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5 - Early Islamic Imperial Space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2021

By
A. C. S. Peacock
Edited by
Yuri Pines ,
Michal Biran  and
Jörg Rüpke
Yuri Pines
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Michal Biran
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jörg Rüpke
Affiliation:
Universität Erfurt, Germany
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Summary

This chapter investigates the emergence of imperial space in the early Islamic world, 7th–12th centuries, and Muslim notions of empire in this period. It examines how an imperial space was conquered under the Prophet Muhammad, Rashidun Caliphs and Umayyad dynasty, reaching its height in c.740, followed by its fragmentation under the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258). The role of jihad in this expansion is examined, along with the institutions that bound the empire together and the reasons for its disintegration. The expansion of the frontiers of the Islamic world only began again under Turkish dynasties, the Seljuqs, Qarakhanids and Ghaznavids in the 11th century, when parts of Anatolia, Central Asia and India were conquered. Finally, this chapter considers how imperial space was visualised and represented in this period, examining the evidence of maps in manuscripts of works by Arabic geographers of the 10th–11th centuries.

Keywords

IslamjihadempiremapsUmayyadsAbbasidsSeljuqsIslamic geographersArabic manuscripts
Type
Chapter
Information
The Limits of Universal Rule
Eurasian Empires Compared
 , pp. 180 - 219
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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