The Prophet and the age of the caliphates : the Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century PDF
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The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates Third Edition The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates is an accessible history of the Near East from c. ad 600 to 1050, the period in which Islamic society was formed. Begin- ning with the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islam, Hugh Kennedy goes on to explore the great Arab conquests of the seventh century and the golden age of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates when the world of Islam was politi- cally and culturally far more developed than the West. The arrival of the Seljuk Turks and the period of political fragmentation which followed shattered this early unity, never to be recovered. This new edition is fully updated to take into account the considerable amount of new research on early Islam, and contains a completely revised bib- liography. Based on extensive reading of the original Arabic sources, Kennedy breaks away from the Orientalist tradition of seeing early Islamic history as a series of ephemeral rulers and pointless battles by drawing attention to underly- ing long-term social and economic processes. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates deals with issues of continuing and increasing relevance in the twenty-first century, when it is, perhaps, more important than ever to understand the early development of the Islamic world. Students and scholars of early Islamic history will find this book a clear, inform- ative and readable introduction to the subject. Hugh Kennedy is Professor of Arabic at SOAS, University of London. His previous publications include The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State (2001), The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In (2007) and (as editor) Warfare and Poetry in the Middle East (2013). This page intentionally left blank The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates The Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century Third Edition Hugh Kennedy This edition published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Hugh Kennedy The right of Hugh Kennedy to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First published 1986 by Pearson Education Limited Second edition published 2004 by Pearson Education Limited British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kennedy, Hugh (Hugh N.) The Prophet and the age of the caliphates : the Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century / Hugh Kennedy. — Third Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Islamic Empire—History—622-750. 2. Islamic Empire—History—750-1258. I. Title. DS38.5.K38 2015 956'.013—dc23 2015020347 ISBN: 978-1-138-78760-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-78761-2 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67351-6 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC In memory of my daughter, Susannah Louise, who died far too young. Loved and remembered every day, bright star. This page intentionally left blank Contents List of maps ix List of genealogical tables x Preface to the third edition xi Preface to the second edition xii Preface xiii Notes on names, titles and dates xiv 1 The matrix of the Muslim world: the Near East in the early seventh century 1 2 The birth of the Islamic state 13 - - 3 Conquest and division in the time of the Rashidun caliphs 43 4 The Umayyad caliphate 71 5 The early ‘Abbasid caliphate 107 6 The middle ‘Abbasid caliphate 136 7 The structure of politics in the Muslim commonwealth 172 8 The Buyid confederation 182 9 The Kurds 214 10 The Hamdanids 229 11 Bedouin political movements and dynasties 244 12 Early Islamic Egypt and the Fatimid empire 264 viii Contents Postscript: the coming of the Seljuks 295 Principal sources for the history of the Near East, 600–1050 298 Suggested further reading 332 Glossary 341 Index 345 Maps 1 Provinces of the early Islamic world xvi 2 Syria, Palestine and the western Jazira xvii 3 Iraq and western Iran xviii 4 Egypt xix
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