Mamluk Descendants

In search for the awlād al-nās

Contributions by Anna Kollatz Contributions by Yehoshua Frenkel Contributions by Daisuke Igarashi Contributions by Stephan Conermann Contributions by Mustafa Banister Contributions by Noha Abou-Khatwa Contributions by Jo Van Steenbergen Contributions by Takao Ito Contributions by Koby Yosef Edited by Anna Kollatz

Book cover: Mamluk Descendants

Extent: 612 pages

Publisher: V&R unipress

Subjects: Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, Medieval Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(August 2022)

ISBN: 9783847114581

6.3 x 9.33 inches

Price: $107.00

In stock

This volume brings together the results of the international conference “In search for a hidden group: Where are the awlad al-nas?” and presents the state of the art in approaching the Mamluk descendants, whose emic perception as a group and social roles were far more differentiated and variable than previously assumed. The contributions shed light on the status of the Mamluk descendants from a variety of viewpoints, including historiographies, archival material, and artifacts produced by Mamluk descendants.


Research on the Mamluk period has so far remained relatively silent about the Mamluk descendants, who are often referred to by the Arabic term awlad al-nas (roughly: children of the elite). After Ulrich Haarmann’s fundamental theses, research on this group seems to have paused, in comparison to the study dedicated to other social groups of Mamluk society. This volume brings together the results of an international conference and presents the state of the art in approaching the Mamluk descendants, whose emic perception as a group and social roles were far more differentiated and variable than previously assumed. The contributions shed light on the status of the Mamluk descendants from a variety of viewpoints, including historiographies, archival material, and artifacts produced by Mamluk descendants.

  • Contributions by Anna Kollatz
  • Contributions by Yehoshua Frenkel
  • Contributions by Daisuke Igarashi
  • Contributions by Stephan Conermann
  • Contributions by Mustafa Banister
  • Contributions by Noha Abou-Khatwa
  • Contributions by Jo Van Steenbergen
  • Contributions by Takao Ito
  • Contributions by Koby Yosef
  • Edited by Anna Kollatz