ISSN: 0041-4255
e-ISSN: 2791-6472

Altan Çeti̇n

Keywords: Mamluk, Oghuz/Turkman, History

Abstract

al-'Ayni (1361-1451), a Turkish origin historian, with prolific knowledge in other Islamic sciences as well, was one of the leading personages of Mamluk historians. al-'Ayni served in various official posts in the times of Faraj, al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh, Tatar, Barsbay and Jaqmaq and produced many works, one of which is al-Sayf al-Muhannad fi Sirat al-Malik al-Mu'ayyad "Shaykh al-Mahmudi" telling about the reign and life of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh. This work not only bears importance for the Mamluk history but also mentions the names of twenty-two of twenty-four Oghuz tribes and their tamgas as well as depicting the tamgas; which puts this work in a special place among Mamluk histories. Our paper aims at showing with evidence that al-'Ayni based his information about Oghuz on the work by Mahmud of Kashgar and we will attempt an evaluation. This information regarding the Oghuz Turks have not been studied to date and bears utmost importance.