Mudarrisūn e muḥaddiṯūn a Damasco negli awāmir sulṭāniyyah (1876-1908)

Abstract

The Center for Historical Documentation of Damascus, founded in 1960, houses a relevant variety of first-hand sources dating back to the Ottoman period, which prove to be fundamental in order to better define some peculiar aspects of history of Bilād al-Šām, such as the role of ʿulamāʾ and transmission of knowledge. The awāmir sulṭāniyyah represent an essential part of the documentation, not only for the number of biographical data about mudarrisūn and muḥadditūn who were living and teaching in Damascus, but also for the particular relationship that they established with the main cultural institutions of the city, such as the traditional madāris.Through the analysis of the awāmir, which still require a specific attention by the Oriental studies, our research focuses on some representative cases, in order to give evidence of the cultural richness and the extraordinary ferment in a period marked by administrative, social and institutional reforms.