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6 results

  • 8 - Manāqib: Narratives of Orthodoxy I

  • from Part III - Unmaking Heresy: Orthodoxy as History Writing
  • Ahmad Khan, American University in Cairo
  • Book:
    Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
    Published online:
    06 April 2023
    Print publication:
    13 April 2023, pp 263-312

  • Summary

    This chapter posits that the explosion of Manāqib works praising and defending Abu Hanifa was paramount to the full integration of Abu Hanifa and his followers within the broader coalition of Sunnism in the tenth-eleventh centuries. It provides the first comprehensive history of the Manāqib genre and analyses in extensive detail a new tenth-century Manāqib source. I contend that the dismissal (and neglect) of Manāqib works as pious hagiography is unwarranted and has resulted in a misreading of important developments in the formation of medieval Sunnism.

The Sufi Saint of Jam
  • History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shi'i Iran
  • Shivan Mahendrarajah
  • Published online:
    07 May 2021
    Print publication:
    08 April 2021
  • The Sunni saint cult and shrine of Ahmad-i Jam has endured for 900 years. The shrine and its Sufi shaykhs secured patronage from Mongols, Kartids, Tamerlane, and Timurids. The cult and shrine-complex started sliding into decline when Iran's shahs took the Shiʿi path in 1501, but are today enjoying a renaissance under the (Shiʿi) Islamic Republic of Iran. The shrine's eclectic architectural ensemble has been renovated with private and public funds, and expertise from Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. Two seminaries (madrasa) that teach Sunni curricula to males and females were added. Sunni and Shiʿi pilgrims visit to venerate their saint. Jami mystics still practice ʿirfan ('gnosticism'). Analyzed are Ahmad-i Jam's biography and hagiography; marketing to sultans of Ahmad as the 'Guardian of Kings'; history and politics of the shrine's catchment area; acquisition of patronage by shrine and shaykhs; Sufi doctrines and practices of Jami mystics, including its Timurid-era Naqshbandi Sufis.

  • 2 - From Revolution to Foundations (750–775)

  • Tayeb El-Hibri, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Book:
    The Abbasid Caliphate
    Published online:
    28 April 2021
    Print publication:
    22 April 2021, pp 28-68

  • Summary

    This chapter surveys the rise of the Abbasid family as a branch of the Prophet's Hashimite clan, and the background of discontent against the Umayyads. After focusing on the Abbasid revolution in Khurasan-Transoxiana (747-750), the chapter surveys the consolidation of Abbasid rule under the caliph al-Mansur, and the establishment of a new capital at Baghdad in 762. The transition to the reign of al-Mahdi shows the first signs of Abbasid bureaucracy with the Barmakid ministers, and the emergence of an Islamic ideology, with an emphasis on patronizing the 'ulama and supporting the pilgrimage to Mecca.

  • 5 - THE EARLY GHAZNAVIDS

  • Edited by R. N. Frye
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Iran
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    26 June 1975, pp 162-197

  • Summary

    The establishment of the Ghaznavid sultanate in the eastern Iranian world represents the first major breakthrough of Turkish power there against the indigenous dynasties. The Sāmānid in Transoxiana and Khurāsā meant that there was a strong barrier in the northeast against mass incursions from the steppes into the civilized zone. The group of Turks in Ghazna was a small one, set down in an hostile environment, and a dynamic policy of expansion may have seemed to Sebük-Tegin, the best way to ensure its survival. Sebük-Tegin's successful maintenance of himself in power at Ghazna and his victories against the Indians made him a force in the internal politics of the Sāmānid empire, at the time moving towards its final collapse. By acquiring Khurāsā, Mahmūd became master of a rich and flourishing province. Khurāsā had rich agricultural oases, irrigated by means of a skilful utilization of a modest water supply.

  • 4 - The SĀMĀNIDS

  • Edited by R. N. Frye
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Iran
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    26 June 1975, pp 136-161

  • Summary

    The original home of the Sāmānids is uncertain, for some Arabic and Persian books claim that the name was derived from a village near Samarqand. The Sāmānid state had received recognition in the year 261/875 when the caliph al-Mu'tamid sent the investiture for all of Transoxiana to Nasr b. Ahmad, in opposition to the claims of Ya‘qūb b. al-Laith, the Saffārid. Ismā‘īl was the real founder of the Sāmānid state, and is highly regarded in all sources for his good qualities as a ruler, indeed almost an idealized ruler. He enlarged the Sāmānid domain in all directions. In 280/893 he raided to the north and captured the city of Tarāz where a Nestorian church was reputedly turned into a mosque and much booty was taken. The organization of the Sāmānid state was modelled after the caliph's court in Baghdad with its central and provincial divisions.

  • 1 - THE POLITICAL AND DYNASTIC HISTORY OF THE IRANIAN WORLD (A.D. 1000–1217)

  • Edited by J. A. Boyle
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of Iran
    Published online:
    28 March 2008
    Print publication:
    01 January 1968, pp 1-202

  • Summary

    For nearly a thousand years, Iran has generally been ruled by non-Persian dynasties, usually Turkish, but sometimes Mongol or Kurdish. The first alien rulers were the Saljuq Turks, who appeared in the Iranian world in the first half of the 5th/11th century. This domination at the highest level has had less effect on Iranian national psychology and literary consciousness than might be expected, for all of the alien ruling dynasties have come from races of low cultural development, and thus they have lacked the administrative expertise necessary for ruling a land of ancient settlement and civilization. The collapse of the native Iranian dynasties of the north-east was followed within a few decades by a major migration of Turkish peoples, the Oghuz, from the outer steppes. When the Saljuqs first appeared in Transoxiana and Khurasan in the 5th/11th century, they came as marauders and plunderers. The Saljuqs belonged to the Oghuz Turks, who appear in history as the Toquz Oghuz.