The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (2nd Edition)

441 Pages·2004·3.3 MB·English

by  Hugh Kennedy

Kennedy_ppr 30/06/2006 06:29 AM Page 1
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The Near East and Islamic society have never been as close to the forefront of EE
international attention.In this time of conflict the Western population is
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increasingly eager to expand their knowledge of the region’s past.This updated
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edition of Hugh Kennedy’s popular introduction to the history of the Near East
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is a timely aid to this quest for knowledge about the roots of Islam. L
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The Prophet and the Age of Caliphatesis an accessible guide to the history of
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the Near East from c.600–1050AD,the period in which Islamic society was E
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formed.Beginning with the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islam,Kennedy T
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goes on to explore the great Arab conquests of the seventh century and the
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golden age of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates when the world of Islam
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was politically and culturally far more developed than the West.A period of
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political fragmentation shattered this early unity,never to be recovered.

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This new edition takes into account new research on early Islam and contains a
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fully updated bibliography.Based on extensive reading of the original Arabic
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sources,Kennedy breaks away from the Orientalist tradition of seeing early

Islamic history as a series of ephemeral rulers and pointless battles by drawing A
attention to underlying long term social and economic processes.
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This book deals with issues of continuing and increasing relevance in the

twenty-first century,when it is,perhaps,more important than ever to O
understand the early development of the Islamic world.General readers and
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scholars of early Islamic history will find Kennedy’s book a clear,informative

and readable introduction to the subject.
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Hugh Kennedy is Professor of Middle Eastern History at the University of St EDITION
Andrews.His previous publications include Crusader Castles;Muslim Spainand
Portugal andArmies of the Caliphs:Military and Society in the Early Islamic State.
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Cover image:Detail of the court of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
Photograph by the author. N
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www.pearson-books.com
T P
HE ROPHET AND THE
A C
GE OF THE ALIPHATES
(cid:1)
A History of the Near East
General Editor: Professor P. M. Holt
* The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: the Islamic Near East
from the sixth to the eleventh century
Hugh Kennedy
* The Age of the Crusades: the Near East from the eleventh century
to 1517
P. M. Holt
The Rise of the Ottoman Empire 1300–1574
C. Kafadar
The Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1574–1792
R. C. Repp and G. Piterberg
* The Making of the Modern Near East 1792–1923
M. E. Yapp
* The Near East since the First World War
M. E. Yapp
* Medieval Persia 1040–1797
David Morgan
* Already published
T P
HE ROPHET
A
AND THE GE OF
C
THE ALIPHATES
(cid:1)
THE ISLAMIC NEAR EAST FROM THE
SIXTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY
Second edition
H K
UGH ENNEDY
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow CM20 2JE
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.pearsoned.co.uk
First published in Great Britain in 1986
Second edition 2004
© Pearson Education Limited 1986, 2004
The right of Hugh Kennedy to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 0 582 40525 4
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book can be obtained from the Library of Congress
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior
written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying
in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd,
90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. This book may not be lent,
resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the
prior consent of the Publishers.

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Typeset in 10.5/13pt Galliard by 35
Printed and bound in Malaysia
The Publishers’ policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests.
C(cid:1)ONTENTS
LIST OF GENEALOGICAL TABLES viii
LIST OF MAPS ix
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION x
PREFACE xi
NOTE: NAMES, TITLES AND DATES xiii
chapter one THE MATRIX OF THE MUSLIM
WORLD: THE NEAR EAST IN THE
EARLY SEVENTH CENTURY 1
chapter two THE BIRTH OF THE ISLAMIC STATE 15
Arabia in the Sixth Century 15
The Early Life of Muqammad 29
Muqammad in Medina 33
chapter three CONQUEST AND DIVISION IN THE
TIME OF THE RuSHIDyN CALIPHS 50

Abe Bakr and the Ridda Wars 11–13/
632–634 50
‘Umar and the Early Islamic Conquests
13–23/634–644 57
‘Uthman and the Beginnings of Internal
Strife 23–35/644–656 69
The Caliphate of ‘Alc 35–40/656–661 75
chapter four THE UMAYYAD CALIPHATE 82
The Sufyanid Caliphs: Mu‘awiya and his
Family 41–64/661–684 82
The Foundation of the Marwanid Caliphate
and the Achievement of ‘Abd al-Malik
64–86/684–705 90
·v·
CONTENTS
The Sons of ‘Abd al-Malik and ‘Umar II:
Consolidation and Division in the
Marwanid Caliphate 86–125/705–743 103
The Collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate
125–132/743–750 112
chapter five THE EARLY ‘ABBASID CALIPHATE 123
The Coming of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate
132–145/750–763 123
The Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate
145–193/763–809 132
The Great ‘Abbasid Civil War 193–218/
809–833 147
chapter six THE MIDDLE ‘ABBASID CALIPHATE 156
The Rise of the Turkish Army and the
Caliphate of Samarra 218–247/833–861 156
The Anarchy at Samarra 247–256/861–870 169
The Revival of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate
256–295/870–908 173
The Disastrous Reigns of al-Muqtadir and his
Successors 295–334/908–946 185
chapter seven THE STRUCTURE OF POLITICS IN
THE MUSLIM COMMONWEALTH 198
chapter eight THE BUYID CONFEDERATION 210
The Origins 210

Expansion and Conflict 215
The Years of Decline: 372–440/983–1048 234
The Buyid Kingdom of Rayy 243
chapter nine THE KURDS 248
chapter ten THE HAMDANIDS 265
The Hamdanids of Mosul 265
The Hamdanids of Aleppo 273
chapter eleven BEDOUIN POLITICAL MOVEMENTS
AND DYNASTIES 283
Origins 283
The Qaramisa 285
·vi·
CONTENTS
The Bedouin Dynasties 290
The Mazyadids 292
The ‘Uqaylids 295
The Mirdasids 300
Other Bedouin Tribes 304
chapter twelve EARLY ISLAMIC EGYPT AND THE
FATIMID EMPIRE 307
POSTSCRIPT: THE COMING OF THE
SELJUKS 343
PRINCIPAL SOURCES FOR THE
HISTORY OF THE NEAR EAST, 600–1050 346
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING 385
GLOSSARY 393
GENEALOGICAL TABLES 395
MAPS 401
INDEX 407

·vii·
LIST OF GEN(cid:1)EALOGICAL TABLES
1 Muqammad and the Descent of the Caliphs 396
2 The Umayyad Caliphs 397
3 The ‘Abbasid Caliphs 398
4 The Principal Buyid Rulers 399
5 The ‘Uqaylids of Mosul 400
6 The Hamdanids of Aleppo and Mosul 400

·viii·
LIS(cid:1)T OF MAPS
1 Provinces of the Early Islamic world 402
2 Syria, Palestine and the Western Jazira 404
3 Iraq and Western Iran 405
4 Egypt 406

·ix·