Investigating the position of the <i>Ra’īs</i> in Aleppo in the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D./fifth and sixth centuries A.H.

Abstract In medieval Islam, the position of Raʼīs held significant importance in urban areas across the Islamic world. The Raʼīs existed in cities throughout the Islamic middle ages, in both the western and eastern regions. However, in Aleppo this role possessed distinctive features not observed in other Islamic cities. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Raʼīs played a pivotal role in the political and military landscape of Aleppo. Supported by Aḥdāth, a militia group of young men who had social influence, the Ra’īs achieved considerable power in Aleppo during this era. The power of the Ra’īs primarily emerged during the decline of Banī Mirdās government and endured until the Saljuq rule of Syria and Aleppo, during which it started to decrease. At certain junctures, the Ra’īs held the position of both head and manager of the city. This study seeks to investigate the role of Aḥdāth leaders in strengthening the Raʼīs’s power in Aleppo, advancing their political and military objectives by assuming Raʼīs’s positions, and expanding their influence within the city.