Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt and Syria from about 1250 to 1517. Originally slave soldiers who managed to depose their masters, they went on to repel the Mongols and the Crusaders to become the dominant force in the medieval Islamic Middle Eastern world. Although the Mamluks were renowned as warriors, under their rule art, crafts and architecture blossomed. Little known by many in the West today, the Mamluks remained in power for almost 300 years until they were eventually overthrown by the Ottomans.
With:
Amira Bennison Reader in the History and Culture of the Maghrib at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Magdalene College
Robert Irwin Former Senior Research Associate in the Department of History at SOAS, University of London
Doris Behrens-Abouseif Nasser D Khalili Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at SOAS, University of London
Producer: Victoria Brignell.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:38.7 | For more details about in our time and for our terms of use please go to BBC.co. UK slash radio 4. I hope you enjoy |
| 0:45.9 | the program. Hello the Sultan Hassan mosque in Cairo is widely regarded as one of |
| 0:51.6 | the most impressive Islamic monuments in Egypt. |
| 0:54.0 | Built in the mid 14th century, it's admired for its height, its elaborate decorations, |
| 0:59.3 | its vast facade and the unity of its design. It's also one of the largest mosques in the world. |
| 1:05.2 | It's named after the man who commissioned it, Sultan Hassan, one of the Mamluk rulers |
| 1:10.0 | who govern Egypt and Syria from 1250 to 1517. The Mamluks were not a dynasty. They were slaves |
| 1:16.9 | who were imported into Egypt by the country's previous rulers and who seized power for themselves |
| 1:21.7 | when the opportunity arose. Slaves who became sultan. and who |
| 1:23.4 | became sultans. |
| 1:25.2 | The Mamluks dominated their region for two and a half centuries, |
| 1:28.4 | resisting invasions by the Crusaders and the Mongols |
| 1:31.0 | before eventually succumbing to the Ottomans. |
| 1:33.0 | The Mamluk sultans were great patrons of the arts |
| 1:36.0 | who left behind an immeasurable cultural legacy. |
... |
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