Memlûklerde Uğur ve Uğursuzluk

Like all other societies, Mamluks believed that many things carried messages about situations that would happen in the future. The historians ibn Iyâs and Abdülbâsıt el-Malatî in particular mentioned circumstances that were deemed auspicious and inauspicious in their works. Yet the accuracy of most records is questionable, in both these and other sources. This is because they relate to major events that will occur in the future and mostly focus on the sultans whose personalities or rule attract attention. Moreover, one occurrence may be reported as a sign in one place whereas a similar occurrence experienced elsewhere may not be interpreted as a sign. The records which are associated with bad luck pertain to the death, deposition, imprisonment and short reigns of sultans, defeat of the army, turmoil in the country, the start or spread of plague epidemics, falling of the River Nile, and the death of some important emirs or the failure of their undertakings. Those associated with good luck are generally specific to rainfall and rising of the River Nile resulting from the ruler's good luck. In addition, there are also beliefs that a certain object will bring good luck in those times. Therefore, the desire to acquire the belongings of respected figures and the wish to be buried near the graves of eminent scholars are paramount. In this study, situations that are thought to bring good and bad luck or are considered to be harbingers of future developments in Mamluk times have been identified and addressed.