Badr al-Dī al-‘Aynī, one of the famous ‘
ulamā’ of the Circassian Mamluk Period, is also known as the author of the huge world chronicle,
‘Iqd al-jumān. In spite of its importance as a source for the Baḥrī Mamluk Period, the
‘Iqd remains unpublished except for very small parts; neither has the relationship among the various manuscripts been studied.
To grasp the whole structure of the
‘Iqd, I investigated a number of manuscripts and identified the following series: (1) a series of nineteen volumes (autographs and Ikhmīmī's set), (2) a series of thirty-eight half- volumes (Azharī's set etc.) (3) a series of four large volumes, which is composed of fragments from the above two series (the Ottoman sets). It also became clear that a few fragments of
Ta’rīkh al-badr (the
Badr), another of al-‘Aynī's chronicles, were mingled with the
‘Iqd.
Next, as a sample, I took the descriptions of the year 728 AH from six manuscripts labeled as “
‘Iqd” and two
Badr manuscripts, and compared them. Consequently, I identified four groups of al-‘Aynī's writings as follows: (1) the full version of the
‘Iqd (Ahmet 2911/al7; Süleymaniye 835; Beșir Aǧa 457), (2) its extract (Ahmet 2911/a18), (3) the full version of the
Badr (Süleymaniye 830; BL Add. 22360), and (4) its extract (Carullah 1591; Selim Aǧa 837).
Then, I analyzed al-‘Aynī's sources. It became clear that he depended on al-Yūsufi and, probably on al-Nuwayrī, whom he wrongly identified as Ibn Kathīr. The source analysis also clarified the process of al-‘Aynī's historical writing; first he wrote the
Badr, and then rewrote his new chronicle, the
‘Iqd, based on the
Badr, adding new information derived from at-Yūsufi.
View full abstract