The Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba

The Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba

Author: Peter C. Scales

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 1993-12-31

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9789004098688

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book throws the weight of historical expertise into an analysis of a crucial and yet often-neglected period of Spanish history, the breakup of the Muslim Caliphate of Cordoba in the early eleventh century.


The Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba

The Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba

Author: Scales

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 1994-02-01

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 9004610820

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is a discussion of the complex events which surround the breakup of the Muslim Caliphate of Córdoba in the early eleventh century. The focus of the study concerns quite a short period of time: 1009-1031 A.D., although a wide-ranging investigation of the political structure of Muslim Spain is embarked on. A thorough narrative of the events is followed by separate discussions of some of the main groups involved in the civil wars, the Marwānids (the supporters of a legitimately-appointed Umayyad representative), the saqāliba (Slavs), the Berbers and the Christians of northern Spain. This book is able to fill the gap in our knowledge of this hitherto little-understood period of Spanish history and tackles important questions, such as the attitude towards the Berbers, tribal solidarity and the importance of land-reforms during the 10th century


'Abd al-Rahman III

'Abd al-Rahman III

Author: Maribel Fierro

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-12-01

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 1780741871

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Abd al-Rahman III (891 - 961) was the greatest of the Umayyad rulers of Spain and the first to take the title of Caliph. During his reign, Islamic Spain became wealthy and prosperous. He founded the great Caliphate of Madinat al-Zahra at Cordova and did much in his lifetime to pacify his realm and stabilise the borders with Christian Spain. He died at the apex of his power on Oct. 15, 961.


Muslim Spain and Portugal

Muslim Spain and Portugal

Author: Hugh Kennedy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-11

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1317870409

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is the first study in English of the political history of Muslim Spain and Portugal, based on Arab sources. It provides comprehensive coverage of events across the whole of the region from 711 to the fall of Granada in 1492. Up till now the history of this region has been badly neglected in comparison with studies of other states in medieval Europe. When considered at all, it has been largely written from Christian sources and seen in terms of the Christian Reconquest. Hugh Kennedy raises the profile of this important area, bringing the subject alive with vivid translations from Arab sources. This will be fascinating reading for historians of medieval Europe and for historians of the middle east drawing out the similarities and contrasts with other areas of the Muslim world.


The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise

Author: Dario Fernandez-Morera

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-07-11

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 1684516293

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A finalist for World Magazine's Book of the Year! Scholars, journalists, and even politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain—"al-Andalus"—as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden history by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began, of course, with the Islamic Caliphate's conquest of Spain. Far from a land of religious tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life and the marginalization of Christians and other groups—all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise provides a desperately needed reassessment of medieval Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity," Fernández-Morera sets the historical record straight—showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.


The Legacy of Muslim Spain

The Legacy of Muslim Spain

Author: Salma Khadra Jayyusi

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 1164

ISBN-13: 9789004095991

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The civilisation of medieval Muslim Spain is perhaps the most brilliant and prosperous of its age and has been essential to the direction which civilisation in medieval Europe took. This volume is the first ever in any language to deal in a really comprehensive manner with all major aspects of Islamic civilisation in medieval Spain.


Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment

Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment

Author: Ahmet T. Kuru

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-08

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1108419097

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Analyzes Muslim countries' contemporary problems, particularly violence, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment, comparing their historical levels of development with Western Europe.


The Ornament of the World

The Ornament of the World

Author: Maria Rosa Menocal

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Published: 2009-11-29

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0316092797

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This classic bestseller — the inspiration for the PBS series — is an "illuminating and even inspiring" portrait of medieval Spain that explores the golden age when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance (Los Angeles Times). This enthralling history, widely hailed as a revelation of a "lost" golden age, brings to vivid life the rich and thriving culture of medieval Spain, where for more than seven centuries Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in an atmosphere of tolerance, and where literature, science, and the arts flourished. "It is no exaggeration to say that what we presumptuously call 'Western' culture is owed in large measure to the Andalusian enlightenment...This book partly restores a world we have lost." —Christopher Hitchens, The Nation


Islamic Empires

Islamic Empires

Author: Justin Marozzi

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2019-08-29

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 0241199050

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'Outstanding, illuminating, compelling ... a riveting read' Peter Frankopan, Sunday Times Islamic civilization was once the envy of the world. From a succession of glittering, cosmopolitan capitals, Islamic empires lorded it over the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and swathes of the Indian subcontinent. For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas, its cities unrivalled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity and forward-looking thinking. Islamic Empires is a history of this rich and diverse civilization told through its greatest cities over fifteen centuries, from the beginnings of Islam in Mecca in the seventh century to the astonishing rise of Doha in the twenty-first. It dwells on the most remarkable dynasties ever to lead the Muslim world - the Abbasids of Baghdad, the Umayyads of Damascus and Cordoba, the Merinids of Fez, the Ottomans of Istanbul, the Mughals of India and the Safavids of Isfahan - and some of the most charismatic leaders in Muslim history, from Saladin in Cairo and mighty Tamerlane of Samarkand to the poet-prince Babur in his mountain kingdom of Kabul and the irrepressible Maktoum dynasty of Dubai. It focuses on these fifteen cities at some of the defining moments in Islamic history: from the Prophet Mohammed receiving his divine revelations in Mecca and the First Crusade of 1099 to the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and the phenomenal creation of the merchant republic of Beirut in the nineteenth century.


Philosophers, Sufis, and Caliphs

Philosophers, Sufis, and Caliphs

Author: Ali Humayun Akhtar

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-06-09

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1316858111

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What was the relationship between government and religion in Middle Eastern history? In a world of caliphs, sultans, and judges, who exercised political and religious authority? In this book, Ali Humayun Akhtar investigates debates about leadership that involved ruling circles and scholars of jurisprudence and theology. At the heart of this story is a medieval rivalry between three caliphates: the Umayyads of Cordoba, the Fatimids of Cairo, and the Abbasids of Baghdad. In a fascinating revival of Late Antique Hellenism, Aristotelian and Platonic notions of wisdom became a key component of how these caliphs debated their authority as political leaders. By tracing how these political debates impacted the theological and jurisprudential scholars and their own conception of communal guidance, Akhtar offers a new picture of premodern political authority and the connections between Western and Islamic civilizations. It will be of use to students and specialists of the premodern and modern Middle East.