In the studies of the history of the madrasas in medieval Islam, it is on the Madrasa Nizamiya in Baghdad founded in 1067 by the Seljukid vizier Nizam al-Mulk that scholarly attention has been concentrated. It may be rightly said that in terms of historical importance no other madrasa could boast itself more than the Nizamiya. Geographically, madrasas, however, did not cease to develop after it. It was considerably after the foundation of the Nizamiya that the number of madrasas in the area west of Iraq increased to a great extent. In Mesopotamia and Syria there were founded a few madrasas in the late 5th/11th century. Once started, the spread of madrasas got great momentum throughout the 6th/12th century. Among those who built maadrasas Nur al-Din was the most important. He built many madrasas in Aleppo, Damascus and other cities in Syria where there could be seen a florescence of learning. Sources do not tell us the motives of his great enthusiasm in establishing madrasas clearly, but indirect evidences suggest that he aimed at spiritual and ideological unification through it. His ultimate purpose seemed to build up a powerful stase and carry on effective counter-attack against the Crusades. For this he utilized the Sunni orthodoxy and the madrasa system to teach and establish it among the Muslim subjects. At the same time he needed both moral and practical assistance from the 'ulama'. Madrasas were the institutions of higher education from which 'ulama' were produced. His enthusiasm in establishing madrasas was succeeded by non-Arab military elites and they continued to build many madrasas for the rest of the 6th/12th century after his death. But now the motivation had changed, and the madrasa-building became a kind of status symbol of the military class. This change paralleled the change in the chracter of the education in madrasas. It began to fall into mannerism.

東洋史
第五〇巻記念号