer in Middle Eastern History at the University of Leeds, UK, where she is also the Director of Postgraduate Research in Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Klappentext In the 'encyclopaedic' fourteenth century, Arabic chronicles produced in Mamluk cities bore textual witness to both recent and bygone history, including that of the Fatimids (969-1171CE). For in two centuries of rule over Egypt and North Africa, the Isma'ili Fatimids had left few self-generated historiographical records. Instead, it fell to Ayyubid and Mamluk historians to represent the dynasty to posterity. This monograph sets out to explain how later historians preserved, interpreted and re-organised earlier textual sources.Mamluk historians engaged in a sophisticated archival practice within historiography, rather than uncritically reproducing earlier reports. In a new diplomatic edition, translation and analysis of Mamluk historian Ibn al-Furat's account of late Fatimid rule in The History of Dynasties and Kings , a widely known but barely copied universal chronicle of Islamic history, Fozia Bora traces the survival of historiographical narratives from Fatimid Egypt. Through Ibn al-Furat's text, Bora demonstrates archivality as the heuristic key to Mamluk historical writing.This book is essential for all scholars working on the written culture and history of the medieval Islamic world, and paves the way for a more nuanced reading of pre-modern Arabic chronicles and of the epistemic environment in which they were produced. Vorwort In a modern world where sectarianism can take on violent forms, this is a rigorous historiographical demonstration of the unacknowledged broadmindedness of many medieval Arab historians. Zusammenfassung In the ‘encyclopaedic’ fourteenth century, Arabic chronicles produced in Mamluk cities bore textual witness to both recent and bygone history, including that of the Fatimids (969–1171CE). For in two centuries of rule over Egypt and North Africa, the Isma‘ili Fatimids had left few self-generated historiographical records. Instead, it fell to Ayyubid and Mamluk historians to represent the dynasty to posterity. This monograph sets out to explain how later historians preserved, interpreted and re-organised earlier textual sources.Mamluk historians engaged in a sophisticated archival practice within historiography, rather than uncritically reproducing earlier reports. In a new diplomatic edition, translation and analysis of Mamluk historian Ibn al-Furat’s account of late Fatimid rule in The History of Dynasties and Kings , a widely known but barely copied universal chronicle of Islamic history, Fozia Bora traces the survival of historiographical narratives from Fatimid Egypt. Through Ibn al-Furat’s text, Bora demonstrates archivality as the heuristic key to Mamluk historical writing.This book is essential for all scholars working on the written culture and history of the medieval Islamic world, and paves the way for a more nuanced reading of pre-modern Arabic chronicles and of the epistemic environment in which they were produced. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgements Abbreviations List of Illustrations Note on Terminology, Transliteration and Dates Introduction 1 The Archival Function of Historiography...
