The Mamluk Sultanate, with Carl F. Petry

Hello everybody! After a very extended hiatus we’re back with a real, full blown Foreign Exchanges podcast (more on that at the end of the show)! I’m joined by Carl F. Petry, Hamad ibn Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Middle East Studies and Professor of History Emeritus at Northwestern University and author of The Mamluk Sultanate: A History, a book that you can—nay, should—buy today. Professor Petry and I discuss who the Mamluks were, how they came to rule much of Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz in the mid-13th century, and why it took until 2022 for the emergence of an accessible English language survey of their sultanate to emerge.

For reference, a map of the Mamluk domains during the reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in the early 14th century (Ro4444 via Wikimedia Commons)

Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Professor Petry’s book, and if you’re not already subscribed to Foreign Exchanges please do: