ARAB SOURCES ABOUT SULTAN BAYBARS

Abstract

This article presents a scholarly review of key Arabic-language written sources concerning the biography and historical identity of Sultan Baybars. The study systematically analyzes historical works written during his lifetime and in the 8th–9th centuries AH (14th–15th centuries CE), focusing on their content, structural characteristics, and source value.

The article employs a comparative-historical approach to examine the works of medieval Muslim historians such as Abu Shama, Ibn Shaddad, Ibn Abd al-Zahir, Ibn Wasil, Ibn Khalilkan, Ibn al-Futi, Baybars al-Dawadar, Qutb al-Din al-Yunini, Shafi ibn Ali ibn Abbas, al-Nuwayri, al-Dhahabi, al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi, Afif al-Din al-Yafi'i, al-Qalqashandi, al-Maqrizi, Ibn al-Furat, Ibn Taghri Birdi, al-Sakhawi, al-Suyuti, and Ibn Iyas. The narrative style and historical perspectives of these authors are critically analyzed.

Throughout the study, various methods are used, including textual-comparative analysis, translation, intertextual examination, analysis-synthesis, and historical-comparative methodology. The authors of these sources depict Sultan Baybars in diverse ways–from praise to criticism – thus contributing to a multifaceted image of the ruler in modern historiography. Particularly noteworthy are the works of Ibn al-Furat and al-Maqrizi, which stand out for their historical impartiality and richness of detail on Baybars.

The research concludes that there is a need to reinterpret and present Sultan Baybars' character to Kazakh-speaking audiences from a new perspective, based on Arabic written sources and through a historical-philological lens.