Between Rebels and Rulers in the Early Islamicate World - (Edinburgh Studies in Classical Islamic History and Culture) (Hardcover)

About the Book

Studies rebellion as historical phenomenon and literary construct in early Islamicate contexts.

Book Synopsis

Between Rebels and Rulers in the Early Islamicate World offers the first dedicated examination of the phenomenon of rebellion across the early Islamicate world. It combines discourse analysis with a return to long-neglected social-historical analysis in its study of contention and the ways in which it was narrated and enacted. These approaches are pursued through fourteen case studies, ranging geographically from North Africa to Central Asia and chronologically from the sixth to tenth centuries CE. These diverse examples reveal several patterns: First, rebellion operated as a normative means of negotiating power and obtaining justice. Second, the main constituencies of rebellion were local elites, both Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and members of pre-conquest societies, separately or together. Accordingly, this volume challenges the 'othering' of rebels found in written sources and reflected in scholarship and reframes them and their discourses as integral parts of an imperial system. Third, social ties provided a framework for the mobilisation of rebellious constituencies and the resolution of conflict.

Review Quotes

Through fourteen case studies, ranging geographically from North Africa to Central Asia and chronologically from the sixth to tenth centuries CE, this book presents an innovative and long-overdue holistic approach to rebellions in the Islamicate medieval world.--Petra Sijpesteijn, Leiden University

This collective volume with its extensive temporal and regional treatment of cases of contention, rebellion and revolt in early Islamic history, paired with the detailed and thought-provoking approach to each specific case, will become the reference book on the topic.--Maribel Fierro, Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo