Tarikh al-Basrawi
- Author died
- 905 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Ma'mun li-al-Turath
Tarikh al-Basrawi (The Chronicle of al-Basrawi) is an Arabic late Mamluk-era historical chronicle composed by the Shafi'i jurist, grammarian, and historian Ala' al-Din 'Ali ibn Yusuf al-Basrawi (b. 842 or 843 AH / 1438 or 1439 CE, d. 905 AH / 1499 CE) . It documents political, judicial, administrative, and local urban events with an emphasis on Damascus and Cairo .
Scope and Structure
The work is arranged chronologically as an annalistic chronicle divided by year and subdivided into lunar months (such as al-Muharram, Safar, and Ramadan) . Its coverage spans the late ninth Islamic century, including records through the year 901 AH (1495–1496 CE) .
At the opening of each year, al-Basrawi outlines the administrative and political establishment by listing the reigning Abbasid caliph (such as al-Mustanjid bi-llah or al-Mutawakkil 'ala Allah 'Abd al-'Aziz), the Mamluk sultan (such as Khushqadam or Qaytbay), senior military commanders (atabak al-'asakir and the grand dawadar), the viceroy of Damascus (na'ib al-Sham), the citadel commander (na'ib al-qal'a), and the chief judges (qudat al-qudah) of the four Sunni legal schools in Cairo and Damascus .
Content and Method
The chronicle documents contemporary regional and municipal affairs across several areas:
- State and Judicial Administration: It records the appointments, dismissals, robe investitures (khila'), and fiscal inquiries of judges, provincial governors, confidential secretaries (katib al-sirr), and army comptrollers (nazir al-jaysh) .
- Urban Life and Disasters: Al-Basrawi details local economic circumstances, market fires, and the major conflagration that damaged the Umayyad Mosque and adjoining markets, providing a historical overview of earlier fires that had afflicted the mosque .
- Pilgrimage and Movements: The text chronicles the departures and returns of the Syrian and Egyptian pilgrimage caravans (al-hajj al-shami and al-misri), travel security, and commodity prices .
- Obituaries: Monthly entries conclude with biographical notices for deceased scholars, state officials, judges, and acquaintances of the author, detailing their scholarly teachers, judicial posts, character, and places of burial .
Al-Basrawi integrates firsthand observations, details of his journeys between Cairo and Damascus, and reports communicated by contemporary scholars .
Modern Editions
A printed edition of Tarikh al-Basrawi appeared in 1408 AH / 1988 CE .
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