The Plague of 819 AH

طاعون سنة 819هـ

c. 1416 CE · 819 AH

819 opened with dearth and plague still mounting in Egypt and Tripoli — it was said ten thousand died at Tripoli in ten days, that of Isfahan's people only the rare survived, and that Fez counted thirty-six thousand dead in a single month, the lands nearly emptied of their people. That year the sultan ordered the khatibs, when they reached the prayer for him in the sermon, to step down one step of the minbar in courtesy, so God's name and His Messenger's would stand higher than the spot where the sultan is named — and the custom endured ¹.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region: Egypt & Nile · Maghreb · Persia & Central Asia · Levant & Iraq
Review: Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

Summary

Ibn al-Imad reports that the year 819 AH began while famine and plague were still present in Egypt and Tripoli. ²

Losses

It is said that ten thousand souls died in Tripoli in ten days. The plague spread widely through the lands, to the point that it is said only a few of the people of Isfahan were left. It is also said that the people of Fez counted those who died among them in a single month, and they were thirty-six thousand. ²

Another report from the year

In the same year the sultan ordered the preachers, when they reached the prayer for him, to step down one step from the pulpit out of courtesy, so that the name of God and His Messenger would stand in a higher place than his own name. They did so, and the practice continued. ²

Sources

Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 142
Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p.142

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Plague of 819 AH”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/plague-819/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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