The trajectory of Cairo’s history has always resembled a struggle for self-immortalization. Lest their memory became a muffled gulp from the depths of the mighty Nile, sultans and presidents, invested, immured and consecrated themselves in brick and stone, as if these architectural regalities might transcend the limits of their own brief existence.
In the case of the Mamluks, as manifested in the prolific and most admirable work of scholar Doris Behrens-Abouseif’s latest book “Cairo of the Mamluks, the compulsion for ‘legacy building’ was perhaps, alongside their historic defeat of the crusaders, the most distinguishing domestic feature of their rule.
As Behrens-Abouseif explains, the architectural monuments of the Mamluks were not fueled by some misled roman-esque urge for self-deification, but rather for a more rooted and time-based function: legitimization.
In the book begins with an explanation of the “slave army’s rise to power. After centuries of being used by the Caliphs as a loyal and highly efficient corps, these important royal goods, with the threat of invasion looming, seized the reign of power. Yet, the Mamluks were by no means ignorant of the concept of ‘acceptability.’ Indeed, this is the reason d’être of their unflagging patronage of mausoleums and mosques that enumerated throughout Cairo as their reign progressed.
“Cairo of the Mamluks is, for wont of a less trite phrase, a labor of love.
“My academic work on Islamic architecture actually began as a hobby, said Behrens-Abouseif, who now holds the chair in Islamic Art and Architecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. “I used to regularly visit the monuments, and then instinctively began researching. This book is based on my years of experience, but there is a great deal of new work, as well fresh perspectives.
The style of the book certainly reflects Behren-Abouseif’s passion for the subject. For as detailed and academically thorough it may be, “Cairo of the Mamluks is far from a dry, cerebral disquisition into Mamluk Cairo. On meeting with Behrens-Abouseif herself, it’s clear that her very genuine passion for the subject, no doubt cultivated by her engaging charisma, is what invests her discourse with such energy.
Woven between architectural detail and historic charter are fascinating, and often humorous, insights into royal life. My personal favorite, and one that has not ceased to entertain Behrens-Abouseif, is the Mamluks’ treatment of the ‘poor’ Caliph.
Always acutely aware of their own precarious position as racial outsiders, the Mamluks kept their ‘in house’ Caliphs to perform ceremonial duties. Unfortunately for the Caliphs, they were treated more like skivvies, speculatively a result of Mamluk’s scorn for these former rulers, whose lack of military prowess effectively led to their demise.
The Sultan Baybars kept his Caliph in one of the citadel towers, while Qaitbay “evicted the Caliph from his residence in the citadel to punish him for having let a fire break out in his kitchen; it spread to the sultan’s warehouse, destroying most of his valuable tents.
Yet despite the Turkish warriors’ pride of their slave origins and their military probity, their investment in the urban makeup of Cairo was vast, and Behrens-Abouseif is the first to maintain – in a new perspective on Mamluk architecture supported by colossal research into the waqf (endowment) archives – that building projects did not diminish even against the backdrop of economic and political decline.
“The 15th century has never been taken seriously, but we find that some of the largest and outstanding pieces of architecture were constructed in that period, Behrens-Abouseif explains. “The Mosque of Sultan Burquq was built in one of the first historic periods of political crisis, and that of Sultan Hassan was built after the Black Death. When it came to monuments, they could always find the money.
But what is interesting is the sheer number of mausoleums, mosques and Sufi khanqas aesthetically punctuating Cairo’s urban landscape that are, despite their intricate detail and individual beauty, modest affairs. They do not, for example, compare to the grandiose cathedrals of renaissance Italy or indeed to the daunting elevations of the Pharaohs.
Ironically, this can be accredited to the Mamluk’s successor system of qasi-meritocracy; as opposed to dynastic succession. As each sultan rushed to prove his worth before fate found him first, their building projects were circumscribed by the human lifetime itself. In doing so, this served the character of the city. Just flicking through the book the reader is overwhelmed by the number of awe-inspiring photographs of mosques, mausoleums and minarets, from the dilapidated funeral complex of Tankizbugha and khanqah of the princess Tughay, to the intricate lapis blue painted tiles on the facade of the Kamiliiyya madrasa, to the golden interior of the Qalawun mausoleum.
The Mamluks, although as a result of circumstance rather than intention, succeeded in stamping their identity on the city not through aloof elevations, but through human-sized architecture where detail captures the eye and allows it to feel at home, rather leaving it to stand in a cold awe.
Architecture, both the face and product of a city and its culture, holds the ability to inspire a space and imbue it with identity. Today’s Cairo, a vast urban center and growing metropolis, is closer to the Cairo of the Mamluks than we may have first thought.
Behrens-Abouseif, who has studied and taught in Germany, Britain and Cairo, is herself a product of the cosmopolitan. Had she been living in the 14th century, she might well have found patronage in her Mamluk rulers. It is to the Mamluks – according to Behrens-Abouseif, who quotes scholar Husayn Fawzi – Egypt owes its identity.
If a snatched glance at a ram-shackled, mausoleum from the microbus window is enough to inspire you with a sense of the Cairene, “Cairo of the Mamluks will leave you with a desire to explore the city’s every nook and cranny.
Cairo of the Mamluks is currently available at local bookstores.
