The Abbasid Caliphate: A History

367 Pages·2021·8.913 MB·English

by  Tayeb El-Hibri

The Abbasid Caliphate
TheperiodoftheAbbasidcaliphate(750–1258)haslongbeenrecognized
astheformativeperiodofIslamiccivilizationwithitsvariousachievements
intheareasofscience,literature,andculture.ThishistoryoftheAbbasid
caliphate from its foundation in 750 and golden age under Harun al-
RashidtotheconquestofBaghdadbytheMongolsin1258examinesthe
caliphateasanempireandinstitution,andprobesitsinfluenceoverIslamic
culture and society. Ranging widely to survey the entire five-century
historyoftheAbbasiddynasty,TayebEl-Hibriexaminestheresilienceof
thecaliphateasaninstitution,asafocalpointofreligiousdefinitions,and
asasourceoflegitimacytovariouscontemporaryIslamicmonarchies.The
studyrevisitsideasof‘goldenage’and‘decline’withanewreading,triesto
separateAbbasidhistoryfromthemythsoftheArabianNights,andshows
howthelegacyofthecaliphscontinuestoresonateinthemodernworldin
directandindirectways.
tayeb el-hibri isProfessorofNearEasternStudiesattheUniversityof
Massachusetts,Amherst.HeistheauthorofParableandPoliticsinEarly
IslamicHistory:TheRashidunCaliphs(2010)andReinterpretingIslamic
Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the Abbasid
Caliphate (1999), which won the Albert Hourani Award Honorable
MentionattheMiddleEastStudiesAssociationConventionin2000.He
haspublishedarticlesontheAbbasidsinjournalsincludingArabica,Der
Islam, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Journal of the
American Oriental Society, and Journal of the Economic and Social
HistoryoftheOrient.

The Abbasid Caliphate
A History
tayeb el-hibri
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DOI:10.1017/9781316869567
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Title:TheAbbasidCaliphate:ahistory/TayebEl-Hibri.
Description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork:CambridgeUniversity
Press,2021.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2020035181(print)|LCCN2020035182(ebook)|ISBN
9781107183247(hardback)|ISBN9781316634394(paperback)|ISBN
9781316869567(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Abbasids–History.|IslamicEmpire–History–750–1258.
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Contents
ListofFigures pageviii
ListofMaps xi
Acknowledgments xii
NoteonTransliteration xiv
Chronology xv
ListofAbbreviations xxv
GenealogicalChartoftheCaliphs xxvi
Maps xxviii
1 Introduction 1
2 FromRevolutiontoFoundations(750–775) 28
3 TheGoldenAgeoftheAbbasidCaliphate(775–833) 69
4 FromTriumphtoTribulation(833–990) 131
5 TheCaliphateasaReligiousAuthority(990–1225) 193
6 TheTwilightoftheAbbasidCaliphate(1225–1258) 246
7 Conclusion 277
Appendix:TheAbbasidCaliphs 286
Glossary 288
Bibliography 297
Index 320
The plate section can be found between pp 192 and 193.
vii
Figures
Plates
1 ScholarsinBaghdadLibraryScenebyMahmudb.
Yahyaal-Wasiti(ca.1237)(ScienceSource/akg-images)
2 MessagefromapulpitinBasra,Wasitipainting
(ca.1237)(PicturesfromHistory/akg-images)
3 KhanMirjancaravanserai,Baghdad(1359)(Gerard
DeGeorge/akg-images)
4 Islamicastrolabe(eleventhcentury)(bildarchivSteffens/
akg-images)
5 al-Idrisi’smapoftheworld(ca.1154)(Picturesfrom
History/akg-images)
6 SpiralminaretofSamarra(bildarchivSteffens/Science
Library/akg-images)
7 BurjKhalifa,Dubai(IAMWorldHistoryArchive/akg-
images)
8 AmericanarchitectFrankLloydWright’s“Planfor
GreaterBaghdad”(1957)includeddesignsfora
university,aculturalcenter,anoperahouse,museums,
botanicalgardens,anda100-meterstatue,onanisland
hecalled“Edena,”ofHarunal-Rashidontopofaspiral
minaretmodeledonSamarra’sninth-centuryMalwiya
minaret.
9 IlluminatedleaffromaQurʾanmanuscriptinKufic
script(ninthcentury)(PicturesfromHistory/akg-images)
BlackandWhiteFiguresandCoins
1 Dirham,al-Mansur,146/763,Baghdad 186
2 Dirham,al-Mahdi,159/776,Baghdad 186
viii
ListofFigures ix
3 Dirham,Harunal-Rashid(al-khalifaal-Rashid),171/787,
Haruniyya 186
4 Dirham,al-Maʾmun/Alial-Rida/Dhu’l-Riyasatayn,203/
818,al-Mashriq/Samarqand 186
5 Dinar,Dhu’l-Riyasatayn,199/814,Iraq 186
6 Dirham,al-Muʿtasim,219/834,Fars 186
7 Dirham,al-Wathiq,228/843,Isfahan 187
8 Dinar,al-Nasir,606/1209,Baghdad 187
9 Dinar,al-Mustansir,624/1227,Baghdad 187
10 Dinar,al-Mustaʿsim,645/1247,Baghdad; 187
11 (Mamluk)al-Sultanal-Malikal-AshrafKhalil
(r.1290–1293),Muhyial-Dawlaal-Abbasiyya
(“reviveroftheAbbasidstate”),Egypt 187
12 ViewofSamarra’sGreatMosqueandSpiralMinaret
(ScienceSourceImages) 188
13 AerialviewofSamarra(AshmoleanMuseum,Oxford) 188
14 Herzfeld’sdrawingofJawsaqal-Khaqanientranceat
Samarra(reconstructionofportalandstairstolake,
D1101.Originaldrawing.ErnstHerzfeldPapers.Freer
GalleryofArtandArthurM.SacklerGalleryArchives,
SmithsonianInstitution,Washington,DC) 189
15 Herzfeld’sdrawingofJawsaqal-Khaqani/Daral-Khilafa
(D1101.Originaldrawing.ErnstHerzfeldPapers.Freer
GalleryofArtandArthurM.SacklerGalleryArchives,
SmithsonianInstitution,Washington,DC) 189
16 Creswell’sphotoofportaltoJawsaqal-Khaqani
(AshmoleanMuseum,Oxford) 190
17 ThemosqueofKazimaynandshrineofShiʿiimamsin
Baghdad,ca.1925(HeritageImages/akg-images) 190
18 ViewofBaghdad,earlytwentiethcentury(A.Kerim/
HeritageImages/akg-images) 191
19 TheTalsimTower,Baghdad(A.Kerim/HeritageImages/
akg-images) 191
20 InscriptionabovedoorwayofRumSeljuksultanʿAlaal-Din
KayqubadMosque(Konya,1220)invokessupportforthe
caliphwiththetitle“ProofoftheCommanderofthe
Faithful”(DeAgostiniPicturesLibrary/akg-images) 191