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The Expansion of the Early Islamic State
By
Fred M. Donner
Description
This volume
presents a selection of the key studies in which leading scholars
since the beginning of the 20th century attempt to explain the
phenomenally rapid expansion of the early Islamic state during the
7th century CE. The articles debate the causes for the conquest
movement or expansion, the reasons for its success, the nature of the
movement itself, the impact the expansion had on the countries
affected by it, and the complex questions surrounding the sources on
which historians have constructed their views of the expansion, and
the reliability (or lack of it) of those sources. No articles devoted
to the actual conquest of a given locality are included-hundreds
exist-but a fairly extensive bibliography lists many of the more
important contributions in this genre. The editor\\\\\\\'s introduction
addresses the phenomenon of the expansion and how scholars have
approached and grappled with it.
Contents
Introduction; The
art of war of the Arab conquerors, Leone Caetani; Some critical and
sociological remarks on the Arab conquest and the theories proposed
on this, G.H. Bousquet; Observations on the nature and causes of the
Arab conquest, G.H. Bousquet; The nomad as empire builder: a
comparison of the Arab and Mongol conquests, John J. Saunders; The
Arab expansion: the military problem, Marius Canard; The 1st
expansion of Islam: factors of thrust and containment, Gustave von
Grunebaum; The conquest, Christian Décobert; Another
orientalist\\\\\\\'s remarks concerning the Pirenne thesis, Andrew S.
Ehrenkreutz; Initial Byzantine reactions to the Arab conquest, Walter
E. Kaegi; Only a change of masters? The Christians of Iran and the
Muslim conquest, Stephen Gerö; An apocalyptic vision of Islamic
history, Bernard Lewis; The legendary Futuh literature, Rudi Paret;
On the relationship in the Caliphate between central power and the
provinces: the \\\\\\\'Sulh\\\\\\\'-\\\\\\\'\\\\\\\'Anwa\\\\\\\' traditions in Egypt and Iraq, Albrecht
Noth; Ibn Abd Al-Hakam and the conquest of North Africa, Robert
Brunschwig; The birth of Islam in the Holy Land, Moshe Sharon;
Isfahan-Niwand. A source-critical study of early Islamic
historiography, Albrecht Noth; Centralized authority and military
autonomy in the early Islamic conquests, Fred M. Donner; The conquest
of Khuzistan: a historiographical reassessment, Chase F. Robinson;
Syriac views of emergent Islam, S.P. Brock; Index.
About the Author/Editor
Fred M. Donner is
Professor of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago, USA
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