The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century

428 Pages·2022·5.788 MB·English

by  Hugh Kennedy

The Prophet and the Age
of the Caliphates
The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates is an accessible history of the Near
East from c.600 to 1050 AD, the period in which Islamic society was formed.
Beginning with the life of Muhammad and the birth of Islam, Hugh Ken-
nedy 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 politically and culturally far more developed than the West. The
crisis of the tenth century put an end to the political unity of the Muslim
world and saw the emergence of the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt and inde-
pendent dynasties in the Eastern Islamic world. The book concludes with
the advent of Seljuk Turkish rule in the m id-e leventh century. This new edi-
tion is fully updated to take into account recent research and there are two
entirely new chapters covering the economic background during the period,
and the north-e ast of Iran in the post-‘Abbasid period. Based on extensive
reading of the original Arabic sources, Kennedy breaks away from the Ori-
entalist tradition of seeing early Islamic history as a series of ephemeral
rulers and pointless battles by drawing attention to underlying long- term
social and economic processes.
The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates deals with issues of contin-
uing and increasing relevance in the twenty- frst century, when it is, per-
haps, more important than ever to understand the early development of the
Islamic world. Students and scholars of early Islamic history will fnd this
book a clear, informative 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 Soci-
ety in the Early Islamic State (2 001), The Great Arab Conquests: How the
Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In (2 007) and (a s editor) Warfare
and Poetry in the Middle East ( 2013).
A History of the Near East
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 Making of the Modern Near East 1792– 1923
M. E. Yapp
The Near East since the First World War
M. E. Yapp
Medieval Persia 1 040–1 797
David Morgan
The Formation of Turkey
C. Cahen
The Arab Lands under Ottoman Rule, 1516– 1800
J. Hathaway
https://w ww.routledge.com/A - H istory- o f- t he- N ear- E ast/b ook- s eries/
P EAHNE
The Prophet and the Age
of the Caliphates
The Islamic Near East from the Sixth
to the Eleventh Century
Fourth Edition
Hugh Kennedy
Cover image: “ A street in old Yazd, Iran.” Photo: the author.
Fourth edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Hugh Kennedy
The right of Hugh Kennedy to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted 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 edition published by Pearson Education Limited 1986
Third edition published by Routledge 2016
British Library C ataloguing-i n-P ublication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Kennedy, Hugh ( Hugh N.), author.
Title: The prophet and the age of the Caliphates: the Islamic Near East
from the sixth to the eleventh century / Hugh Kennedy.
Other titles: Islamic Near East from the sixth to the eleventh century |
History of the Near East.
Description: Fourth edition. | Abingdon, Oxon; New York,
NY: Routledge, 2022. |
Series: A history of the Near East | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021057075 ( print) | LCCN 2021057076 ( ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Islamic Empire—History— 622– 661. | Islamic
Empire— History— 661– 750. | Islamic Empire—History—750– 1258.
Classification: LCC DS38.5.K38 2022 ( print) | LCC DS38.5 ( ebook) |
DDC 956/. 013— dc23/ eng/ 20211214
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2021057075
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2021057076
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 36690- 2 ( hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 36689- 6 ( pbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 429- 34812- 9 ( ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9780429348129
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
In memory of my daughter, Susannah Louise,
who died far too young.
Loved and remembered every day, bright star.
Contents
List of maps ix
List of genealogical tables x
Preface to the first edition xi
Preface and acknowledgements xiii
Notes on names, titles and dates xv
1 The matrix of the Muslim world: the Near East in the
early seventh century 1
2 The birth of the Islamic state 14
3 Conquest and division in the time of the Rāshidūn caliphs 45
4 The Umayyad caliphate 74
5 The early ‘ Abbasid caliphate 112
6 The middle ‘ Abbasid caliphate 142
7 The early Islamic economy 179
8 The structure of politics in the Muslim commonwealth 192
9 The Buyid confederation 203
10 The Kurds 237
11 The Hamdanids 252
12 Bedouin political movements and dynasties 268
viii Contents
13 The Eastern Iranian world in the tenth and early
eleventh centuries 289
14 Early Islamic Egypt and the Fatimid empire 310
Postscript: the coming of the Seljuks 342
Principal sources for the history of the Near East, 600– 1050 345
Suggested further reading 376
Glossary 388
Index 391
Maps
1 The Central Islamic Lands xvii
2 Syria and the Byzantine Frontier xviii
3 Iran and the Caucasus xix
Genealogical tables
1 Muḥammad and the Descent of the Caliphs xx
2 The Umayyad Caliphs xxi
3 The ‘Abbasid Caliphs xxii
4 The Principal Buyid Rulers xxiii
5 The ‘Uqaylids of Mosul xxiv
6 The Hamdanids of Aleppo and Mosul xxv