Research on the Mamluk period has so far remained relatively silent about the Mamluk
descendants who are often referred to by the Arabic term awlad al-nas (roughly: children of
the elite). After Ulrich Haarmann's fundamental theses research on this group seems to have
paused in comparison to the study dedicated to other social groups of Mamluk society. This
volume brings together the results of an international conference and presents the state of the
art in approaching the Mamluk descendants whose emic perception as a group and social roles
were far more differentiated and variable than previously assumed. The contributions shed light
on the status of the Mamluk descendants from a variety of viewpoints including
historiographies archival material and artifacts produced by Mamluk descendants.
