Succession of Generations of the Circassian Mamlūks (1496–1501): Historical Time and Factional Struggle

Abstract

The article focuses on the period of the Mamlūk transition of power in 1496–1501, which separates two historical eras: 1468–1496, the reign of al-Ashraf Qaytbay, which is associated with the political and cultural prosperity of the Circassian Sultanate, and 1501–1517, the reign of al-Ashraf Qanisawh al-Ghawri (r. 1501–1516), a much less successful ruler whose death ended the almost 270-year history of the independent Mamlūk Sultanate (1250–1517). The purpose of this article is to define the period of al-Ashraf Qanisawh al-Ghawri’s reign not as an exceptional phenomenon, but as a consequence of the preceding transitional period. During transitional periods, non-hereditary succession sometimes opened windows of opportunity for the Mamlūk elite to come to power. The authors aim to examine the period 1496–1501 from this perspective. The article is based on an analysis of the political competition between the Mamlūk factions (Ayalon 1975: 217–218; Levanoni 1994: 374–375; idem 2004; Conermann 2003: 22). The authors apply the generational theory of Strauss and Howe (1997) and consider the intergenerational conflict and succession of generations in the context of historical, describing it as a historical factor of primary importance.