IFAO

The third reign of sultan al-Nāṣir Muḥammad is usually seen as a turning point in the political history of the Mamluk sultanate. Coming back to power in 1310, al-Nāṣir Muḥammad found the opportunity to implement economic and institutional reforms enabling him to consolidate and expand his house and his private domain. While during his two previous reigns al-Nāṣir’s authority has been reduced and his power controlled by the leading emirs, from the beginning of his third reign, the sultan managed to establish new practices in the exercise of power, which layed the foundations of a real court society in which the favor of the prince was the main way to promote individual, militaries and civilians. Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad encouraged the lightning rise and the enrichment of powerful civil administrators of the Mamluk state. One of them, Karīm al-Dīn al-Kabīr, intendant of the mamluk domain of the sultan, appears to be a crucial cog of the wheel of al-Nāṣir Muḥammad’s new power. Studying his career, his prerogatives and his relations with the sultan and the Mamluk emirs, the aim of this paper is to enlight the reality of al-Nāṣir’s power, which is usually depicted as absolutist.

Keywords: Egypt – mamluk sultanate – administration – power networks – clientelism – al-Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn.