Mediation Impact on Public Life in the Hijaz during the Mamluk Era (648-923 AH/1250-1517 CE)

Abstract

This study investigates mediation and its impact on public life in the Hijaz during the Mamluk era as an important issue dominating the Hijazi society then. The study is divided into an introduction, three sections and a conclusion followed by appendices and references. The introduction dealt with mediation as a concept and the political and cultural relations between the Hijaz and Egypt during the Mamluk era. Section one focused on mediation impact on political domains of life in the Hijazi society. Section two addressed mediation impact on social aspects. Section three discussed mediation impact on economic aspects in Hijaz.. The study results showed that political mediation was largely a result of the ongoing conflict among the nobility for power in Mecca, which led them to seek favor from the Mamluk authority in Cairo. Social mediation was associated with the population of Mecca, including men, women, military personnel, civilians, the poor, and the wealthy, who relied on judges and religious figures to seek mediation with the nobility or their deputies in the ruling authority. Economic mediation focused on alleviating taxes on the population or traders who were burdened by taxes imposed on by authority.