The Literature of Buldanīyya in Hadith Studies and al-Sakhāwī's (d. 902/1497) Work Titled Buldanīyyāt

The Buldāniyya genre, which emerged in the 4th century of the Hijri era during the hadīth narration period, consists of works compiled by hadīth scholars by arranging the narrations they obtained during their scholarly travels according to the cities they were narrated. These works not only include hadīths but also provide isnad analyses, biographical information about the narrators, and valuable data on the historical and geographical characteristics of the mentioned regions. Unlike the general Buldan literature, which focuses on geographical and historical content, Buldāniyya literature is primarily hadīth-centered. Although this genre has received limited scholarly attention in both the classical and modern periods, the diverse and rich content of Buldāniyya works makes them important in terms of hadith studies and other Islamic disciplines. This study investigates the emergence, development, structure, content, and scholarly value of the Buldāniyya genre, as well as its relationship with other areas of Islamic knowledge. It has been determined that the first known work in this genre is al-Jawzaqi's (d. 388/998) work called al-Arba'un al-Buldānīyya and that the genre has continued to exist in various forms until the modern period. The study divides the Buldāniyya works into three periods: Formative Period (4th-6th/10th-12th centuries), Developmental Period (6th-10th/12th-16th centuries) and Modern Period (after the 20th century). This categorization is based on the chronological dating of the works examined. Al-Sahāwī's Buldaniyyāt, one of the important representatives of the genre, stands out with its comprehensive content. This study examines al-Sakhāwī's intellectual environment, teachers and travels, and analyzes the hadīths in his work, as well as other narrations, poems and geographical, social and cultural data on various cities in detail.