The rise of Islam PDF
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TheRiseofIslam.pdf 12/01/2009 18:14:50 The Idea The Idea of Iran Vol. 4 The Idea of Iran Vol. 4 Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is Curator of Islamic and Iranian Coins at the British Museum and President of the British Institute of of Iran The R ise of Persian Studies. Vol. 4 Isl a m Her previous publications include Persian Myths and Persian T Love Poetry (British Museum Press), The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia (I.B.Tauris), Persian Love Poetry and, with h Elizabeth Errington, From Persepolis to the Punjab (British Edited by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis e Museum Press). and Sarah Stewart R Sarah Stewart is Deputy Director of the London Middle East Institute at SOAS and teaches Zoroastrianism in the i The latest volume in the successful series The Idea of Iran Department of Religions at SOAS. Her current research is on s addresses the impact made by Islam during and after the Arab the oral history of Zoroastrians in Iran. e conquest of Iran in the middle of the seventh century. Following the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, Zoroastrianism was o Contributions: supplanted, over the next two centuries, by the new faith, Islam. f Yet how and why, once Iran had embraced the new religion, did Re-emergence of Iranian Identity after Conversion to Islam it manage to retain its Persian language and distinctive Iranian – Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University I identity once Muslim governance took hold? This conundrum, s alongside other important questions, is addressed by the book, Survival of Iranianness l which includes seven distinguished contributions from leading – Hugh N. Kennedy, School of Oriental and African Studies, a London scholars. Discussing a large variety of subjects which covers the m whole spectrum of life in early Islamic Iran, the volume offers The Persistent Older Heritage in the Medieval Iranian Lands one of the most ambitious perspectives on Persian religion, – C. Edmund Bosworth, University of Exeter society and culture to be published to date. It will be consulted C by all students of Iranian history, and will be regarded as Economy and Society in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment M in World History essential reading for scholars of Islam, the Middle East and medieval religion alike. Y – Richard W. Bulliet, Columbia University CM Oranges, Quiddities and Algorisms Opening the volume with a masterly survey, Ehsan Yarshater MY – Lutz Richter-Bernburg, University of Tübingen explores the profound changes to culture and society in an Iran ruled by the Arabs; and addresses the intriguing CY The Cross and the Lotus: The Armenian Miscellany Patmut‘iwn question of why, despite these changes, the country retained płnjē k‘ałak‘i (’History of the City of Brass’) on the Periphery of CMY a distinctively Persian identity following conversion to Islam. the Iranian oikoumene K – James R. Russell, Harvard University Hugh N. Kennedy elaborates on the reasons for the survival of this identity, and compares Iran to Syria and Egypt, where What Happened to the Sasanian Hunt in Islamic Art? – in stark contrast – pre-Islamic culture was marginalised – Robert Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh and the pre-Islamic languages disappeared from common use. C. Edmund Bosworth discusses the wider survival and persistence of pre-Islamic traditions in Iran, despite a aE discouraging tradition amongst Muslim rigorists that ‘Islam nd d Sarah Sited by Ve T h e R i s e o f catRhanircndehc eteah-lraesdn ti dhnW-eca.r p-eBhaauassllitfnl’ .ic geAe tusn ssrtbheuaosrsinweiinsss ga fh otsoiloolwoncw i,aa tinlh nadagn t w tdtho heeoyc kAoI rrpnaalonba m cbceeoic cni ncaq hmtuhaeenes gtthe, es , most tewsta important and dynamic region of the Islamic caliphate. Turning a S I s l a m to science and learning, Lutz Richter-Bernburg examines rtar the many ways in which the Iranian people contributed to k h vibrant developments in medicine, mathematics, astronomy o s and philosophy during the period. James R. Russell offers h C an analysis of the medieval Armenian collection of didactic u tales and precepts, Tale of the City of Brass, which includes r t www.ibtauris.com is fascinating Persian and Islamic materials that reflect the wider Front jacket image: storytelling conventions of central Asia. Finally, using the Arab-Sasanian silver coin with the portrait of the Sasanian king Khusrau II, but with in association with Edited by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis example of the royal hunter – a familiar theme of Iranian court Arabic inscription bismillah on the margin. British Museum collection © Trustees of the British Museum. art – as a test case, Robert Hillenbrand shows how Islamic and Sarah Stewart artists grappled with, copied, misunderstood and popularised Back jacket image: Arab-Sasanian silver coin showing a Zoroastrian fire altar and attendants. British the rich Sasanian culture which they inherited. Museum collection © Trustees of the British Museum. Cover design: Chris Bromley The Rise of Islam This Volume is dedicated to Peter Avery The Rise of Islam The Idea of Iran Volume IV Edited By Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis and Sarah Stewart in association with The London Middle East Institute at SOAS and The British Museum Supported by the Soudavar Memorial Foundation Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © London Middle East Institute, 2009 The right of Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis & Sarah Stewart to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by the editors in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978 1 84511 691 0 ePDF ISBN 978 0 85772 406 9 The Idea of Iran Vol. 4 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: available Typeset by P. Fozooni Contents Introduction 1 Re-emergence of Iranian Identity after Conversion to Islam 5 Ehsan Yarshater Survival of Iranianness 13 Hugh Kennedy The Persistent Older Heritage in the Medieval Iranian Lands 30 C. Edmund Bosworth Economy and Society in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History 44 Richard W. Bulliet Oranges, Quiddities and Algorisms 61 Lutz Richter-Bernburg The Cross and the Lotus: The Armenian miscellany Patmut‘iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) 71 k‘a(cid:2)ak‘i (‘History of the City of Brass’) On the Periphery of the Iranian Oikoumene James R. Russell What Happened to the Sasanian Hunt in Islamic Art? 84 Robert Hillenbrand List of Abbreviations 103 Bibliography 105 List of Figures Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 73 c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar, Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE. Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 74 c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar, Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE. Panjikant frescoes, Sogd, c. 8th century; Muraqqa‘, Iran and Central Asia, 76 c. late 14th century; Church of the Holy Cross, south elevation, A(cid:2)t‘amar, Vaspurakan, Armenia, 920 CE. Patmut'iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) k'a(cid:2)ak'i, Constantinople, 1803, frontispiece showing the 78 travellers entering the City of Brass. Patmut‘iwn p(cid:2)nj(cid:3) k‘a(cid:2)ak‘i, Constantinople, 1803; Parable of the Phantom 79 City, Mogaoku, Dunhuang. Taq-i Bustan: hunting scene (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 236). 86 Silk from Sant’ Ambrogio, Milan (after Vollbach 1969: pl. 46). 87 Reconstruction of the Milan silk (after Ierusalimskaja and Borkopp 1996: 88 pl. on page 13). Coptic decorative roundel with two horsemen, 6th century CE (after 89 Vollbach 1969: pl. 34). Medallion with an emperor on a lion-hunt, perhaps 8th century CE, Mozac 90 (after Vollbach 1969: pl. 55). Silk medallion with two horsemen, Maastricht (after Vollbach 1969: pl. 91 47). So-called Yazdigird silk, Berlin (after von Falke 1913: pl. 105). 92 Bahram Gur silk (after Bréhier 1936: pl. LXXXVI). 93 Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 445). 95 Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Ghirshman 1962: pl. 444). 96 Japanese silk of Sasanian inspiration (after Hayashi 1975: pl. 82). 97 Acknowledgements The editors are grateful to the Trustees of the Soudavar Memorial Foundation for sponsoring the symposia and making the publication of the proceedings possible. In particular, we are indebted to Mrs Fatema Soudavar-Farmanfarmaian for her help, advice and involvement in the planning of each symposium. This volume would not have been possible without the input and expertise of Dr. Parvis Fozooni, who once again has formatted and typeset this volume with his usual dedication and eye for detail. We are also grateful to Burzine Waghmar for copyediting the papers. We would like to thank Iradj Bagherzade, Alex Wright and staff at I.B.Tauris for their help in producing the publication. Finally, our thanks go to the authors who submitted their papers, thereby making it possible to publish this series in record time.
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