Wisdom of Royal Glory (Kutadgu Bilig) by Yūsuf Khāṣṣ Hājib A Turco-Islamic Mirror forPrinces by Robert Dankoff; Yūsuf Khāṣṣ HājibReview by: Annemarie SchimmelJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 105, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1985), pp. 356-357Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601735 .

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Journal of the American Oriental Society 105.2 (1985) Journal of the American Oriental Society 105.2 (1985)

Petry's analysis permits him to determine, area by area, the

immigration patterns along with the occupational patterns. He is often able to link geographical origins with types of

occupations. The Iranians in Cairo, for example, "were pri- marily scholar-teachers and religious functionaries." (p. 154)

The second major aspect of Petry's work leads to an examination of the institutional networks within which the civilian elite flourished. In the process, his study makes it easier to understand how not only Mamluk but also medieval Islamic society in general functioned. A plurality of institu- tions meant a plurality of opportunities and resulted, as Petry points out, in considerable real social mobility. Networks of contacts were, of course, crucial. Individuals from a particular village or town were encouraged to study at a particular madrasa because the local teacher had contacts there.

In addition, The Civilian Elite also shows clearly the com-

plex links between the Suifi establishment and local religious figures, on the one hand, and the orthodox 'ulama', on the other. There was consistent enough institutional integration to permit an essentially harmonious functioning but enough institutional separation to give the Sufis relative freedom from government control and to allow them to act as an alternate bureaucratic point of resistance.

Petry divides the civilian elite into three major groups: bureaucrats, jurist-scholars, and religious functionaries, and shows how these groups were drawn from different geo- graphic sources and, in fact, relied on different types of

geographic social networks. Far better than any other descrip- tion, therefore, Petry's analysis helps us to understand how these different groups were formed in Islamic society and how they worked together. As such, The Civilian Elite of Cairo provides an invaluable glimpse of the way in which a

traditional, highly differentiated society can recruit into its elite from a relatively large social base.

Petry's study is, of course, based on biographical sources and is, therefore, effectively limited to the information in those sources and is, also, as a result, subject to the pre- dilections of the compiler or compilers in question. This is, however, true for any work based on biographical sources and it should be said that biographical compendia are a

virtually ideal source for the social group which Petry is

investigating. In either case, it is better that the character and biases of a source be manifest than that they be buried in the historian's footnotes, as is often the case.

In addition, Petry has somewhat reduced the inevitable biases of his sources by using two compendia whose authors have very different styles of biography. Ibn Taghri Bird! does, thus, make an excellent foil for as-Sakhawi, though one

might not want to use Petry's expression "objective reporting" (p. II) to describe Ibn Taghr Birdi's often innuendo-filled

style. The Civilian Elite of Cairo is certainly not the first major

use of biographical compendia in this way. In terms of

Petry's analysis permits him to determine, area by area, the

immigration patterns along with the occupational patterns. He is often able to link geographical origins with types of

occupations. The Iranians in Cairo, for example, "were pri- marily scholar-teachers and religious functionaries." (p. 154)

The second major aspect of Petry's work leads to an examination of the institutional networks within which the civilian elite flourished. In the process, his study makes it easier to understand how not only Mamluk but also medieval Islamic society in general functioned. A plurality of institu- tions meant a plurality of opportunities and resulted, as Petry points out, in considerable real social mobility. Networks of contacts were, of course, crucial. Individuals from a particular village or town were encouraged to study at a particular madrasa because the local teacher had contacts there.

In addition, The Civilian Elite also shows clearly the com-

plex links between the Suifi establishment and local religious figures, on the one hand, and the orthodox 'ulama', on the other. There was consistent enough institutional integration to permit an essentially harmonious functioning but enough institutional separation to give the Sufis relative freedom from government control and to allow them to act as an alternate bureaucratic point of resistance.

Petry divides the civilian elite into three major groups: bureaucrats, jurist-scholars, and religious functionaries, and shows how these groups were drawn from different geo- graphic sources and, in fact, relied on different types of

geographic social networks. Far better than any other descrip- tion, therefore, Petry's analysis helps us to understand how these different groups were formed in Islamic society and how they worked together. As such, The Civilian Elite of Cairo provides an invaluable glimpse of the way in which a

traditional, highly differentiated society can recruit into its elite from a relatively large social base.

Petry's study is, of course, based on biographical sources and is, therefore, effectively limited to the information in those sources and is, also, as a result, subject to the pre- dilections of the compiler or compilers in question. This is, however, true for any work based on biographical sources and it should be said that biographical compendia are a

virtually ideal source for the social group which Petry is

investigating. In either case, it is better that the character and biases of a source be manifest than that they be buried in the historian's footnotes, as is often the case.

In addition, Petry has somewhat reduced the inevitable biases of his sources by using two compendia whose authors have very different styles of biography. Ibn Taghri Bird! does, thus, make an excellent foil for as-Sakhawi, though one

might not want to use Petry's expression "objective reporting" (p. II) to describe Ibn Taghr Birdi's often innuendo-filled

style. The Civilian Elite of Cairo is certainly not the first major

use of biographical compendia in this way. In terms of

its methodology, however, it is probably the best for two reasons. First of all, the data, instead of being listed in the precise words or names in which they appeared in the

notices, are grouped into meaningful social categories of which the arbitrary component is extremely small. Secondly, the

type of phenomena discussed in the book is the same type of phenomena which the biographical sources are designed to present, that is, it was not necessary to draw a (potentially questionable) cause and effect relationship between the data in the notice and the data in the historian's analysis.

Finally, Petry makes Mamluik Cairo come alive. His sta- tistical conclusions and discussions are peppered with indi- vidual case studies drawn from the biographical notices and which illustrate the quantitative material. We, thus, meet not

only patterns and institutions but the people who make them work. And, the thumbnail descriptions of institutions and

occupations (like khathb) fill out our vision of how the civilian elite lived.

All these points make The Civilian Elite of Cairo a land- mark study which should stand alongside Ira Lapidus' pio- neering Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages. Petry's book should be required reading for all those interested in medieval Islamic society and for scholars of Islamic philosophy, law, literature, or religion, who would like to understand the material and social world within which their thinkers lived out their lives.

One small demur: though this may have been done to save

money or at the request of the editors, the decision to omit some of the diacritical marks on a few words like 'ulama' or

ac',an while transliterating most other terms completely can

only confuse or mislead students.

FEDWA MALTI-DOUGLAS UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN

Wisdom of Royal Glori (Kutadgu Bilig) by Yusuf Khass

iHajib. A Turco-Islamic Mirror for Princes. Translated with introduction and notes by ROBERT DANKOFF. (Publications of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies series, No. 16.)

Pp. 281. Chicago: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. 1983. $22.00.

"I found the Turkish speech a wild mustang" says Yusuf

Hajib-and he certainly succeeded in taming this mustang by caressing it, in his great Turkic epic Kutadgu Bilig, "The Wisdom of Royal Glory." This work was written in the Karakhanid language, in the late eleventh century and handed over by its author to the ruling prince of Kashgar in 1070. Written in the epic meter mutaqarih, it is the first monu- mental poem on statecraft and wisdom in the Turkish lan-

guage. The author knew that "the Turkish princes are the

its methodology, however, it is probably the best for two reasons. First of all, the data, instead of being listed in the precise words or names in which they appeared in the

notices, are grouped into meaningful social categories of which the arbitrary component is extremely small. Secondly, the

type of phenomena discussed in the book is the same type of phenomena which the biographical sources are designed to present, that is, it was not necessary to draw a (potentially questionable) cause and effect relationship between the data in the notice and the data in the historian's analysis.

Finally, Petry makes Mamluik Cairo come alive. His sta- tistical conclusions and discussions are peppered with indi- vidual case studies drawn from the biographical notices and which illustrate the quantitative material. We, thus, meet not

only patterns and institutions but the people who make them work. And, the thumbnail descriptions of institutions and

occupations (like khathb) fill out our vision of how the civilian elite lived.

All these points make The Civilian Elite of Cairo a land- mark study which should stand alongside Ira Lapidus' pio- neering Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages. Petry's book should be required reading for all those interested in medieval Islamic society and for scholars of Islamic philosophy, law, literature, or religion, who would like to understand the material and social world within which their thinkers lived out their lives.

One small demur: though this may have been done to save

money or at the request of the editors, the decision to omit some of the diacritical marks on a few words like 'ulama' or

ac',an while transliterating most other terms completely can

only confuse or mislead students.

FEDWA MALTI-DOUGLAS UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN

Wisdom of Royal Glori (Kutadgu Bilig) by Yusuf Khass

iHajib. A Turco-Islamic Mirror for Princes. Translated with introduction and notes by ROBERT DANKOFF. (Publications of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies series, No. 16.)

Pp. 281. Chicago: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. 1983. $22.00.

"I found the Turkish speech a wild mustang" says Yusuf

Hajib-and he certainly succeeded in taming this mustang by caressing it, in his great Turkic epic Kutadgu Bilig, "The Wisdom of Royal Glory." This work was written in the Karakhanid language, in the late eleventh century and handed over by its author to the ruling prince of Kashgar in 1070. Written in the epic meter mutaqarih, it is the first monu- mental poem on statecraft and wisdom in the Turkish lan-

guage. The author knew that "the Turkish princes are the

356 356

This content downloaded from 62.122.72.154 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 21:15:24 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

finest in the world" (line 276) and thus they deserve to have a

poem discussing the duties and rights of princes. Robert Dankoff has translated the poem into fluent, enjoy-

able English prose and has provided it with an introduction which traces the genre of "Mirror for Princes" back to ancient

Egypt, as he also tries to disentangle the different influences that have worked on this poem. The four heroes, King Rising Sun (Justice), vizier Full Moon (Fortune), and his son Highly Praised, the sage (Intellect), as well as the ascetic Wide Awake

(cf. Yaqzan in the Avicennian tradition), man's last end or, as it is translated elsewhere, "Contentment," discuss the duties of man in this world, Wide Awake representing the early ascetic Sufi attitude of renunciation.

Yusuf Khass Hajib's goal was to instruct the ruler of his duties thanks to which "the wolf walked together with the lamb" (line 460), an eschatological formula always used in classical Persian literature for the just ruler. He teaches him to show justice to all his subjects, and not spare money for the army, because these two are the pillars of the state. The

poem contains very interesting descriptions of the medieval ideal of statecraft and offers remarkable comments on the offices of the vizier, the chief cook, and other members of the community, including physicians, astrologers (the author is well versed in astrological terminology), craftsmen, etc. For a lover of Persian poetry, who is used to seeing the adorable "unbearded cupbearer" as a standard figure, it is

surprising if not amusing to see that Y0suf Khass Hajib advocates too that the saq? should be beardless "to guard the drink from any hairs or specks," which certainly smashes

many a romantic notion. We learn about the customs in

dining (and apparently the author has some reason to warn

people of gluttony and of drinking too much!) and learn that he, too, thought that "daughters are best when they are not born or on the bier," an idea expressed almost verbatim by his younger contemporary Sana'! in Ghazna. Yusuf speaks of the old Turco-Persian custom of providing the parting guest with "tooth-rent," a gift one offers because the guest, by eating one's food, has diminished his teeth, and despite its numerous cliches, the book offers many an insight into the

daily life of the higher classes in eleventh century Central Asia. Besides, the poetical language is remarkable. Not only does Yusuf use traditional forms like the threefold visit to Wide Awake, but it seems to me that Highly Praised does not go by chance to his brother Wide Awake in the fortieth

chapter: the period of waiting and preparation is finished, and the spiritual path can begin. The use of the old topos of ubi sunt (line 4710ff.) is as classically Arabic as his beautiful descriptions of nature, especially at night, are typically of Persian poetry, and one reads with delight the colorful com- parison "alert as a magpie and far-sighted as a raven on the cliff, sleepless at night like the owl" (p. 115).

But what is the meaning of the poem? Highly Praised has been interpreted (although Dankoff refutes this idea)

finest in the world" (line 276) and thus they deserve to have a

poem discussing the duties and rights of princes. Robert Dankoff has translated the poem into fluent, enjoy-

able English prose and has provided it with an introduction which traces the genre of "Mirror for Princes" back to ancient

Egypt, as he also tries to disentangle the different influences that have worked on this poem. The four heroes, King Rising Sun (Justice), vizier Full Moon (Fortune), and his son Highly Praised, the sage (Intellect), as well as the ascetic Wide Awake

(cf. Yaqzan in the Avicennian tradition), man's last end or, as it is translated elsewhere, "Contentment," discuss the duties of man in this world, Wide Awake representing the early ascetic Sufi attitude of renunciation.

Yusuf Khass Hajib's goal was to instruct the ruler of his duties thanks to which "the wolf walked together with the lamb" (line 460), an eschatological formula always used in classical Persian literature for the just ruler. He teaches him to show justice to all his subjects, and not spare money for the army, because these two are the pillars of the state. The

poem contains very interesting descriptions of the medieval ideal of statecraft and offers remarkable comments on the offices of the vizier, the chief cook, and other members of the community, including physicians, astrologers (the author is well versed in astrological terminology), craftsmen, etc. For a lover of Persian poetry, who is used to seeing the adorable "unbearded cupbearer" as a standard figure, it is

surprising if not amusing to see that Y0suf Khass Hajib advocates too that the saq? should be beardless "to guard the drink from any hairs or specks," which certainly smashes

many a romantic notion. We learn about the customs in

dining (and apparently the author has some reason to warn

people of gluttony and of drinking too much!) and learn that he, too, thought that "daughters are best when they are not born or on the bier," an idea expressed almost verbatim by his younger contemporary Sana'! in Ghazna. Yusuf speaks of the old Turco-Persian custom of providing the parting guest with "tooth-rent," a gift one offers because the guest, by eating one's food, has diminished his teeth, and despite its numerous cliches, the book offers many an insight into the

daily life of the higher classes in eleventh century Central Asia. Besides, the poetical language is remarkable. Not only does Yusuf use traditional forms like the threefold visit to Wide Awake, but it seems to me that Highly Praised does not go by chance to his brother Wide Awake in the fortieth

chapter: the period of waiting and preparation is finished, and the spiritual path can begin. The use of the old topos of ubi sunt (line 4710ff.) is as classically Arabic as his beautiful descriptions of nature, especially at night, are typically of Persian poetry, and one reads with delight the colorful com- parison "alert as a magpie and far-sighted as a raven on the cliff, sleepless at night like the owl" (p. 115).

But what is the meaning of the poem? Highly Praised has been interpreted (although Dankoff refutes this idea)

as Muhammad, which would be the correct translation of his name, and in the end he teaches the King the necessity of following the shar'Ca; using, if necessary, jihad; and to look well after the ulama' and the muhtasib, the market

inspector. The end of the poem proper is a remark on the role of sahr, "patience," and shukr, "gratitude," a topic which was apparently widely discussedrin Eastern Iran in that period (s. QushairT, SanadT, Ghazzal). An interesting part of the

poem is also the rather brief na't in honor of the Prophet, who is praised because "all his care was for his community."

The poem thus combines general, specifically Islamic, and Sufi, or rather, ascetic trends. If one is very daring one may see in the plot the development of the King from pre-lslamic reliance on Fate through the teachings of Muhammad to Islam, softened by the ascetic ideals of early Sufism (which, in turn, had taken into itself some Buddhist influences, espe- cially in the area were the epic was composed). The combina- tion of prophetic and mystico-ascetic piety is reminiscent of Sana'I's verse, and is also similar to the tenets of the

Naqshbandiyya, whose forefathers lived in Central Asia; the ideal of the khalwat dar anjuman, "solitude even in the multitude" is close to the attitude which the king finally achieves. This is only a conjecture, but would be in keeping with the somewhat sober character of early Central Asian Turkish Islam.

The poem closes with a complaint about the changing times.

Dankoff has added a useful vocabulary, in which I missed

only the expression "reddish face," Persian surkh ru, which also means "honored." The book is a joy to read, and offers not only another example of the genre of Furstenspiegel but allows us an insight into the daily life at a Turkish court in the Islamic Middle Ages.

as Muhammad, which would be the correct translation of his name, and in the end he teaches the King the necessity of following the shar'Ca; using, if necessary, jihad; and to look well after the ulama' and the muhtasib, the market

inspector. The end of the poem proper is a remark on the role of sahr, "patience," and shukr, "gratitude," a topic which was apparently widely discussedrin Eastern Iran in that period (s. QushairT, SanadT, Ghazzal). An interesting part of the

poem is also the rather brief na't in honor of the Prophet, who is praised because "all his care was for his community."

The poem thus combines general, specifically Islamic, and Sufi, or rather, ascetic trends. If one is very daring one may see in the plot the development of the King from pre-lslamic reliance on Fate through the teachings of Muhammad to Islam, softened by the ascetic ideals of early Sufism (which, in turn, had taken into itself some Buddhist influences, espe- cially in the area were the epic was composed). The combina- tion of prophetic and mystico-ascetic piety is reminiscent of Sana'I's verse, and is also similar to the tenets of the

Naqshbandiyya, whose forefathers lived in Central Asia; the ideal of the khalwat dar anjuman, "solitude even in the multitude" is close to the attitude which the king finally achieves. This is only a conjecture, but would be in keeping with the somewhat sober character of early Central Asian Turkish Islam.

The poem closes with a complaint about the changing times.

Dankoff has added a useful vocabulary, in which I missed

only the expression "reddish face," Persian surkh ru, which also means "honored." The book is a joy to read, and offers not only another example of the genre of Furstenspiegel but allows us an insight into the daily life at a Turkish court in the Islamic Middle Ages.

ANNEMARIE SCHIMMEL ANNEMARIE SCHIMMEL

HARVARD UNIVERSITY HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Deccani Painting. By MARK ZEBROWSKI. Pp. 296, 24 color and 230 monochrome plates. London: SOTHEBY PUBLICA- TIONS. Berkeley, New York, Los Angeles, London: UNI- VERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS. 1983. $85.00.

This book is a feast for the eyes. The Deccani miniatures with their strange color combinations transport the spectator into a world of exotic delight, a delight similar to that which 1 felt, in my childhood, when I first came across the picture of the so-called "Emperor of the Deccan" (here called "Siesta") in Ernst Kuhnel's book "Indische Miniaturen aus den Berliner Museen." Princes and attractive yoginis with fullsome, softly plaited robes walk in a stately fashion, to

Deccani Painting. By MARK ZEBROWSKI. Pp. 296, 24 color and 230 monochrome plates. London: SOTHEBY PUBLICA- TIONS. Berkeley, New York, Los Angeles, London: UNI- VERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS. 1983. $85.00.

This book is a feast for the eyes. The Deccani miniatures with their strange color combinations transport the spectator into a world of exotic delight, a delight similar to that which 1 felt, in my childhood, when I first came across the picture of the so-called "Emperor of the Deccan" (here called "Siesta") in Ernst Kuhnel's book "Indische Miniaturen aus den Berliner Museen." Princes and attractive yoginis with fullsome, softly plaited robes walk in a stately fashion, to

357 357

This content downloaded from 62.122.72.154 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 21:15:24 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions