In glaring contrast to the period of the Mamluk sultanate (1250–1517), which abounds in rich, most detailed and accurate source material, hardly surpassed either in quality or quantity by the source material pertaining to any other region of Islam, the period of Ottoman rule in Egypt (1517–1811, approximately) is conspicuous for the dearth of its historical sources written by contemporary inhabitants of the country. This state of affairs, gloomy enough in itself, becomes even more gloomy in the light of the fact that the first 70 years or so of Ottoman rule are almost totally obscure. The very concise chronicles of Ibn Abī al-Surūr al-Bakrī and al-Isḥqī, which contain no more than the barest outline of the events, give only a faint glimpse of what happened in Egypt in the above-mentioned period. Thus the process of Egypt's transition from its Mamluk into its Ottoman shape is practically unknown except for the first few years (922–8/1517–22) of Ottoman rule described by Ibn lyās. It is only after that transition had reached a very advanced stage that a somewhat clear picture of Egyptian history and society can be drawn from historical works compiled by contemporary Egyptian authors; and it should be stressed in this connexion that however important other kinds of sources may be—such as the Ottoman archives, and to a much lesser extent, the itineraries of European travells—they are certainly no substitute for the works of the local historians.

Office-holders in the Mamluk kingdom were, as is well known, divided into three categories: those who belonged to the Mamluk caste and were called ‘ men of the sword ’ (arbāb as-suyūf), those who were civilians and were known as ‘ holders of administrative offices ’ or as ‘ men of the pen ’ (arbāb al-waẓā' if ad-dīwānīya, or arbāb or ḥamalat al-aqlām), and those who belonged to the clerical class and were called ‘ holders of religious offices ’ or ‘ men of the turban ’ (arbāb al-waẓā'if ad-dīnīya, or al-muta'ammimūn). We list below some of those offices which had a direct connexion with the army; some have been discussed elsewhere in our work on the Mamluk army, and will therefore be accorded but the briefest attention. We shall in addition outline the evolution of the offices of the Mamluk kingdom as well as the transformations which they underwent in the various periods.

In a study which has been described as pioneering, Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft, Theodor Nöldeke ‘discussed in detail the “Stylistische und syntaktische Eigentümlichkeiten der Sprache des Korans” (pp. 5–23) thereby collecting together everything that had occurred to him in this respect during his protracted and intensive study of the Holy Book of the Muslims.’ Among the examples Nöldeke discusses (pp. 13–14) are Q. 7 (not 77 which is clearly a misprint in his text): 55, 27:61; 35:27, 6:99, 20:55, 10:23, etc. where there is a sudden shift in the pronoun of the speaker or the person spoken about, known as iltifāt in balāgha (Arabic rhetoric), though Nöldeke does not refer to the term here. Introducing his discussion of this feature, Nöldeke remarks that ‘the grammatical persons change from time to time in the Qur'ān in an unusual and not beautiful way (nicht schöner Weise)’ (p. 13). This is a personal value judgement. Arab writers, in contrast see the matter differently. Ibn al-Athīr, for instance, after studying this stylistic feature, as we shall see below, classed it among the ‘remarkable things and exquisite subtleties we have found in the Glorious Qur'ān.’ It will be seen that the examples Nöldeke cites immediately following the statement quoted above do not occur haphazardly in the Qur'ān but follow a pattern. Examination of where exactly the shift occurs and why, will show how effective the technique is in these examples and why Muslim literary critics and exegetes greatly admire iltifāt and its related features. Nöldeke further remarks (p. 14) that in a few places the second and third person plural are exchanged abruptly: 30:38, 49:7, 10:23. Here again it will be seen that the changes are made according to an effective pattern and that the frequency of occurrences of this type is much greater than is indicated by Nöldeke.

The Pratyabhijñā system, elaborated in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the Kashmiri philosophers Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta, presents a rational justification of the metaphysical principles contained in the Śaiva nondualistic scriptures. However, contrary to what one might expect, many arguments to which Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta resort when defending their idealism belong to Buddhist rather than Śaiva sources. This article examines the profound influence, in this respect, of the Buddhist “logico-epistemological school” on the Pratyabhijñā system. But it also shows that Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta are not unknowingly or unwittingly influenced by their Buddhist opponents: they systematically emphasize this influence, thus taking full responsibility for appropriating their rivals' concepts. Moreover, they highlight their fundamental divergence regarding the way consciousness manifests a seemingly external and diverse universe, most notably by replacing the Vijñānavādins' traditional analogy: according to the Śaivas, perceived objects should not be compared to dreamt objects, but to yogins' creations.

In John Wansbrough's work, Quranic studies: sources and methods of scriptural interpretation, several theses are put forth regarding the material known as asbāb al-nuzūl, occasions of revelation; the overall view of Wansbrough is one which is derived (critically) from al-Suyūṭī, which is that the asbāb material has its primary reference point in works devoted to deriving law from the text of the Qur'ān, that is, halakhic works. He suggests that the presence of asbāb material as found in a haggadic or narrative tafsīr such as that of Muqātil is ‘accidental’ because, while the narrative asbāb reports serve as anecdotes, they do not fulfil what Wansbrough sees as the ‘essential function’, that of establishing ‘a chronology of revelation

I could not say much of the Mamalucs, of whom I know no author that has written in particular: neither did they deserve that any should. For they were a base sort of people, a Colluvies of slaves, the scum of all the East, who, having treacherously destroyed the Jobidae, their Masters, reigned in their stead; and bating that they finished the expulsion of the Western Christians out of the East (where they barbarously destroyed Tripoli, and Antioch, and several other Cities) they scarce did anything worthy to be recorded in History.

The year 1998 marks the seven-hundredth anniversary of the initial composition of the book associated with Marco Polo, Le devisament dou monde. As the first European to claim that he had been to China and back (not to mention that he had travelled extensively elsewhere in Asia), Polo has become a household name. He has been credited with the introduction of noodles into Italy and of spaghetti into China. With perhaps greater warrant, he has been cited as an authority onȔinter aliaȔthe capital of the Mongol Great Khan Qubilai, on the Mongol postal relay system, on the trade in horses across the Arabian Sea, and on political conditions on the north-west frontier of India in the mid thirteenth century. The Marco Polo bibliography published in 1986 contained over 2,300 items in European languages alone.

The existence of an Arabic MS known as Kitāb al-barakafi 'l-sukūn walharaka wa-hiya 'l-marsuma bi-'ida‘ al-nusūkh man akhadhtu ‘anhu min shuyūkh was known to Delafosse who believed it to be the work of a paternal uncle of Sultan Bello. A. Brass has deduced from internal evidence in the Tazyīn al-waraqāt of ‘Abdullāh ibn Fodio that the work belongs to ‘Abdullāh, and has accepted the title in the form given by Delafosse. Georges Vajda has shown that this title arises from the confusion of two different works, and that the title of ‘Abdullāh's work is 'Idā‘ al-nusūkh man akhadhtu ‘anhu min al-shuyūkh.

Most commonly it is presented as a list of beneficial psychic characteristics (kuśala dharma) or simply psychic characteristics (dharma). Sometimes practising the items of this list is stated to be a precondition for liberation from the intoxicants (āśrava). Or else the list is said to constitute the ‘cultivation of the road’ (mārgabhāvanā). In a few instances the items of the list are characterized as ‘jewels’ (ratna). This characterization occurs where doctrine and discipline (dharmavinaya) are compared with the ocean, and finds its justification in this comparison.

This article examines the consequences of the Ming maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1371–1433) in the early fifteenth century on Indian Ocean diplomacy, trade, and cross-cultural interactions. The presence of the powerful Ming navy not only introduced an unprecedented militaristic aspect to the Indian Ocean region, but also led to the emergence of state-directed commercial activity in the maritime world that extended from Ming China to the Swahili coast of Africa. Additionally, these expeditions stimulated the movement of people and animals across the oceanic space and might eventually have facilitated the rapid entry of European commercial enterprises into the Indian Ocean region during the second half of the fifteenth century.

Under the traditional titles of Assimilation and Dissimilation, we are presented with two linguistic phenomena apparently involving a principle similar to that which is known in physical science as ” action at a distance ”—-regularly in the latter case, occasionally in the former (under special titles, such as “dilation”, “Fernassimilation”). The classical example of this type of assimilation is provided by the Sanskrit “cerebralization” (nati) of n, with reference to which the term “action à distance” has, in fact, been used. In connection with the physical principle, it may be of interest to recall Newton's words:—

“It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter should, without the mediation, of something else which is not material, operate upon and affect other matter without mutual contact.”

Speech-sound, of course, is not “brute matter”, and it would be a dangerous and unnecessary principle to submit linguistics to physical criteria, but Newton's uneasiness may at least serve to lead us to a reconsideration of similar postulates of our own science. Amongst these the conception of an articulation A at one point in the temporal dimension exercising a form of “gravitational influence” upon an articulation B at a distant point would appear to be one that is only tolerable faute de mieux.

The whole principle of assimilation in descriptive linguistics has already been assailed more than once, on the ground that the implied change is only metaphorical, having reference to a hypothetical “basic” form derived from the consideration of other contexts or of earlier stages of the language, and leading to such definitions as “the extension of an element of articulation out-side its proper sphere”.

In the fourth chapter of book  of the Metaphysica Aristotle deals with the principle of contradiction. This law is formulated as follows: ‘it is impossible for anything at the same time to be and not to be’. Let us imagine, says Aristotle, that somebody wished to oppose this view. Our opponent cannot hold a view which contradicts the law of contradiction without assuming the validity of this law itself: for otherwise he is not even denying what we are saying. The only alternative for him, then, will be to say nothing. But this is absurd: of which one line may be quoted here:

Venetian preponderance in Mediterranean commerce during the late Middle Ages is attested in many ways. Muslim and European chronicles, travellers' reports from the Levant, and business records of the Republic illustrate the concern of Venice with the affairs, commercial and political, of the Muslim states in the Mediterranean. One striking aspect of this preponderance is found in the contemporary commercial treaties concluded between Muslim rulers and the Christian states of southern Europe.

To what extent do regional cuisines provide a set of principles through which “outside” flavours, foodstuffs and techniques may be safely incorporated? This question is explored through an ethnographic account of Cantonese cuisine in Guangzhou (Canton) at the turn of the twenty-first century. I focus on a historic restaurant in the city, where managers and cooks sought to innovate with the help of “outside” tastes, but without the restaurant losing its status as a “traditional” establishment. I argue that the incorporation of “outside” flavours onto local menus was not done on the basis of culinary principles alone, but that considerations of social hierarchy and cultural identity were equally important factors. Indeed, many of the dishes and techniques introduced contradicted the alleged principles of Cantonese cuisine. Such contradictions were downplayed, however, through essentialized representations of Cantonese cuisine and its relationship to specific localities.

How deeply questions of irrigation affect the daily life of the peoples of southern Arabia was first impressed upon me when the summer floods came down to am-Fajarah in Ṣubaiḥī country lying west of Aden, where I happened to be stationed at the time. The villagers turned out to argue, with some violence, over the distribution of the flood-waters. It was, however, as Shaikh Durain, a Lahej official with us in the village, pointed out, without weapons that the villagers had come to the fray, and though the women stood behind, disputing the issue no less fiercely than.the men, egging them on, so that all would doubtless have come to blows, men and women alike, there would have been no stabbings or shootings. Shaikh Durain cynically implied that there was more of sound than fury in the rencontre, but of course this is not always so, and disputes arising over rights to the use of water can lead to blood-feuds. Since those days I have made some investigation into irrigation and its wealth of technical vocabulary in various parts of the Aden Protectorate, studying some systems in more or less detail, especially those near Mūdiyah village in Dathīnah.

No Ottoman institution has aroused more bitter criticism than the devshirme the ‘tribute of blood’, especially—and naturally—among those Christian peoples whose forebears were subjected to it; and at the same time none touches on so many fundamental problems. Dr. Basilike Papoulia, bringing together the Western and oriental sources and submitting them to a close and careful analysis, has now presented the first full discussion of its origin and its character. The scope of her study appears already in the definition with which she begins and ends it, that the devshirme devshirme was ‘the forcible removal, in the form of a tribute, of children of the Christian subjects from their ethnic, religious, and cultural environment and their transplantation into the Turkish-Islamic environment with the aim of employing them in the service of the Palace, the army, and the state, whereby they were on the one hand to serve the Sulṭān as slaves and freedmen and on the other to form the ruling class of the State’.

The Islamic system of succession is destructive of family property in that it causes its division among a great number of heirs and into uneconomic units. Succession involves a great number of participants; qur'ānic and agnatic heirs participate simultaneously (not successively)—subject, of course, to the rules of priorities and exclusions—and this increases the fragmentation of the property and the shrinking of the shares of the participants ad infinitum. Islamic law does not know the principle of primogeniture. Succession is not limited to direct descendants but includes relatives of different parentelas and different degrees of kinship to the deceased.

One of the odder features of the Persian sources on the history of the Mongol period is the vagueness and comparative rarity of references to the ‘Great Yāsā of Chingiz khān’. This struck me with renewed force after reading Professor David Ayalon‚s articles on the Yāsā in Studia Islamica. My suspicions about the whole matter having thus been aroused, it seemed to me that it might be an interesting exercise to look again at the origin and nature of the Yāsā before trying to estimate how Mongol law worked in the Ilkhānate. And so, as I hope to show in this in this paper, it proved.

The main subject of this paper is the influence of Western science on the philosophy of the young scholar Tan Sitong (1865–98) who was active in the reform movement of the late Qing dynasty. It seeks to show that his understanding of Western science was not as confused and superficial as some commentators have claimed, and that in fact his conception of yitai drew on views of the ether and electricity which were held by some at least of the most eminent Western scientists of his time. It also demonstrates that yitai is the direct descendant of the qi of the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhang Zai (1020–77), and shows how Tan developed the views of Kang Youwei (1858–1927) on the relationship of qi to consciousness.

This paper is part of an ongoing investigation into the nature of grammatical relations in the Sino-Tibetan language family. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to develop a hypothesis on the typological nature of word order and grammatical relations in the mother language which gave rise to all of the many languages within the Sino Tibetan language family. As the verb agreement (pronominalization) systems of Tibeto-Burman have been said to be a type of ergative marking, and to have been a part of Proto-Tibeto-Burman grammatical relations, the questions of the dating and nature of the agreement systems in Tibeto-Burman are relevant to the discussion of the nature of grammatical relations in Proto-Sino-Tibetan.