Description
Book SynopsisThe narrative histories generated during the Mamluk Period in Cairo and Damascus (648 922H/ 1250-1517CE) addressed a number of domestic issues. The chroniclers numerous references to criminal activity committed at all levels of society have not received much scholarly attention.
Trade Review
from reviews of the hardback edition:
‘Much is to be learned and digested from this massive undertaking by an erudite scholar and lucid storyteller.’
Li Guo (University of Notre Dame), Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Volume 74, Number 2, October 2015
‘Some time ago, the field of Mamlukology ceased being an isolated niche for medievalists, evolving instead as a rapidly growing subgenre of Islamic historical studies in the 21th century. Aided by a growing array of newly-discovered primary sources, Mamlukists continue to develop each year thought-provoking and engaging monographs that manage to shed light even for students struggling to understand the Islamic world of today. A prime example would be Carl Petry's most recent project.
His Criminal Underworld represents an attempt to provide readers with something approaching an objective "performance review" of the Mamluk regime's dealings with transgressions against religion and the public order.
While serving as an introduction to the nature of Mamluk historiographical writing (in translation), the book would also be an excellent assignment for undergraduates interested in the flavour and grit of a pre-modern Islamic society. In addition to contributing to the discourse on crime, authority, and punishment in the Mamluk period, Petry's Criminal Underworld paints a colourful picture and often leaves the reader with the sensation of eavesdropping on salacious court proceedings, or even stumbling onto a grisly crime scene, unable to turn away.’
Mustafa Banister (University of Bonn), Sehepunkte 16 (2016), Nr. 7/8
‘This is a timely book on an important topic by a leading scholar of the Mamluk period. In this well-researched study, Carl F. Petry sets out to explore the arena of crime and punishment in one of the central regions of the Islamic lands before the Ottoman takeover of 1516.’
Boaz Shoshan (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), Islamic Law and Society, Volume 22, Issue 1-2, 2015
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
I. Introduction: The Criminal Underworld in a Medieval Islamic Society
II. Public Disturbance: From Violence to Opportunism
III. Theft and Brigandage: Predation versus Complicity
IV. Corruption and Fraud: Mendacity Refined
V. Morals and Vice: Policing the Irresponsible
VI. Primordial Criminality: Religious Dissidence
VII. Homicide: Litigating the Intolerable
VIII. "Smart Crime": Conspiracy, Espionage, and Counterfeiting
IX. Managing Crime: Between Principle and Expediency
X. Summary Reflections
Bibliography
Index
