Mamluk Architecture and the Question of Patronage (MSR I, 1997)

The study of patronage of the arts and architecture during the Mamluk period helps us sharpen the picture that we have of this alien ruling class. At the same time, it illuminates the relationships which existed between the Mamluks, the religious elite, and the rest of the population. In examining the patronage of architecture in the Mamluk period, historians and art historians face a number of complex problems. Some derive from the nature of the buildings themselves or their inscriptions, while others result from the conflicting accounts provided by the various literary sources and, sometimes, by the waqf documents. Scholars also have to be aware of external factors—economic, social, political—which had an impact on the decisions of patrons to construct one type of building rather than another. The present article is an attempt to reflect on the patronage practices and to raise some questions about the architectural achievements of the Mamluk period. It also tries to sort out the patterns followed by both the military and civilian elite when commissioning their buildings. A survey of the extant monuments from the period between 1250-1517, as well as those no longer extant but recorded in the literary sources, allows us to identify four broad categories of buildings of either a religious or a secular nature. The classification of the buildings under a given category is based on the function of the buildings as defined in their inscriptions, literary sources, or waqf documents. Accordingly, buildings may be grouped under four categories: (1) religious, which includes the ja≠ mi‘, masjid, madrasah, kha≠ nqa≠ h; (2) social, which includes the za≠ wiyah, riba≠ ţ, b|ma≠rista≠n, sab|l, sab|l-kutta≠ b, h ̋amma≠m; (3) domestic, which consists of the palace, da≠r, and house (qa≠‘ah, riwa≠q, ţabaqah, rab‘); (4) commercial/industrial, which includes the qaysa≠ r|yah, waka≠ lah, kha≠ n, funduq, su≠q, mi‘s ̋arah, t ̧a≠h ̋u≠n, furn, mat ̧bakh sukkar, sirjah. The ratio of religious to secular buildings constructed at a certain time is difficult to assess. At the present time our understanding of the economic, political, and social factors which had an impact on the choice of buildings constructed by patrons allows us to draw only broad conclusions as to how this choice was made. We can sometimes speculate that