Abstract
Although recent studies of metropolitan popular movements in the Mamluk Kingdom have clarified the actual conditions of such protests, we still know little about popular movements and the political culture in medieval Egyptian provincial towns. This paper focuses on the uprising of 1450 in al-Mahalla al-Kubra, provincial capital of al-Gharbiyya, and examines the economic background, changing stages of the revolt, leadership by religious elites, and countermeasures taken by the Mamluk Sultan Jaqmaq.
According to Tibr al-masbuk written by al-Sakhawi, this uprising was caused by the people's indignation about the tyranny of Ahmad (brother of the well-known ustadar [major-domo] Ibn al-Ashqar) and his unfair interference with the food supply. The crowd attacked Ahmad and killed him in the mosque. Al-Sakhawi portrays al-Mahalli, whose principle was “commanding right and forbidding wrong, ” as a leader of this movement. This passionate preacher was related by marriage to the charismatic popular saint of the city, al-Ghamri, whose Sufi order al-Ghamriyya appeared to be opposed to the regime of Jaqmaq. Suppressed by Ibn al-Ashqar, the rebels were jailed in Cairo. Many Cairenes feeling sympathy for them began immediately to throw stones and call down divine vengeance upon him. It was noteworthy that all the rebels were liberated through an intercession to the sultan made by al-Turayni, another saint living in al-Mahalla al-Kubra. This act illustrates the political function of the private relationship between ruler and Muslim saint, as well as the importance of local living saints in the structure of cultural hegemony in the kingdom. In conclusion, this furious uprising was in sharp contrast with contemporary Cairene popular movements triggered by high prices and characterized by dialogue between the ruler and the ruled.
