The Peasants during the Mamlūk Period: How They Have Struggled

Al-Maqrīzī (d.1442) (1940) mentions that maltreatment of the peasants affected farming areas and arable lands. Agricultural activities were sometimes discontinued and productivity impaired because some peasants fled from the villages. Mu?ammad bin Mu?ammad bin Khalīl al-Asadī (last known biographical date: 1451) (1968) also says that the oppression of the peasants was another circumstance that affected the agricultural sector in Egypt. Thus, the aim of this article is to discuss the hardships faced by the peasants in Egypt during the Mamlūk era with a special reference to the period of 1468-1517. Among the difficulties suffered by the peasants at that time that affected their lives and agricultural production were the problems in the Iq?ā? (fief) system and in irrigation, the lack of technological innovation in agriculture and disturbances caused by climatic and biological disasters.