This article examines the chronicles composed by Meccan authors ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn Fahd and his son Jār Allāh ibn Fahd in order to trace continuities and transformations across the turn of the sixteenth century. Mecca’s reliance on donations of voluntary alms, especially the donations that were sent on a regular basis from the Mamluk and Ottoman sultans to sustain the population of the city, is well known. The Meccan chroniclers provide sufficient detail about these donations to show the growing impact of alms sent from Indian rulers—rice in particular is noted—starting at the end of the fifteenth century, which may also signal the more widespread consumption of rice in local cuisine. This development indicates a broadening of the scope of the Indian commerce in non-luxury goods and the reorientation of Mecca and the Hijaz within global commercial connections.

This study explores how Hijazi Sunnis have strengthened the theoretical development of the Sunni veneration of the Twelve Shiʿi Imams (imamophilism) with a focus on two faḍāʾil works written by the Medinese scholar Shams al-Dīn al-Zarandī (fl. 747/1346): Naẓm Durar al-Simṭayn on ʿAlī and his close family, and Maʿārij al-Wuṣūl on the Twelve Imams. In the Naẓm, a work dedicated to the Injuid ruler of Shiraz, Abū Isḥāq (r. 1343–1357), in 747/1346, Shams al-Dīn adopted a critical stance towards another imamophilic Sunni scholar, Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Ḥammūyī (d. 722/1322), for his inclusion of unreliable traditions and justified Sunni imamophilism by excluding Shiʿi traditions and selectively mentioning famous Sunni sources. In Maʿārij al-Wuṣūl, he also denied the Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan (the twelfth imam)-Mahdī theory, which is a pivotal doctrine in Twelver Shiʿism, while considering it to be Shiʿi. These two works could be regarded not merely as a first attempt to theorise Sunni imamophilism through the rejection of certain Shiʿi doctrines but also as a by-product of a rivalry between Shams al-Dīn and the Ḥammūyī family, and between the Injuids and the Muẓaffarids. Shams al-Dīn spread imamophilism among the Shirazi population, and his views on the imams influenced later imamophilic Sunnis.

This article re-examines the waqf al-dashīshah founded by the Mamluk sultan Qāʾitbāy (r. AH 872–901/1468–1496 CE) for the distribution of dashīshah (porridge) and bread in the Ḥaramayn (Mecca and Medina), particularly in Medina. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of MS Arabe 1118 (Bibliothèque nationale de France) alongside related sources, it reconstructs the operational logic and historical trajectory of this endowment. The article argues that Qāʾitbāy’s waqf al-dashīshah functioned not merely as a personal charitable foundation but as a centrally managed provisioning system that channelled agrarian surplus from Egypt to the Hijaz. Its property base, transport infrastructure, and involvement of officials embedded the waqf within the administrative practices of the Mamluk or Cairo Sultanate, while the frequent use of state treasury land further blurred the boundary between public finance and pious endowment. Tracing the waqf’s continued operation and adaptation under early Ottoman rule, moreover, the article demonstrates its durability as an institutional mechanism. Overall, it shows that the waqf al-dashīshah served simultaneously as charity, governance, and political representation, articulating the Cairo Sultanate’s claim to authority as khādim al-Ḥaramayn (the server of the Ḥaramayn) within a context of intensifying inter-Muslim competition.

This article examines how the Banū Fahd of Mecca successfully established and maintained a scholarly dynasty specialising in hadith transmission across multiple generations during the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods (eighth/fourteenth–eleventh/seventeenth centuries). Drawing on social reproduction theory, the study analyses the deliberate strategies through which this family transformed itself from judge-merchants into ‘the hadith transmitters of the Hijaz’. The analysis focuses on Taqī al-Dīn Muḥammad (d. 871/1466) as the pivotal figure who systematically forged the family’s scholarly identity through multiple interconnected strategies: intensive early education of children and relatives, strategic exploitation of Mecca’s position as a pilgrimage centre to build networks with visiting scholars, creation of a family library that became a regional resource, development of sophisticated information management tools (indexes, notebooks, summaries), cultivation of excellence in manuscript copying, and elaboration of genealogical claims linking the family to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. These practices were consciously transmitted across several generations, creating a cumulative effect that sustained the family’s reputation into the early eleventh/seventeenth century. The study demonstrates that this scholarly dynasty succeeded not through passive inheritance but through active, systematic cultivation of multiple forms of capital—economic, social, cultural, and symbolic—deployed strategically to reproduce elite status across generations.

This study explores the intricate design of title pages in nineteenth-century Persian lithographed books, comparing the Eastern-style title pages prevalent in Indian publications with the Western-influenced designs found in Iranian lithographed books. Rooted in Indian publishing traditions, the Eastern model emphasised structured bibliographic details, refined calligraphy, and floral ornamentation. In contrast, the Western-style Iranian model drew inspiration from Persian manuscript and bookbinding traditions, a broader ornamental vocabulary shared across media, particularly the lachak va turanj (medallion-and-corner) compositional scheme. While Iranian designers rarely adopted the Eastern model in books published in Iran, Indian publications occasionally incorporated Persian design elements, demonstrating selective cross-regional exchanges in Persianate book design. Rather than developing a standardised informational layout, Iranian title pages prioritised visual composition and ornamental hierarchy, often relegating bibliographic information to colophons or extended dedicatory texts. Accordingly, the Western style is defined less by informational structure than by visual organisation, which distinguishes it fundamentally from the Eastern model. This study focuses on Iranian and Indian examples, drawing on rare Persian lithographed books to examine how differing conceptions of the book shaped title page design in the nineteenth century.

This article investigates how Li Yuanyang, a Yunnanese scholar of the Ming Dynasty, pursued cultural orthodoxy both for himself and his homeland. Through reconstructing Yunnan’s history, harmonising Buddhism with Confucianism, and showcasing the Chinese values practised in Yunnan, he positions himself as an orthodox Confucian literatus and defines Yunnan as an integral part of Chinese civilisation. Simultaneously, Li exhibits strong regional characteristics, perhaps unconsciously at times. He adopts some Bai-centric accounts, inherits Dali’s pre-Ming Buddhist legacy, and especially extols local moral exemplars, highlighting the cultural refinement of Yunnan individuals. Thus, his identity is double-sided, functioning as both a Chinese and a native scholar.

This article offers a detailed analysis of a Kachchhi-Gujarati manuscript chart of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden dating probably from the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and held at the Royal Geographical Society–Institute of British Geographers in London (mr Asia S.4.). The origins and possible dating of the manuscript are examined. Astronomical data inscribed on the chart, establishing latitude and providing sailing directions, are identified, interpreted, and projected. Its Devanagari toponyms are transcribed and identified with real-world locations. Coastal profiles and unnamed features representing significant navigational landmarks are individuated. Islamic buildings depicted on the chart are identified as specific regional mosque-shrines. The presence of Ottoman and other regional polities are inferred. The place of the chart within an early modern tradition of western-Indian navigational manuscripts and a wider Indian Ocean tradition is explored. Our analysis establishes the chart as a detailed and highly practical navigational work—countering earlier scholarly denigrations of its accuracy. In contrast, we show it to be one of the most detailed surviving indigenous navigational charts produced in an Indian Ocean tradition.