Muhammad ibn Mankali
- Died
- 784 AH
- Born in
- -
Muhammad ibn Mankali (d. 784 AH / 1382 CE) was an Egyptian scholar of military arts and cynegetics based in Cairo, best known for his treatises on warfare and his hunting manual Uns al-Malla bi-Wahsh al-Fala ("The Entertainment of the Assembly with the Wild Beasts of the Desert") .
Life and career
His full lineage is recorded as Jalal al-Din Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Nizam al-Din Mankali Bugha, and he bore the nisbas al-Qahiri and al-Misri, as well as al-Nasiri . He served as a military officer and held the post of marshal of the army (naqib al-jaysh) during part of the reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban in Egypt .
He was recognized for his expertise in military tactics, weaponry, and venery, recording practical guidance on combat maneuvers, horsemanship, and tracking game . In the field of martial strategy, he authored al-Adilla al-Rasmiyya fi al-Ta'abi al-Harbiyya ("Official Evidences on Battle Formations"), a manuscript of which dates to around 770 AH, as well as a treatise on naval combat titled al-Ahkam al-Mulukiyya wa-al-Dawabit al-Namusiyya fi Fann al-Qital fi al-Bahr ("Royal Ordinances and Regulatory Rules on the Art of Naval Warfare") .
Death
He died in 784 AH (1382 CE), though another biographical account places his death as having occurred after 770 AH (1368 CE) .
Answer updated
List of Works
Uns al-Malla bi-Wahsh al-Fala (The Entertainment of the Assembly with the Wild Beasts of the Desert) is a 14th-century Arabic treatise on cynegetics, falconry, and the lawful rulings of hunting. Compiled as a manual for practitioners and connoisseurs of venery, it covers methods of capturing game alongside religious jurisprudence on what is permissible and prohibited.