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«Портрет» мамлюкского султана Инала (1453–1461) в арабских источниках XV–XVI вв.
Chronicles and biographical dictionaries of 13th – 15th centuries are the main source of material for the study of Mamlūk Sultanate (1250–1517) and its rulers. Most of these chronicles and biographical dictionaries’ authors were Islamic religious scholars – ‘ulamā’, some others were Mamlūk descendants, who abandoned military career and chosen a civilian occupation. Quite often their works contain more or less extensive characteristics of rulers, including a description of appearance, distinctive character traits, hobbies, passions, talents, and finally, what was “good” and “bad” in the deeds of a sultan. Such “portraits”, despite of their obvious subjectivity, are of considerable interest and great value for a researcher, as they could indicate the chromist’s attitude to a particular person in his story.
The most detailed Sultan Īnāl’s “portrait” is presented in the works of following writers of the Mamlūk Circassian period (1382–1517): Jamāl al-Dīn Abu-l-Maḥāsin Yūsuf Ibn Taghrī Birdī (1409–1470) – the son of a high-ranking Mamlūk amir and a well-known historian; Muḥammad b. Aḥmad Ibn Iyās al-Ḥanafī (1448–1524) – the descendant of a Mamlūk amir, Ibn Iyās completed his chronicle in the beginning of the 16th century; Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm al-Biqā‘ī (1406–1480) – a scholar-in-residence to the Mamlūk sultan Īnāl; Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sakhāwi (1427–1497) – a famous Egyptian historian and biographer of the 15th century. The examination of their reports may help to explore the impact of the personal position of the chronicler, which will allow a modern researcher to revisit and reevaluate the historical source under consideration.