This book examines the cultural origins of Islamic law. Some authorities stress the importance of the contribution of Roman law; others that of Arabian law. Most are agreed that Jewish law contributed, but not explained further. Dr Crone tests the Roman hypothesis with reference to one institution, the patronate, which does indeed appear to owe something to Roman law. He concludes that Roman law contributed only in so far as it was part and parcel of the rather different legal practice of the Near Eastern provinces, and that provincial law would repay further consideration by legal...

The Delhi Sultanate was the first Islamic state to be established in India. This book traces its history from 1210 to its demise at the sack of Delhi in 1400. While the focus is on military and political affairs, the book also explores the Sultans' relations with their non-Muslim subjects. As a first comprehensive treatment of the period, the book will make a significant contribution to medieval Indo-Muslim history. Students of Islamic and Indian history, and interested general readers, will find it a valuable resource.

In the thirteenth century the Mongols created a vast transcontinental empire that transported skilled artisans from one cultural zone to another. Among those transported were Muslim textile workers, resettled in China, where they made clothes for the imperial court. In a fascinating account, the author considers the significance of cloth and color in the political and cultural life of the Mongols. Situated within the broader context of the history of the Silk Road, the book will interest not only historians of the Middle East and Asia, but also art historians and textile specialists.

In a work that surveys an entire tradition of historical thought and writing across a span of eight-hundred years, Tarif Khalidi examines how Arabic-Islamic culture of the premodern period viewed the past, how it recorded it, and how it sought to answer the many complex questions associated with the discipline of history.

Thomas Allsen is one of the foremost historians of the Mongol empire. His latest book breaks new scholarly boundaries in its exploration of cultural and scientific exchanges between Iran and China. Contrary to popular belief, Mongol rulers were intensely interested in the culture of their sedentary subjects. Under their auspices, various commodities, ideologies and technologies were disseminated across Eurasia. The result was a lively exchange of scientists, scholars and ritual specialists between East and West. The book is broad-ranging and erudite and promises to become a classic in the...

Ruby Lal explores domestic life and the place of women in the Mughal court of the sixteenth century. Challenging traditional, orientalist interpretations of the haram that have portrayed a domestic world of seclusion and sexual exploitation, she reveals a complex society where noble men and women negotiated their everyday life and public-political affairs. Combining Ottoman and Safavid histories, she demonstrates the richness as well as ambiguity of the Mughal haram, which was pivotal in the transition to institutionalization and imperial excellence.

This volume examines the monetary history of a large empire located at the crossroads of intercontinental trade from the fourteenth century until the end of World War I. It covers all regions of the empire from the Balkans through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Gulf to the Maghrib. The implications of monetary developments for social and political history are also discussed throughout the volume. This is an important and pathbreaking book by one of the most distinguished economic historians in the field.

This is the first serious study of Tamerlane, the great nomad conqueror who rose to power in 1370 on the ruins of the Mongol Empire and led his armies on campaigns of unprecedented scope, ranging from Moscow to Delhi. As the last nomad ruler to unite the steppe regions of Eurasia, Tamerlane marks the transition from the era of nomad conquest and rule to the modern ascendency of the settled world.

This book considers the economic, social and political importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran. It focuses on four aspects of this trade: the role of silk in Iranian commercial policy, the interaction between agents of the state and foreign merchants, the routes along which silk was transported and, critically, the economic and social difficulties that contributed to the collapse of the regime in the 1720s. This represents a major contribution to the current debates on the social and economic history of the premodern world.

By using untapped Latin and Turkish sources, and focusing on the trading partnership between the Genoese and the Turks, Kate Fleet demonstrates how this interaction contributed to the economic development of the early Ottoman state and to Ottoman territorial expansion. Where previous literature has emphasized the military prowess of the early Ottomans and their role as "the infidel," this book considers their economic aspirations and their integration into the economy of the Mediterranean basin. This readable, authoritative study illuminates an obscure period in early Ottoman history.