Mamluk architecture

Mamluk architecture was a flowering of Islamic art during the reign of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517) which is most visible in medieval Cairo. Religious zeal made them generous patrons of architecture and art, it was highly influenced by the Ancient Egyptian and Coptic Architecture within Egypt. Trade and agriculture flourished under Mamluk rule, and Cairo, their capital, became one of the wealthiest cities in the Near East and the center of artistic and intellectual activity. This made Cairo, in the words of Ibn Khaldun, "the center of the universe and the garden of the world", with majestic domes, courtyards, and soaring minarets spread across the city.

The architectural identity of Mamluk religious monuments stems from the major purpose that individuals erected their own memorials, therefore adding a high degree of individuality. Each building reflected the patron's individual tastes, choices, and name. Mamluk architecture is oftentimes categorized more by the reigns of the major sultan, than a specific design. Interestingly, the mamluk elite were often more knowledgeable in the art of buildings than many historians.

Since the Mamluks had both wealth and power, the overall moderate proportions of Mamluk architecture—compared to Timurid or classical Ottoman styles—is due to the individual decisions of patrons who preferred to sponsor multiple projects. The sponsors of the mosques of Baibars, an-Nasir Muhammad, an-Nasir Faraj, al-Mu'ayyad, Barsbay, Qaitbay and al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri all preferred to build several mosques in the capital rather than focusing on one colossal monument.

Mamluk sultans and emirs were known for their zealous patronage of art and architecture throughout the Mamluk period. Their projects could include a single mausoleum or a small charitable building (e.g. a street fountain or sabil), while their larger architectural complexes typically combined many functions into one or more buildings. These could include charitable functions and social services, such as a mosque, khanqah, madrasa, bimaristan, maktab (elementary school), sabil (for dispensing water to the local population), or hod (drinking trough for animals); or commercial functions, such as a wikala/khan (a caravanserai to house merchants and their goods) or rabʿah (a Cairene apartment complex for renters). These buildings and their institutions were protected by waqf agreements, which rendered them the status of charitable endowments or trusts which were legally inalienable under Islamic law. This allowed the sultan's legacy to be assured through architectural projects, and his tomb – and potentially the tombs of his family – was typically placed in a mausoleum attached to his religious complex. These projects helped confer legitimacy to the Mamluk sultans, who were both of non-Arab and mamluk (military slave) origins, by strengthening their symbolic role as pious protectors of orthodox Sunni Islam and as sponsors of ṭuruq (sufi brotherhoods) and of the local shrines of saints. Since charity is one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, charitable projects demonstrated the sultan's piousness, while madrasas linked the ruling elite with the ulama, who provided a bridge with the wider population.

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