Al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il: al-Nahdj al-sadid;

(The correct procedure) (1358) (Coptic Christian)

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Al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il was a 14th-century Egyptian historian. He was a Coptic Christian. His book about the history, entitled al-Nahdj al-sadid wa-l-durr al-farid fima ba'd Ta'rikh Ibn al'Amid, covered the period from 1260 to 1340. He finished his work in 1358. Al-Muffaddal gives precise descriptions of the history of Egypt and Syria, especially the Mongol occupation of Syria. His writings like on the taxes on African slaves are interesting but with little direct connections to East Africa.

Taken from: Histoire des sultans mamlouks. Moufazzal ibn Abil-Fazaïl ; texte arabe publ. et trad. en français par E. Blochet.

(In the Year 661AH Sultan Baybars (5) of Egypt sent to Berke Khan (1) of the Golden Horde):

Among all the gifts he sent to him, there were, as wild beasts unknown in this distant country, an elephant, a giraffe, monkeys, zebras, dromedaries, donkeys of Egypt, a considerable quantity of clothing, jewellery, silver candelabra of carpets made at Abdan (2), various movable objects of porcelain vases, fabrics worked at Alexandria, and coming out of the embroidery factory, candy sugar and white sugar in considerable quantity. (They never made it up to Berke)(1)

Sultan Berke (1) was asking for their company (of the ambassadors) constantly, and he was asking them questions about the elephant, about the giraffe he was asking them about the Nile and the rain of Cairo.

(In the Year 716AH the Sultan an-Malik al-Nasir (3) of Egypt)

That same year, on the sixth day of the month of Zilhidjdja (4), the sultan promulgated a decree by which he prohibited the collection of taxes levied by the superintendent of the imperial wardrobe, the details of which are as follows: …………….on the water-points of Baibars; the rights and taxes on all the Negroes of Egypt; …….. the penalties which affected any individual who, finding a slave in a criminal conversation with a girl, did not bring him to the police, ……..

(1) Berke Khan of the Golden Horde: :(died 1266) was a grandson of Genghis Khan.

(2) Abdan: town in Persia.

(3) Sultan an-Malik al-Nasir of Egypt: better known as Saladin

(4) month of Zilhidjdja: Zil Hajj is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is the month in which the Hajj pilgrimage takes place.

(5) Baybars; Baibars; (1223/1228 – 1277), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt in the Bahri dynasty, succeeding Qutuz.