The great caliphs : the golden age of the 'Abbasid Empire

In this accessibly written history, Amira K. Bennison contradicts the common assumption that Islam somehow interrupted the smooth flow of Western civilization from its Graeco-Roman origins to its more recent European and American manifestations. Instead, she places Islamic civilization in the longer trajectory of Mediterranean civilizations and sees the ‘Abbasid Empire (750–1258 CE) as the inheritor and interpreter of Graeco-Roman traditions. At its zenith the ‘Abbasid caliphate stretched over the entire Middle East and part of North Africa, and influenced Islamic regimes as far west as Spain. Bennison's examination of the politics, society, and culture of the ‘Abbasid period presents a picture of a society that nurtured many of the “civilized” values that Western civilization claims to represent, albeit in different premodern forms: from urban planning and international trade networks to religious pluralism and academic research. Bennison's argument counters the common Western view of Muslim culture as alien and offers a new perspective on the relationship between Western and Islamic cultures. "The flowering of the 'Abbasid caliphate between 750 and 1258 CE is often considered the classical age of Islamic civilization. In the preceding 120 years, the Arabs - inspired by their powerful new version of Abrahamic monotheism, Islam - had conquered much of the known world of antiquity and established a vast empire stretching from Spain to China. But was this empire really so very different, as has sometimes been claimed, from what it superseded? The Great Caliphs explores the immense achievements of the 'Abbasid age through the lens of Mediterranean history." "When the Umayyad caliphs were replaced by the 'Abbasids in 750, and the Arab capital moved to the purpose-built city of Baghdad, Iraq quickly became the centre not only of an imperium but also of a culture built on the foundations of the great civilizations of antiquity: Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Persia. Debunking popular misconceptions about the Arab conquests, Amira Bennison shows that, far from seeing themselves as purging the 'occidental' culture of the ancient world with a 'pure' and 'oriental' Islamic doctrine, the 'Abbasids perceived themselves to be as much within the tradition of Mediterranean and Near Eastern empire as any of their predecessors. Like other outsiders who inherited the Roman Empire, the Arabs had as much interest in preserving as in destroying, even while they were challenged by the paganism of the past. Indebted to that past while building creatively on its foundations, the 'Abbasids and their rulers inculcated and nurtured precisely the 'civilized' values which western civilization so often purports to represent, sometimes in apparent opposition to Islam. The Great Caliphs shows what a huge debt Europe in fact owes to these remarkable Muslim rulers."--Jacket. Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Acknowledgements 10 Note on Transliteration and Arabic Conventions 11 Introduction 12 1. A Stormy Sea: The Politics of the 'Abbasid Caliphate 21 The making of an empire 22 The Umayyads: Islam's first caliphal dynasty 28 The rise of the 'Abbasids 35 The early 'Abbasid caliphate 38 The Samarran interlude 47 The Shi'i century 50 The Saljuq sultanate and the 'Sunni revival' 54 The Crusades and the twilight of the caliphate 58 2. From Baghdad to Cordoba: The Cities of Classical Islam 65 Arab urbanism at the dawn of Islam 68 The first Muslim towns 71 Umayyad urbanism 75 'Abbasid imperial cities and their imitators 80 Provincial cities in the 'Abbasid age 91 3. Princes and Beggars: Life and Society in the 'Abbasid Age 105 Peasants and country folk 108 The people of the city 110 Women and children 121 The religious minorities 133 Beggars and tricksters 144 4. The Lifeblood of Empire: Trade and Traders in the 'Abbasid Age 148 Routes and commodities 152 Merchants and pilgrims 158 Trade facilities 161 5. Baghdad's 'Golden Age': Islam's Scientific Renaissance 169 The foundations of Islamic learning 172 The flowering of knowledge under the 'Abbasids 178 The 'Abbasid translation movement 186 Translations, translators and scientists 193 Knowledge and science after the translation movement 205 6. The 'Abbasid Legacy 214 Notes 227 Bibliography 236 Index 246 A 246 B 247 C 248 D 248 E 248 F 249 G 249 H 249 I 250 J 250 K 251 L 251 M 251 N 252 O 252 P 252 Q 253 R 253 S 253 T 254 U 254 V 255 W 255 Y 255 Z 255 9780300152272 Yale University Press In this accessibly written history, Amira K. Bennison contradicts the common assumption that Islam somehow interrupted the smooth flow of Western civilization from its Graeco-Roman origins to its more recent European and American manifestations. Instead, she places Islamic civilization in the longer trajectory of Mediterranean civilizations and sees the \2018Abbasid Empire (750\20131258 CE) as the inheritor and interpreter of Graeco-Roman traditions