Rural Administration and Society of Medieval Egypt in the Period of Environmental Change

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00998
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03030:History of Asia and Africa-related
• Research Institution: Keio University (2023); Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2020-2022)
• Principal Investigator: Kumakura Wakako 慶應義塾大学, 経済学部(三田), 教授 (80613570)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 環境史 / マムルーク朝 / オスマン朝 / 村落社会 / アラブ部族 / ウルバーン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates the interaction between environmental change, the state of village society, and the transformation of local administration in Egypt during the period of environmental change from the mid-fourteenth to the fifteenth century. The main issues discussed were, first, the practices of agricultural production, irrigation and tax collection in village society, and the relationships between people in relation to these practices and second, the changes in local administration as a reaction of the state to the various phenomena observed during the period of environmental change. These issues were addressed by analysing information on the practices and human relations of village communities from the archives of the Austrian National Archives and the records of the appointment of local administrators from the narrative sources.

Free Research Field

エジプト史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

気候変動やコロナ禍を経験した現代の状況と、中世温暖期から小氷期へと移り変わり、ペストが蔓延した14世紀から15世紀の状況は重なる部分が多い。そのような変化の時代の中で、地方行政や村落社会がどのように変容したかを追究することは、環境変動に対し、人間がどのようなリアクションをとってきたかを知る上で重要である。