Pride in Turkish Heritage? The Attitude of Awlād al-Nās-Historians to the Mamluks

Contemporary historians of the Mamluk period frequently depict the Mamluk military elite, usually termed by them "Turks" (atrāk), as uncouth and barbaric. Their attitude tends to diminish genuine intellectual interests of "the Turks" compared to the erudition of the civilized local ulama. Against this background, the present article examines the historiographical attitude of some of the most erudite scholars among the sons or descendants of Mamluk amirs—Khalīl ibn Aybak al-Ṣafadī (d. 764/1363), Ibn Taghrībirdī (d. 874/1470), and ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ al-Malaṭī (d. 920/1514)—toward "the Turks." The examination reveals that these awlād al-nās historians clearly adopted the patterns of local Arab historians.