IFAO

In this two part article, the author firstly analyses four published Mamluk chancellery manuals in terms of topics, organisation, their relationship to other works, and usefulness to modern historians. Secondly, evidence from these manuals and chronicles will be used to argue that diplomatic and ceremonial etiquette in the Mamluk Sultanate could be read by contemporary observers. This enabled the readers to understand important information with regard to politics both within the Sultanate itself and how the Mamluks approached relations with outsiders.

Keywords: Mamluk Sultanate, Chancellery manuals, Diplomacy, Ceremonies, Protocol, al-Ḥalabī, al-ʿUmarī, Ibn Nāẓir al-Ǧayš, al-Qalqašandī, Qalawūn, al-Ašraf Ḫalīl, al-Nāṣir Muḥammad, Barqūq, Toqtamïš, Crimea.