PROJECT SUMMARY

Project number FR/54/1-10/13

Project Title and Mam luks of

1-10 History of Georgia, Source Study and Historiography of the Research subdirection/ subdirections History of Georgia; 2-141 Oriental / Asian Studies;

Name of the leading organization State University

Web tsu.edu.ge

Name of the co-participating organization

Web

Project Budget (Lari) 60000

Project duration (in month) 24

Personnel

Surnam e, nam e (affiliation, Position in the project Academ ic degree Date of bitrh position)

1 Gotcha Djaparidze Principal Investigator Doctor 1942-07-10 2 Nani Gelovani Executor Doctor 1961-03-08

Project Summary

The project envisages presentation of research work on “Georgia and Mam luks of Egypt”. The topic of Mam luks is very popular and noteworthy in Georgia, since the 1950s to the present. At the sam e tim e, a num ber of issues still awaits its readers. Priorities are set on the review of relations with Georgia and describing the role of Georgian Mam luks in Egypt. It will present the fate and life of m any , forcibly taken away from Georgia; exam ples of concrete individuals will be exam ined. In this regard, it is im perative to have a com prehensive knowledge of history of Egypt’s Mam luk sultanate (internal and foreign relations) and of Ottom an Egypt of the 16-18th cc.; for this reason, these topics will be properly addressed in the Project. Monographic study of traditional sources on Egyptian Mam luks and relations with Georgia (m ajority of which was unknown or only partly exam ined in Georgia) and based on the newly published sources and the m ost recent publications (large portion of which was not considered by Georgian scholars) represents a novelty and even a new stage in the process of study of Georgian Mam luks’ history. Specifically, the following topics will be reviewed and exam ined: 1. The Mam luk sultanate’s internal affairs and international situation that caused Egypt’s m ilitary-political confrontation with the Mongols, in whose arm y Georgians were also fighting under com pulsion; 2. Georgian Mam luks in the ruling oligarchy of the Mam luk sultanate; 3. Diplom atic contacts aim ed at protecting the Georgian m onastic com m unity, churches and m onasteries on the – Palestine. The desc_ription of the rituals of receiving Georgian am bassadors in Egypt’s Mam luk Sultanate, their goals and results of the visits; Sultan Jakm ak’s relations with the ruler (atabag) of Sam tskhe-Saatabago (South Georgia) - Ivane Jaqeli, etc. 4. Egypt’s position in the Ottom an Em pire. The rise of Mam luks in Egypt after the Ottom an conquest The internal structure of Ottom an Egypt and diverse m ethodological approaches (D.Crecelius, J. Hathaway) regarding Mam luk organization under Ottom an rule and their households. 5. European and Oriental sources confirm ing gradual appearance of Georgian Mam luks starting from the 16th century, increase in its num ber in the second half of the 17th- and the first half of the 18th centuries, and their dom inant role in the second half of the 18th century; Mam luks of Georgian origin, who factually ruled Egypt in the 18th century. Households of Muham ad Katam ish and al-Qazdughli, dom inated by Georgians, as well as Ali Bey Al-Kabir’s and Muham ad Bey Abu Dhahab’s Georgian Mam luks; Duum virate of al-Kabir (Shinjikashvili) and Murad Bey, as well as their Georgian environm ent; Relation of Georgian Mam luks with Georgia and . At the sam e tim e, the work will discuss such issues as m ode of life of Georgian Mam luks, their palaces in , language of com m unication with each other, wom an’s role in the fam ily and posterity and Mam luk graves. 6. Eradication of the Mam luk organization on March 1, 1811; Life of refugee Mam luks in Sudan. Muham m ad Ali’s m ilitary operation against them . Assessm ent of Mam luks’ role by Georgian and foreign scholars. As an addition to the research work, it will be se supplied with engravings, foreign travelers’ sketches, pictures of old Cairo and rem aining graves of the m am luks.