THE ISLAMIC CITY

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• THE ISLAMIC CITY
• The (outmoded) concept of the Islamic city
  Layout and
• character result from reasons for founding,
  location,
• climate, pre-Islamic precedents.
• II. Rationales behind founding
• A. No municipalities Greco-Roman
  city-states were long gone.
• B. Military character of early Muslim cities
  (garrison towns)
• Fustat, Kufa, Basra run by military
  gov. and qadi
• C. Inland location of garrison towns and
  later capitals (Baghdad,
• Cairo, Córdoba)

Aleppo
Kufa
Basra
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III. Layout and components A. Walls
Fatimid walls of Cairo, with minaret
of mosque of al-Hakim
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B. Rulers (caliphs, sultans, governors)
palace (1) Baghdad Abbasid caliphs palace
and mosque at center of original round
city
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(2) Al-Mahdiyya and Cairo under the Fatimids 2
palaces facing each other caliph and
designated successor (Remember the
importance of designation in Shicism.)
Cairo street Between the Two Palaces (Bayn
al-Qasrayn)
southern gate of the original Fatimid city of
Cairo
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C. The citadel new development under the
Seljuks and Ayyubids (AYYUBIDS Fatimids
employ Salah al-din Saladin as wazir
against the Crusaders he displaces them and
founds his own dynasty 1171-1250.)
(1) Saladin founds Cairos citadel to SE of
original Fatimid city.
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(2) Saladin founds Aleppos citadel on hill in
city center.
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D. Central mosque-market nexus Cairo
al-Azhar / Khan al-Khalili market (named after
13th- century Mamluk sultan)
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• Mosques and other pious foundations are financed
  by WAQF
• (Spuler, p. 53)
• (1) Revenues from shops and /or lands are
  endowed to the
• maintenance and staffing of a mosque,
  etc.
• (2) Waqf property is exempt from taxation in
  perpetuity.
• (3) Waqf deed, registered in qadis court,
  names superintendent
• to administer revenues.
• (4) Mosque is surrounded by shops endowed to
  its waqf.

Selimiye mosque and market,
Edirne, Turkey (Yes, its Ottoman.)
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IV. Residential neighborhoods A. Gated
B. Narrow, twisting streets once thought to
reflect the Islamic mind C.
Inhabitants (1) Members of a certain
profession (near a market) (2) Members
of a certain religion (near a mosque, church, or
synagogue) (3) Mixed
neighborhoods
Córdoba ? Aleppo
?
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V. Houses A. Packed together, shared walls gt
need for security, lack of building
materials such as wood B. The courtyard
house (1) Rooms arranged around a
central courtyard (2) Lower story for
storage and cooking (3) Upper story for
reception and private life (including harem,
where women resided) (4) Not
so much Islamic as Mediterranean
Cairo, Mamluk / Ottoman eras
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C. Regional housing variations (1) Anatolia
lower story of stone or brick, upper story of
wood (2) Yemen mud brick
high-rises
Amasya, C. Turkey
Sanca, Yemen
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D. Ideal vs. real Poorer families often had to
share one house. The rabc in Cairo
tenement of 2-3 stories where multiple
families lived, sharing stairs, well, latrine
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• THE URBAN MARKETPLACE
• The open market (suq) for relatively small-scale
  craft sales
• A. Layout narrow streets lined with
  craftsmens shops
• B. Each street often dominated by a
  particular craft
• (coppersmiths, leather-workers, etc.)

Aleppo
Cairo

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II. Covered markets (bazaars) for long-distance
merchants the wakala / wikala warehouse /
office / commodities exchange for overseas
merchants
An early 16th-century Mamluk
wakala
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III. Regulatory mechanisms A. The muhtasib
market overseer (Spuler, p. 53) (1)
Made sure commerce was conducted according to
sharica (no usury, false
weight, etc.) (2) Punishment by
public humiliation (3) Safeguarded
public morality (4) Worked with
qadi B. Craft guilds? (1) No
guilds in the medieval European sense
(2) Looser associations of craftsmen with
mystical initiation rituals
(3) Provisionism ensuring that all
craftsmen had sufficient
materials, that prices were fair, that entire
empire had access to goods
C. Price-fixing Govt. sometimes set prices
for essential commodities olive
oil, grain, cheese, sugar, etc.
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• Long-distance trade routes
• A. Sea routes
• (1) Mediterranean Sea dominated by
  textiles
• (a) Silk from Spain, Sicily, Syria
  
• (b) Flax / linen from Egypt

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(2) Indian Ocean dominated by spices (pepper,
cloves, nutmeg) (3) Piracy becomes a problem in
the 11th century (decentralization,
Fatimids, Crusades)
(map of a much earlier period)
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B. Overland trade more expensive and hazardous
than sea trade (1) Egypt Iraq / Iran (flax
/ linen for silk) (2) Silk Road (3)
North Africa sub-Saharan Africa (salt for
slaves, gold, ivory, ostrich feathers)
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C. Commercial partnerships (1) Large-scale
consortiums for long-distance trade (2) 1/3
2/3 partnership between a traveling (1/3) and a
stationary (2/3) merchant for
short-term, limited trade (3) Promissory
notes and letters of credit
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• EPILOGUE ON LAND TENURE
• State owned land. Cultivator controlled
  cultivation and
• disposal of crop could rent land.
• II. Seljuks introduced military fiefs
• A. Military commander received right to
  revenues from plot of
• land, had to raise troop of cavalry.
• B. Peasants remained free but paid taxes to
  commander.