IFAO

This article investigates the issue of diplomacy in wartime, with specific reference to an instance concerning a letter from the Mamluk embassy to the Ilkhan Ġazān (701/1302). This letter was in response to an earlier missive from the Mongol ruler. According to two Arabic sources, this embassy led to an open discussion between the Mamluk ambassador (al-Muǧīrī) and the Ilkhan Ġazān. The words used by the Ilkhan take the form of a violent invective toward the Mamluks, blaming them for their immoral attitudes and negative behaviour. Al-Muǧīrī, the Mamluk messenger, counted “the insult” delivered by the Mongol ruler with an even more vindictive speech. Analysis of such behaviour, although appearing in the sources as spontaneous and violent in nature, allows us access to the mechanisms of expression and hostility within a diplomatic context as well as the political discourse underlining this specific situation.

Keywords: Ilkhanids, Mamluks of Egypt, Ilkhan Ġazān, Diplomacy, War, Embassy, Murdān, Tatar, Islam.