ABSTRACT
The author begins by saying that he carried out research into the descent of the Circassians from Quraysh by order of Ri\fwan Bey, whom, after a long string of honorifics, he entitles "the Commander of the noble Flag, Bearer of the eminent Muhammadan Mal:tmal,2 trusting in the Powerful King, Ri\fwan Bey al-Kabir". He says that he came on an essay (risala) by a certain Shihab aI-Din Al:;tmad alSafadi, "an admirable, learned and judicious historian", the imam of a mosque in Ak Sehir, who died in 980/1572-3.3 This provides him with the material for his genealogy.
