Al-Makrīzī’s Khitat and the Markets in Cairo during the Mamlūks Era

Abstract

This study examines the markets in Cairo during the reign of the Mamlūks in the light of al-Makrīzī's Chronicle al-Khitat. Besides those which were built during the Mamlūks era the commercial life were ongoing at the markets dating back to the Fatimids and the Ayyubids periods. The marketplaces generally occupied in al-Qasaba which was between Bāb al-Futūh in the north and Bāb al-Zuwayla in the south was the trading center of the city. Al-Qasaba is al-Mu'izz Street today which takes its name from the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Dinillah (341-364/953-975). The economic and social decline especially seen during the second half of the Mamlūks in the 15th century affected also the domestic markets stability and most of the sûqs disappeared depending on these conditions.