EXTERNAL TRADE of BILAD AL-SHAM in the EARLY ABBASID PERIOD the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean Are Two Water Bodies Which, F

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

EXTERNAL TRADE of BILAD AL-SHAM in the EARLY ABBASID PERIOD the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean Are Two Water Bodies Which, F ARAM, 8 (1996), 189-199 EXTERNAL TRADE EXTERNAL TRADE OF BILAD AL-SHAM IN THE EARLY ABBASID PERIOD NICOLA A. ZIADEH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS The Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean are two water bodies which, from time immemorial, experienced exchange of trade along their coasts. Appar- ently from very early times some trade had trickled from the one sea to the other; these commercial relations grew with time. There is, however, a land bridge which separated them: Bilad al-Sham and a strip of land in Egypt made direct sea – passage between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean impossi- ble. It is obvious that crossing this short distance in Egypt should prove to be the easier of the two land blocks. But the Red Sea is a treacherous water body. In the first place it abounds in coral-rief barriers, especially along the Arabian coasts. Secondly pirates find in it prosperous nests, when the grip of the state in Egypt loosens; this is, to my mind, is one reason why land routes from Yaman to the Hijaz prospered late in the fifth and sixth century A.D., when Byzantine authority in Egypt slackened; pirates infested the Red Sea. Thirdly there are many periods in the year when strong winds blow from both Egypt and the Peninsula southwards and collect strength at Bab al-Mandab bottle – neck, which thwarts the vessels of ancient times; they will have to spend lengths of time waiting at Aden or along the Horn of Africa.1 Bilad al-Sham – Iraq barrier, on the other hand, although much longer and more difficult to trespass, provides merchants with numerous towns and mar- kets along the road where goods could be exchanged, and profits realised. Be- sides, once merchants arrive at the southern reaches of the Land of the Two Rivers they have a choice of either going south to the Arab-Persian Gulf (to the Indian Ocean) or continuing their land journey over a track almost 11,000 k/ms long, to China, with points of contact with merchants coming from the northern lands carrying their goods – furs, hides, wax etc – for sale. Thus they could augment their own loads of merchandise. 1 I heard the following story told in Jordan. A friend of Amir (later King) Abdullah of Jordan paid him a visit one day, and after a while he took leave from the Amir, because as he said he was expecting a sailing vessel with his cargo to arrive at Aqaba. The Amir told him that the boat could not arrive before three weeks. However he insisted on leaving, went to Aqaba to find a cable waiting for him saying that the vessel is delayed for three weeks because of the strong winds blowing from the north. The friend was surprised, but then he was reminded that the Amir was a Hijazi and knew the nature of the winds of the Red Sea. 190 N.A. ZIADEH This is not the place to tell the story of the various attacks carried by the ancient empires from the East to occupy Bilad al-Sham for various purposes such as securing raw materials and the control of trade routes which traverse this land bridge; suffice it here to mention that the rulers of Ancient Persia deemed it worth while their effort to construct a royal road from Sardis (in Asia Minor) to Susa (in south – west Iran) to facilitate the movements of both armies and caravans. But this trans-Asian route could suffer set-backs when wars and troubles ensued between people or states along it. Thus we find that a parallel sea-route seems to have developed, which was rather active in the fifth and sixth centu- ries A.D. with Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as its focal point; and this route, which ex- panded eastwards with time became a very important one in days to come, so as to reach modern Indonesia and Southern China Sea. In the first two centuries of the Christian Era the long land route, which came to be known, some time in the nineteenth century, as the Silk Route, car- ried voluminous trade because rather amicable relations did, more or less, pre- vail along it among the empires which sat across it. They were the Late Ming Dynasty of China (A.D. 25-220); the Kushan Empire of North India and Af- ghanistan (c.A.D. 40-220); the Parthian Empire which ruled Iran, Iraq and their neighbours (c.250 B.C.-A.D.226). They all encouraged trade although occasional wars were never ruled out.2 The situation deteriorated when fighting broke out occasionally between the Parthians and the Romans along the Euphrates in the second and third centu- ries, yet trade was carried on via Palmyra until its destruction at the hands of Aurelian in A.D.273. With the Arabs emerging from the Peninsula and after their vast conquests a new situation came into existence. Though the conquests themselves disrupted trade routes for some times, eventually the lands between Central Asia and the Mediterranean were now under one ruler. The accession of the Abbasids to power in A.D.750 coincided, in its early period, say till circa 930, with a pe- riod of stability under the Tang Dynasty in China (A.D.618-906) a situation which was encouraging for traders to pursue their activities in, more or less, a usual way. EXPLOSION OF POPULATION During the period under review the area under Abbasid rule, whether real as at the beginning, or ephemeral as it developed after the first decades of the 2 V.E. Smith, Oxford History of India, (ed. P. Spears), (Oxford, 1958), 146-156; Lucy Boulnois, The Silk Road, (trans. from French by Demis Chamberlain), (New York, 1996), 60-73; Simkin, The Traditional Trade of Asia, (Oxford, 1968), 28-35, 38-48, 85f. EXTERNAL TRADE 191 tenth century, witnessed two developments which enhanced trade and com- merce. The first was a population explosion and the second was creation of numerous petty-states; some were practically independent, while others recog- nized a nomminal authority of the “Caliph”. The population explosion as such resulted from the movements of numerous nomadic tribes, both Arabs and others, into the newly created state. Tribes of smaller numbers moved from their arid areas seeking fortunes, or at least bet- ter living conditions, under the wings of the new rulers. Besides, numbers of Turks, in particular, sought service at the new courts, even before al-Mutasim (A.D.833-842) recruited Turks for the caliphal army and had them transferred to his new capital at Samarra. Other junior potentates followed suite. This was the beginning of the sweep of the Turks (Mongols) into the area some time later.2a Within the area itself one may consider the moves of Banu Aqil and Banu Kilab within Bilad al-Sham and the Peninsula, and the migration of the Kurds from the Zagros Mountains and Asia Minor south and south west as falling within this category. The second factor which caused this explosion is the numerous slaves that arrived from practically every corner of the earth – they were black, white and yellow. They were imported in large numbers to do various jobs in the great palaces. The Zanj who worked in the fertile parts of al-Sawad in southern Iraq (whether they were slaves or paid laborers)5 were so numerous that when they revolted it took the Abbasid caliphate fourteen years (869-883) to bring them to submission; any way after destroying the productive lands and the canals in the region. The preempted area was occupied by people coming from numer- ous places, far and near. The other development was the creation of new cities, and the repair of delapidated older ones, as camp towns and centres for administration. Then such towns served, when time came, as capitals of the newly created states and princedoms. The Abbasid Caliphal domain came to be studdied with fairly large and prosperous cities such as Nisapur, Ferghanah, Samarqand, Bukhara, Herat, Ray, Basra, Kufa and Damascus – let alone Baghdad itself. Each of those, and many others, became, at one time or another, a capital, a trade center or a place of learning. And most of them had their mosques, palaces, schools, qaysariyyas, and caravansaries. Most of such building were monu- 2a See David Morgan, The Mongols, (Oxford, 1986), passim. 3 Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphate, (London and New York, 1986), 285-308. 4 M.A. Shaban, Islamic History, A New Interpretation 2 A.D.750-1055 (A.H.132-448), (Cam- bridge, 1976), 100-102; Kennedy, 250-266. 5 Ibn Khurdadhbah, al-Masalik, 92; A.Metz, The Renaissance of Islam, 354-6, (Ar. transla- tion), vol. II 158-159, 372. 192 N.A. ZIADEH ments of art and architecture. Capitals, contained besides armies, numerous government officials and retainers. Such cities demanded supplies of different nature, and large quantities thereof. When soldiery is considered their needs go beyond those of the ordinary citizens; their attire, equipment and arms; their horses and the saddles for the animals, are only simple examples. Town people and courts and courtiers are prone to consume luxury goods, which merchants were prepared to supply. The wheel of commerce and trade turned heavily in order to meet the demand. COMMODOTIES The one single commodity which was most often sought was silk. Silk ma- terial first arrived in Iraq and Bilad al-Sham in the second century A.D. The cloth, which came from China was dyed in Syrian, and especially Lebanese cities, in various shades of purple and soon caught the imagination of people of authority or wealth.
Recommended publications
  • ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
    overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • The Caliphs, the ʿulamāʾ, and The
    The Caliphs, the ʿUlamāʾ, and the Law: Defining the Role and Function of the Caliph in the Early ʿAbbāsid Period Author(s): Muhammad Qasim Zaman Source: Islamic Law and Society, Vol. 4, No. 1 (1997), pp. 1-36 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3399239 . Accessed: 30/03/2011 20:19 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bap. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Islamic Law and Society. http://www.jstor.org THE CALIPHS, THE cULAMA', AND THE LAW: DEFINING THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF THE CALIPH IN THE EARLY 'ABBASID PERIOD MUHAMMADQASIM ZAMAN* (Quaid-iAzam University) Abstract The early 'Abbasidperiod is usuallythought of as a time when a definitiveand enduringseparation between religion and politics took place.
    [Show full text]
  • Umidissertation Information Service
    INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a manuscript sent to us for publication and microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to pho­ tograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction Is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. Pages in any manuscript may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. Manuscripts may not always be complete. When It Is not possible to obtain missing pages, a note appears to Indicate this. 2. When copyrighted materials are removed from the manuscript, a note ap­ pears to Indicate this. 3. Oversize materials (maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sec­ tio n in g the orig in al, beginning a t the upper le ft hand com er and co n tin u ­ ing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page Is also filmed as one exposure and Is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35mm slide or In black and white paper format. * 4. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or micro­ fiche but lack clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, all photographs are available In black and white standard 35mm slide format.* *For more information about black and white slides or enlarged paper reproductions, please contact the Dissertations Customer Services Department. Dissertation UMI Information Service University Microfilms Iniernational A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 N.
    [Show full text]
  • The Women of ISIS and the Al-Hol Camp | the Washington Institute
    MENU Policy Analysis / Fikra Forum The Women of ISIS and the Al-Hol Camp by John Saleh Aug 2, 2021 Also available in Arabic ABOUT THE AUTHORS John Saleh John Saleh is a journalist and political analyst focused on U.S. and foreign power involvement in the Middle East, with a special focus on Syria and Kurdish affairs. Saleh is a contributor to Fikra Forum. Brief Analysis Women and children in the al-Hol Camp are conducting ISIS operations and perpetuating ISIS's ideology. ne of the biggest mistakes after the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the fall of ISIS’s O self-proclaimed caliphate was to put ISIS families together with a large number of Iraqi and Syrian refugees in the al-Hol camp in the city of Hasaka, northeastern Syria. Of the camp’s approximately 62,000 people, an estimated 80 percent are women and children. While repatriation of those with foreign citizenship is an ongoing and challenging issue, the question of ongoing ideological extremism within the camp itself poses a serious issue for the Syrian Defense Forces personnel who guard it. Repeated episodes have demonstrated that the ISIS ideology is alive and well in al-Hol, maintained and perpetuated by ISIS families. Members of ISIS families tell journalists entering the al-Hol and Roj camps that they came to Syria to wage jihad for the sake of God, and that the ideology of ISIS is not yet over. In April 2019, women proudly shouted in front of an Al Arabiya TV camera: "our faith, ideology have been implanted here forever, and America, the Kurds, the infidels, and the Jews will not be able to remove it.
    [Show full text]
  • Out of the Valley of Qadisha
    Out of the Valley of Qadisha Modern Syro-Maronite Identity and its Impact on Relations with the Arab Islamic World Rachelle Haddad Conflict Studies Presented to: Prof. Pandimakil University of Saint Paul-Ottawa May 2020 © Rachelle Haddad, Ottawa, Canada, 2020 ii Table of Contents Abstract: 1 Introduction: 1 Overview of the Literature 2 Methodology 4 Chapter One: 7 Birth of the Maronite Church 7 Nation and Memory 11 Chapter Two: 16 Drawing the Borders of a Transnational Institution 16 The Holy Union of Church and State 20 The Valley of (Maronite) Saints 22 Redefining Society: Lay Leaders of Maronite Nationalism 24 Chapter Three: 33 A Past Made Present 33 Turning a State into a Homeland 36 Finding Oneself by Losing an Identity 38 The Writers of History 41 Out of Arabia 42 Stranger in One’s Home 43 The Cedar Before Spring 46 The Homeland in the Horizon 54 Rise of the Phoenix 60 iii We Speak As We Pray 67 Ruins and Restorations 70 The Spiritual Family 71 Between Two Worlds 77 Chapter Four: 78 The Ecumenical Tug of War 79 An Eye Into the Future 94 The Circle of Life and Death 98 Sectarian Secularism 99 Conclusion: 103 Annex: 105 Bibliography: 107 1 Abstract: The Maronite Church is an Eastern Church within the Catholic communion, taking the name of its most revered saint, a hermit of the fourth century known as Maron. Throughout its history, it has developed from a small community of Syrian refugee into an internationally present hierarchical Church numbering in the millions. Spread across the world, it remains deeply tied to its history and homeland in Lebanon where the Patriarch continues to reside.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Jihad: from Muhammad to ISIS
    ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE HISTORY OF JIHAD “Robert Spencer is one of my heroes. He has once again produced an invaluable and much-needed book. Want to read the truth about Islam? Read this book. It depicts the terrible fate of the hundreds of millions of men, women and children who, from the seventh century until today, were massacred or enslaved by Islam. It is a fate that awaits us all if we are not vigilant.” —Geert Wilders, member of Parliament in the Netherlands and leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) “From the first Arab-Islamic empire of the mid-seventh century to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the story of Islam has been the story of the rise and fall of universal empires and, no less importantly, of never quiescent imperialist dreams. In this tour de force, Robert Spencer narrates the transformation of the concept of jihad, ‘exertion in the path of Allah,’ from a rallying cry for the prophet Muhammad’s followers into a supreme religious duty and the primary vehicle for the expansion of Islam throughout the ages. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of the Manichean struggle between East and West and the nature of the threat confronted by the West today.” —Efraim Karsh, author of Islamic Imperialism: A History “Spencer argues, in brief, ‘There has always been, with virtually no interruption, jihad.’ Painstakingly, he documents in this important study how aggressive war on behalf of Islam has, for fourteen centuries and still now, befouled Muslim life. He hopes his study will awaken potential victims of jihad, but will they—will we—listen to his warning? Much hangs in the balance.” —Daniel Pipes, president, Middle East forum and author of Slave Soldiers and Islam: The Genesis of a Military System “Robert Spencer, one of our foremost analysts of Islamic jihad, has now written a historical survey of the doctrine and practice of Islamic sanctified violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the Tenth Century
    Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the Tenth Century 5908_Theotokis.indd i 14/09/18 11:38 AM 5908_Theotokis.indd ii 14/09/18 11:38 AM BYZANTINE MILITARY TACTICS IN SYRIA AND MESOPOTAMIA IN THE TENTH CENTURY A Comparative Study Georgios Theotokis 5908_Theotokis.indd iii 14/09/18 11:38 AM Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Georgios Theotokis, 2018 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/ 13 JaghbUni Regular by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 3103 3 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 3105 7 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 3106 4 (epub) The right of Georgios Theotokis to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). 5908_Theotokis.indd iv 14/09/18 11:38 AM Contents Acknowledgements vi List of Rulers vii Map 1 Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia viii Map 2 Armenian Themes and Pri ncipalities ix Introduction 1 1 The ‘Grand Strategy’ of the Byzantine Empire 23 2 Byzantine and Arab Strategies and Campaigning Tactics in Cilicia and Anatolia (Eighth–Tenth Centuries) 52 3 The Empire’s Foreign Policy in the East and the Key Role of Armenia (c.
    [Show full text]
  • In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Rn History
    The Military Policy of Leo III and Constantine V and lts Effect on Arab-Byzantine Warfare on the Taurus Border, 7L5-775 A.D. by CLINTON STAPLES A thesis presented to the University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts rn History Whnipeg, Manitoba Clint Staples, 1.994 WWW NationalLibrary Bibtiothèque narionate w -r W oluanada duCanada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et BibliographicServices Branch des services bibli'ographiques 395 Wellington Street 39S. rue Weltinoton Otlawa, Ontario Ottawa lOntarió KlA 0N4 xlA o¡là ' y*t t¡to votte fttêterce Ou l¡le Nolre Élêrcnce TTIE AUTHOR HAS GRANTED AN L'AUTEUR A ACCORDE UNE LICENCE IRREVO CABLE NON-EXCLUSIVE IRREVOCABLE ET NON EXCLUSIVE LICENCE ALLOWING TI{E NATIONAL PERMETTANT A LA BIBLIOTHEQUE LIBRARY OF CANADA TO NATIONALE DU CANADA DE REPRODUCE, LOAN, DISTRIBUTE OR REPRODUIRE, PRETER. DISTRIBUER SELL COPIES OF HISÆ{ER TI{ESIS BY OU VENDRE DES COPIES DE SA ANY MEANS AND IN ANY FORM OR TTIESE DE QTIELQUE MANIERE ET FORMAT, MAKING THIS THESIS SOUS QUELQUE FORME QUE CE SOIT AVAILABLE TO INTERESTED POUR METTRE DES ÐGMPLAIRES DE PERSONS. CETTE TITESE A LA DISPOSITION DES PERSONNE INTERESSEES. TÏ{E AUTHOR RETAINS OWNERSHIP L'AUTEUR CONSERVE LA PROPRIETE OF TIIE COPYRIGHT IN HISÆIER DU DROIT D'AUTEUR QUI PROTEGE THESIS. NEITI{ER THE TITESIS NOR SA THESE. NI LA TI{ESE NI DES SUBSTANTIAL EXTRACTS FROM IT EXTRAITS SUBSTANTIELS DE CELLE- MAY BE PRINTED OR OTITERWISE CI NE DOIVENT ETRE IMPRTMES OU REPRODUCED WITHOUT HIS/HER AUTREMENT REPRODUITS SANS SON PERMISSION.
    [Show full text]
  • Mutasim's March Through Cappadocia in A. D. 838 Author(S): J
    Mutasim's March Through Cappadocia in A. D. 838 Author(s): J. B. Bury Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 29 (1909), pp. 120-129 Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/624648 . Accessed: 12/01/2015 03:14 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Hellenic Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Mon, 12 Jan 2015 03:14:34 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions MUTASIM'S MARCH THROUGH CAPPADOCIA IN A.D. 838. IN the warfare between the Eastern Empire and the Caliphate in the ninth century, one of the most famous passages is the expedition of Mutasim, which was signalised by the siege and capture of Amorion, in A.D. 838. The best, in fact the only full, narrative of the campaign is preserved in the Chronicle of Tabari (A. H. 223).' His account of the opening operations of the invading armies is beset with certain geographical difficulties which I propose to consider in this paper, with the help of material supplied in the writings of Professor Ramsay, and in the hope that he may be able to throw further light on the subject.
    [Show full text]
  • The Medieval Mediterranean ;: Brill
    rI'II?IS Ile NVHNV2I2IHZIQHW'IVAHIQH1 'dHZ j or THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN;:BRILL THE REIGN OF LEO VI (886-912) THE MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES, ECONOMIES AND CULTURES, 400-1453 EDITORS MICHAEL WHITBY (Warwick) PAUL MAGDALINO, HUGH KENNEDY (St. Andrews) DAVID ABULAFIA (Cambridge) BENJAMIN ARBEL (Tel Aviv) MARK MEYERSON (Noire Dame) VOLUME 15 9 Qr r- lX683.S THE REIGN OF LEO VI (886-912) Politics and People BY SHAUN TOUGHER NEG1 1683 BRILL LEIDEN NEW YORK KOLN 1997 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tougher, Shaun. The reign of Leo VI (886-912) : politics and people/by Shaun Tougher. p. cm. - (Medieval Mediterranean ; v. 15) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9004108114 (cloth :alk. paper) 1. Byzantine Empire-History-Leo VI, 886-911. 2. Leo VI, Emperor of the East, 886-912. I. Title. II. Series. DF592.T68 1997 949.5'02DC21 97-22089 CIP Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Tougher, Shaun: The reign of Leo VI : (886 - 912) ; politics and people / by Shaun Tougher. - Leiden ; New York ; Koln : Brill, 1997 (The medieval Mediterranean : Vol. 15) ISBN 90-0410811-4 ISSN 0928-5520 ISBN 90 04 10811 4 © Copyright 1997 by Koninkl#ke Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................vii Abbreviations.................................................................................ix Map: The Empire of Leo VI, c.
    [Show full text]
  • Al-Mutanabbi : Voice of the 'Abbasid Poetic Ideal
    prelims.qxd 9/14/2007 1:54 PM Page i MAKERS of the MUSLIM WORLD Al-Mutanabbi prelims.qxd 9/14/2007 1:54 PM Page ii SELECTION OF TITLES IN THE MAKERS OF THE MUSLIM WORLD SERIES Series editor: Patricia Crone, Institute for Advanced Study,Princeton ‘Abd al-Malik, Chase F.Robinson Abd al-Rahman III, Maribel Fierro Abu Nuwas, Philip Kennedy Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Christopher Melchert Ahmad Riza Khan Barelwi, Usha Sanyal Al-Ma’mun, Michael Cooperson Al-Mutanabbi, Margaret Larkin Amir Khusraw,Sunil Sharma El Hajj Beshir Agha,Jane Hathaway Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis, Shazad Bashir Ibn ‘Arabi,William C. Chittick Ibn Fudi,Ahmad Dallal Ikhwan al-Safa, Godefroid de Callatay Shaykh Mufid,Tamima Bayhom-Daou For current information and details of other books in the series, please visit www.oneworld-publications.com prelims.qxd 9/14/2007 1:54 PM Page iii MAKERS of the MUSLIM WORLD Al-Mutanabbi Voice of the ‘Abbasid Poetic Ideal MARGARET LARKIN prelims.qxd 9/14/2007 1:54 PM Page iv AL-MUTANABBI Published by Oneworld Publications 2008 Copyright © Margaret Larkin 2008 All rights reserved Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 978–1–85168–406–9 Typeset by Jayvee,Trivandrum, India Printed and bound in India for Imprint Digital Oneworld Publications 185 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7AR England www.oneworld-publications.com Learn more about Oneworld. Join our mailing list to find out about our latest titles and special offers at: www.oneworld-publications.com prelims.qxd 9/14/2007 1:54 PM Page
    [Show full text]
  • JIHAD in the PERIOD 493-569/1100-1174 It Was by Tradition, Could Be Interpreted by Individual Religious Scholars to Meet the Needs of a Given Historical Situation
    CHAPTER THREE Jih ad in the Period 49 3-569/1100-1174 Among men there are those who battle, just as the Companions of the Prophet used to battle, for the hope of Paradise and not in order to sat­ isfy a desire or win a reputation.' (Usama) Introduction: Aims and Structure of the Chapter IN A RECENT BOOK devoted to the subject of war in the Middle East with contributions from a number of specialists, it is interesting to note that there was no chapter on the ideological aspects of warfare, namely jihad, Holy War in Islam.2 Moreover, one of the contributors, Rustow, repeats the view generally held in the West that 'Islam is the most martial of the world's great religions'.3 - The Crusades seem to be the very epitome of the phrase 'wars of religion'. The motives that propelled the Franks towards the Holy Land were of course multifarious. But Western scholarship has shown that there is no doubt that religion played a large part in the whole enterprise. There is no doubt also that the tools of religious propaganda and the symbols evoked in speeches and tracts of the Franks were those of the Christian faith - above all, the Cross, Jerusalem and Holy War. This chapter and the next examine from the Muslim side some of the religious aspects of the conflict between the Islamic world and Christian Europe. They will focus on the evolution of the Islamic concept of jihad (Holy War) during the Crusading period and will Figure 3.L Mounted warrior, highlight the role which religious propaganda - including religious stone mould, eleventh-twelfth architecture (plates 3.r, 3.2, 3.3-5; cf.
    [Show full text]