The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires
Explores the distinctive character of the Umayyad empire in its early Islamic context: its economy, society and political history
- Situates the Umayyad Empire in the wider history of Late Antiquity
- Includes thematic chapters on ecology and the economy, the religions of the Umayyad Middle East, and administration and government
- Draws upon extensive recent archaeological, art-historical and textual scholarship
The Umayyad Empire (644–750 CE) was the first Islamic empire and one of the largest empires of ancient and medieval times, extending over 5,000 miles between the Atlantic Ocean in the West and the Indian Ocean in the East. This book traces the empire’s origins to the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Steppe in the centuries before Islam. It explores the dynamics that shaped this formative era for the history of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The century of Umayyad rule witnessed war with the Eastern Roman Empire, against whom the Umayyads defined their claims to rule as God’s deputies on Earth. This was the period in which the Qur’an was compiled, monuments such as the Dome of the Rock were built, and new Islamic and Arab identities developed.
A comprehensive survey of the Mongol Empire – the largest contiguous empire in history
As the largest contiguous empire in history, the Mongol Empire looms large in history: it permanently changed the map of Eurasia as well as how the world was viewed. As the empire expanded, the Mongols were alternately seen as liberators, destroyers, and harbingers of apocalyptic doom. At the same time, they ushered in an era of religious tolerance and cross-cultural transmission.
This book explores the rise and establishment of the Mongol Empire under Chinggis Khan, as well as its expansion and evolution under his successors. It also examines the successor states (Ilkhanate, Chaghatayid Khanate, the Jochid Ulus (Golden Horde), and the Yuan Empire) from the dissolution of the empire in 1260 to the end of each state. They are compared in order to reveal how the empire functioned not only at the imperial level but how regional differences manifested.
Key Features
- Provides a holistic narrative of the entire history of the Mongol Empire
- Examines the spread of Islam within the Empire and the Mongol’s legacy in the Islamic world
- Explores the changing nature of authority and the role of women in the Empire
- Illustrated with images, maps and charts of key places and major figures
A complete history of the Fatimids, showing the significance of the empire to Islam and the wider world
The Fatimid empire in North Africa, Egypt and Syria was at the centre of the political and religious history of the Islamic world in the Middle Ages, from the breakdown of the ‘Abbasid empire in the tenth century, to the invasions of the Seljuqs in the eleventh and the Crusaders in the twelfth, leading up to its extinction by Saladin. As Imam and Caliph, the Fatimid sovereign claimed to inherit the religious and political authority of the Prophet, a claim which inspired the conquest of North Africa and Egypt and a following of believers as far away as India. The reaction this provoked was crucial to the political and religious evolution of mediaeval Islam. This book combines the separate histories of Isma'ilism, North Africa and Egypt with that of the dynasty into a coherent account. It then relates this account to the wider history of Islam to provide a narrative that establishes the historical significance of the empire.
Key Features
- The first complete history of the Fatimid empire in English, establishing its central contribution to medieval Islamic history
- Covers the relationship of tribal to civilian economy and society, the formation and evolution of the dynastic state, and the relationship of that state to economy and society
- Explores the question of cultural change, specifically Arabisation and Islamisation
- Goes beyond the history of Islam, not only to introduce the Crusades, but to compare and contrast the dynasty with the counterparts of its theocracy in Byzantium and Western Europe
A comprehensive account of two of the most important empires in medieval North Africa
This is the first book in English to provide a comprehensive account of the rise and fall of the Almoravids and the Almohads, the two most important Berber dynasties of the medieval Islamic west, an area that encompassed southern Spain and Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Ṣanhāja Almoravids emerged from the Sahara in the 1050s to conquer vast territories and halt the Christian advance in Iberia. They were replaced a century later by their rivals, the Almohads, supported by the Maṣmūda Berbers of the High Atlas. Although both have often been seen as uncouth, religiously intolerant tribesmen who undermined the high culture of al-Andalus, this book argues that the eleventh to thirteenth centuries were crucial to the Islamisation of the Maghrib, its integration into the Islamic cultural sphere, and its emergence as a key player in the western Mediterranean, and that much of this was due to these oft-neglected Berber empires.
Key features
- The first work in English to give a full account of the Almoravids and Almohads
- Features numerous translated quotes and anecdotes from Arabic primary sources
- Provides an intimate portrait of the daily lives and material culture of people living within the empires, as well as delivering a clear dynastic history
- Uses maps, genealogical tables, illustrations and a chronology
The first textbook introduction to the history of the Great Seljuk Islamic Empire to be published in English
Received an honorable mention at the 2016 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize
The Great Seljuk Empire was the Turkish state which dominated the Middle East and Central Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book surveys that period, which was one of exceptional importance, witnessing profound demographic, religious, political and social changes in the Islamic Middle East. The Turkish invasions played a role in provoking the Crusades, led to the collapse of Byzantine power in Anatolia and brought about the beginnings of Turkish settlement in what is now Turkey and Iran, permanently altering their ethnic and linguistic composition.
Key Features
- The first book in a western language to offer an overview of this major Islamic empire
- Provides a narrative history and a thematic analysis of the empire’s institutions and aspects of life in the Seljuk world
- Examines the political, administrative, military, religious, economic and social organization of the Great Seljuk Empire using a wide variety of historical and literary sources
- Draws on the evidence of archaeology and material culture
- Illustrated with images, maps, charts, family trees
- Text boxes introduce key themes and institutions
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