History 314
Islamic History in the Middle Ages
Dr. Mahmood Ibrahim
Office: 94-325; x-3867
mibrahim@csupomona.edu
This course is a survey of the history of the Middle East in the middle ages; roughly from 1000 to 1800 C. E. and it will deal with significant social, economic and political developments in the regions of Anatolia, Persia and the Arab Middle East. This will include the study of such issues as Sufism, Iqta', governing and political institutions, and the various factors responsible for the emergence of three distinct cultural zones in western Asia prior to the advent of European colonialism; Arab, Turkish, and Persian. Students will learn about the interaction of these sub-regions with one another and their respective place in global developments.
Assessment:
A midterm and a final exam, each 35 %, reading summaries 20%. The remaining 10% are for class participation and discussion. The midterm will be given on Thursday, Feb 8th and the Final will be on Thursday March 15th, 11:30 AM. Students are encouraged to do extra credit reports.
Reading summaries should be 2-3 pages (1 inch margins, justified, single space, 12 font) showing the most significant points and issues raised by the reading, what you find most intriguing and why, and one or two questions that you would raise in the class. Reading summaries are due on Thursday of each week. No late summaries accepted.
The required readings for this course are:
Imber, Colin, The Ottoman Empire.
Holt, P. M. The Age of the Crusades.
Morgan, D. Medieval Persia
Additional readings will be given in class
Students are encouraged to consult The Encyclopedia of Islam (the Library also has CD ROM edition) and Index Islamicus (an index of articles in periodicals since 1900) for a more detailed reference to any of the subjects of the course.
Reading assignments:
I- a-Introduction
b-The End of the Abbasids
Morgan, pp. 1-24; McCarthy, pp. 1-32
II-The institutional foundations of the pre-modern period.
a-The Saljuks: military rule and the revival of Sunnism.
b-Saljuk society and economy and their impact.
Morgan, 25-50.
Additional resources:
A. Duri, Society and Economy of Iraq under the Seljuks (1055-1160).
C. Klausner, The Seljuk vezirate: a study of civil administration, 1055-1194.
G. Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of Learning in Islam and the West.
M. Sanaullah, The Decline of Saljukid Empire.
W. M. Watt, The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali.
III- Iran under the Mongols
a-The rise of the Mongols and the establishment of the Il-Khans.
b-The post-Mongol period and the Timurid interlude.
Morgan, pp. 51-111.
Additional resources:
Amitai-Preiss, Mongols and Mamluks.
J. A. Boyle, The Mongol World Empire
IV-The post-Saljuk period: entrenchment of military Iqta
a-The first Crusade and the Zangi Atabegs
b-Saladin, the Ayyubids and the Crusades.
Holt, pp. 1-81
Additional resources:
R. J. C. Broadhurst, A History of the Ayyubid Sultans of Egypt.(translated from the original Arabic)
Michael Chamberlain, “The Crusader era and the Ayyubid Dynasty”, Cambridge History of Egypt, Vol. 1. pp. 211-241.
R. S. Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus.
Amin Maalouf. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes.
Riley-Smith. The Crusades: A Short History.
V- The heyday of military Iqta' in the Middle East
a-The rise of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria.
b-Mamluk political and military institutions.
Holt, pp. 82-166;
Additional resources:
D. Ayalon, "The system of payment in the Mamluk military society," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (1957):37-65, 257-296.
P. M. Holt, "The treaties of the early Mamluk Sultans with the Frankish states," Bulliten of the School of Oriental and African Studies (1980):67-76.
S. Humphreys, "The emergence of the Mamluk army," Studia Islamica (1977): 67-99.
VI- The decline of the Mamluks.
a-Midterm Feb 7th.
b-Decline of the Mamluks
Holt, pp. 178-206.
Additional resources:
D. Ayalon, Studies on the Mamluks of Egypt: 1250-1517.
I. Lapidus, Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages.
W. F. Tucker, "Miscellania: Natural Disasters and Peasantry in Mamluk Egypt," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. (1981): 215-224.
J. Wansbrough, "Venice and Florence in the Mamluk commercial privileges," Bulliten of the School of Oriental and African Studies (1965):483-523.
Michael Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East.
VII- Triumph of Shi‛ism in Iran
a-The Safavids
b-Social, economic and political institutions of Safavid Iran.
Morgan, pp. 112-161.
Additional resources:
A. Banani, "Reflections on the social and economic structure of Safavid Persia at its Zenith," Iranian Studies (1978):83-116.
L. Lockhart, "The Persian Army in the Safavi Period," Der Islam (1959):89-98.
M. Mazzaoui, The Origins of the Safavids.
Ina Baghdiantz McCabe. The Shah's Silk for Europe's Silver.
R. Savory, "The Principal offices of the Safawi state during the reign of Isma'il Ist," Bulliten of the School of Oriental and African Studies(1960)
R. Savory. Iran under the Safavids.
VIII-The return of world empire.
a-The Saljuks of Rum
b-The Ottoman Classical Age.
Holt, pp. 167-177; Imber, Chapters 1 and 2
Additional resources:
C. Cahen, Pre-Ottoman Turkey.
Speros Vryonis, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh to the Fifteenth centuries.
Tursun Beg, The History of Mehmed the Conqueror.
B. Lewis, The Fall of Constantinople.
A. Hess, "The Evolution of the Ottoman Seaborn Empire in the Age of Oceanic Discoveries, 1453-1525," The American Historical Review (1970):1892-1919.
O. L. Barkan, "The Price revolution of the 16th century: a turning point in the ecnomic history of the Middle East," International Joutnal of Middle Eastern Studies (1975):3-28.
IX-Ottoman state and society.
a-the Ottoman state institutions.
b-the society
Imber, Chapters 3, 4, 6
Additional resources:
S. Faruqi, "Camels, Wagons and the Ottoman State in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries," International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (1982):523-539.
H. Gerber, "Social and Economic Position of Women in an Ottoman City, Bursa, 1600-1700," International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (1974):145-172.
Inalcik,H. An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1914.
X- Decline of the Ottomans
a-Growth of provincial autonomy
b-Reform attempt
Imber Chapter 5, 7 and 8