Caliphate and Kingship in a Fifteenth-Century Literary History of Muslim Leadership and Pilgrimage

In Caliphate and Kingship in a Fifteenth-Century Literary History of Muslim Leadership and Pilgrimage Jo Van Steenbergen presents a new study, edition and translation of al-?ahab al-Masbuk fi ?ikr man ?agga min al-?ulafa? wa-l-Muluk, a summary history of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca by al-Maqrizi (766-845 AH/ca. 1365-1442 CE). Traditionally considered as a useful source for the history of the ?agg, al-?ahab al-Masbuk is re-interpreted here as a complex literary construction that was endowed with different meanings. Through detailed contextualist, narratological, semiotic and codicological analyses Van Steenbergen demonstrates how these meanings were deeply embedded in early-fifteenth century Egyptian transformations, how they changed substantially over time, and how they included particular claims about authorship and about legitimate and good Muslim rule.