Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari: Difference between revisions

'''Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-‘Abbās Aḥmad b. Faḍl Allāh al-'Umarī''' ('''شهاب الدين أبو العبّاس أحمد بن فضل الله العمري'''), or simply '''al-‘Umarī''', (1300 &ndash; 1349) was an [[Arab]] [[historian]], born in [[Damascus]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|accessdate=2020-09-04|title=Al-ʿUmarī - Syrian scholar|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Umari|website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]}}</ref> His major works include ''at-Taʾrīf bi-al-muṣṭalaḥ ash-sharīf'', on the subject of the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamlūk]] administration, and ''Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār'', an encyclopedic collection of related information.<ref name="Britannica"/> The latter was translated into French by [[Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes]] in 1927.

al-Umari visited [[Cairo]] shortly after the [[Mali Empire|Malian]] ''[[Mansa (title)|Mansa]]'' [[Mansa Musa|Kankan Musa&nbsp;I]]'s pilgrimage to [[Mecca]], and his writings are one of the primary sources for this legendary ''[[hajj]]''. In particular, al-Umari recorded that the Mansa dispensed so much gold that its value fell in [[Egypt]] for a decade afterward, a story that is often repeated in describing the wealth of the Mali Empire.<ref>[http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/materials/handouts/k_o_mali.html Kingdom of Mali] - Boston University: African Studies Center</ref>