Muhandis, Shād, Mu'allim — Note on the Building Craft in the Mamluk Period

Abstract

Muhandis, Shäd, Mu^allim -Note on the Building Craft in the Mamluk PeriodDoris B ehren s -Ab ou seif (München)Half a century ago L. A. Mayer came to the conclusion in his study about Islamic craftsmen that the architect had a low statue in Islamic society. 1 ) IJasan c Abd al-Wahhab who also dealt with this subject in a very general manner, but with a great insight into historical sources, regarded the Mamluk patrons and their administrators as architects of their buildings. 2 ) The following documentation will deal with aspects of the building craft only under the Mamluks. The terms muhandis, shad, and mu^attim used in the Mamluk chronicles to designate the offices involved in building will be investigated and documented in their literary context, along with the genealogy of the Tölünis, a dynasty of men occupying leading positions in the building craft during the late Mamluk period. The findings will once more confirm that the Mamluk period was far from being static. The end of the Bahri Turkish dynasty of the Qalawuns who had ruled more than a century (679-783/1279-1381) and its replacement by the non-hereditary sequence of Circassian sultans brought about changes in the administrative hierarchy which had an impact on the structure of the building craft. This did not however, affect the prominent role of architecture also in the later Mamluk period.Qalqashandi, who relies mainly on 14th century sources, places the muhandis al-<ama*ir among the craftsmen holding official positions at the court (arbab al-wa%a*ifmin ahl al-$incPat) along with the chiefs of the physicians, the ophtalmologists and the navy. He mentions the title muhandis alc ama*ir as homologous to the ra?is al-atibba?, rcfis al-kaJ^alin and ra y is alf yarraqa 3 ) which is tantamount to being the equivalent to rc&is al-muhandisin; in this capacity he would be responsible for supervising the craft and controlling the qualification of the craftsmen. He may be in charge of examining them and authorizing them to practice. 4 ) Qalqashandi notes that handasa is a science for which there is specialized literature.