Kitab al-Wulat wa Kitab al-Qudat

Kitab al-Wulat wa Kitab al-Qudat (The Book of Governors and the Book of Judges) is a seminal early Arabic biographical and administrative history of Egypt composed by the Egyptian historian and jurist Abu Umar al-Kindi (283–350 AH / 896–961 CE) al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D…+1. The work represents one of the earliest surviving specimens of regional Islamic historiography, detailing the political, military, and judicial administration of Islamic Egypt from the Arab conquest through the 4th century AH Kitab al-Wulat wa Kitab a…+1.

Structure and Content

The text comprises two originally distinct treatises transmitted together:

• Kitab al-Wulat (also titled Tasmiyat Wulat Misr or Umara' Misr): Records the successive governors and rulers of Egypt from the Muslim conquest led by Amr ibn al-As down to 334 AH (946 CE), with brief supplementary notices extending into later decades up to the arrival of the Fatimids al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D…+1. It documents which officials were assigned authority over warfare (harb), police forces (shurta), leading congregational prayers (salat), and tax administration (kharaj) Kitab al-Wulat wa Kitab a…. In the course of political narrative, it also incorporates topographical notices concerning the early settlements and institutions of al-Fustat al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D….
• Kitab al-Qudat (also titled Tasmiyat Qudat Misr or Akhbar Qudat Misr): Provides chronological biographical notices of the judges of Egypt, tracing judicial appointments, salaries, courtroom rulings, and legal procedures up to 246 AH (861 CE) Mujaz Dairat al-Maarif al…+1.

The author employs the traditional method of hadith scholars, transmitting historical reports with chains of transmission (asand), documentation of poetry, and quotations from early authorities and local traditions al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D…+1.

Transmission and Continuations

The text was transmitted primarily on the authority of al-Kindi's student, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar ibn al-Nahhas al-Bazzar (d. 416 AH) al-Muqaffa al-Kabir+1.

Because al-Kindi's coverage concluded before his own era ended, several scholars composed continuations (dhayl):

• The Egyptian historian Ibn Zulak (306–387 AH) authored a major supplement to both treatises Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. In his continuation of the judicial history, he picked up from Qadi Bakkar ibn Qutayba and continued down to the judgeship of Muhammad ibn al-Nu'man in Rajab 386 AH Wafayat al-Ayan+1.
• Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Burd composed another recorded continuation for Kitab al-Qudat Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.

Reception and Modern Editions

Al-Kindi's work served as a fundamental authority for later medieval Egyptian historians, such as Ibn Khallikan, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his biographical dictionary of Egyptian judges Raf' al-Isr, and al-Maqrizi al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D…+1. In his topographical survey al-Khitat, al-Maqrizi relied extensively on Kitab al-Wulat, copying nearly half of its text verbatim, often without explicit attribution al-Mawaiz wal-Itibar fi D….

The surviving composite work was preserved in a unique manuscript held at the British Museum Kitab al-Wulat wa Kitab a…+1. In the early 20th century, the Orientalist Rhuvon Guest edited and published the combined text with an English introduction, critical notes, indices, and a glossary of rare terms under the title The Governors and Judges of Egypt through the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series (printed at the Catholic/Jesuit Press in Beirut and published in Leiden/London in 1912, with portions appearing earlier in 1908) Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. Kitab al-Qudat and its continuation were also edited separately by Richard Gottheil in 1908, and an edition of al-Wulat was published by Husayn Nassar in Beirut in 1959 Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.