The Expansion of the Islamic World - African Connections - Egypt, the Maghreb, and Granada

6 important questions on The Expansion of the Islamic World - African Connections - Egypt, the Maghreb, and Granada

How did the Mamluks present themselves? What were they really?

  • The Mamluks presented themselves as the Middle East's bulwark against the Mongols.
  • Superficially, they were like many of the other rulers that the Islamic world had known since the time of the Seljuks: they were (for the most part) Turks, like the Seljuks and Ayyubids; they upheld Sunni Islam; and they protected the last (symbolically important though utterly powerless) Abbasid caliphs, who, after having been ousted by the Mongols, now lived at Cairo. 

How did the Mamluks live?

  • Living in Garrisons, they followed a military code, their lives dominated by constant drilling and military exercises.
  • Largely isolated from the general population, they nevertheless fostered art, architecture, and scholarship just as the caliphs and emirs of old had done, and they tolerated the many regions practiced in their sultanate.

Which tribal dynasties reigned along the North African coast?

  • To the west of the Mamluks, all along the North African coast, tribal dynasties such as the Marinids and Hafsids reigned, serving as guarantors of a spider's web of trade routes.
  • In Europe was the last remnant of Muslim Spain: Granada. It was dominated by the Nasrids.
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Of what did the Nasrids preside over?

  • Undeterred by the infinitesimal size of their state, the Nasrids presided over an exceptionally rich cultural outpouring.
  • Their viziers were poets, and they encouraged medical and theological studies. 

Where did the Nasrids invest in? Name an example.

  • They invested in architecture. Even their defensive structures were majestic as well as strong.
  • When they added to the Alhambra, initially a ninth-century citadel, they turned it into a palace complex. It astonished - and was meant to astonish - with its splendor, size, bright colors, and extraordinary craftsmanship.

What did the Comares Palace do?

  • The imposing Comares Palace - begun under Sultan Yusuf I (r.1333-1354) and completed by his successor Muhammad V (d.1391) to serve as the ruler's reception hall - not only dazzled but also educated.
  • Its inscriptions urged its distinguished visitors to pause and reflect on the nature of divine and worldly power.
  • Its decorative elements - deliberately abstract and repetitive - alluded to infinity.

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