Of the available sources for Islamic history between the seventh and eighth centuries CE, few are of greater importance than al-Baladhuri's Kitab Futu? al-buldan (The Book of the Conquest of Lands). Written in Arabic by a ninth-century Muslim scholar working at the court of the 'Abbasid caliphs, the Futu?'s content covers many important matters at the beginning of Islamic history. It informs its audience of the major events of the early Islamic conquests, the settlement of Muslims in the conquered territories and their experiences therein, and the origins and development of the early Islamic state. Questions over the text's construction, purpose, and reception, however, have largely been ignored in current scholarship. This is despite both the text's important historical material and its crucial early date of creation. It has become commonplace for researchers to turn to the Futu? for information on a specific location or topic, but to ignore the grander – and, in many ways, more straightforward – questions over the text's creation and limitations. This book looks to correct these gaps in knowledge by investigating the context, form, construction, content, and early reception history of al-Baladhuri's text.
Author(s): Ryan J. Lynch
Series: The Early and Medieval Islamic World
Publisher: I.B. Tauris
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: xiv+254
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on primary source citation, translation, and transliteration
Illustrations
Figures
Maps
Introduction
The early Arabic historical tradition and the problematic nature of the ‘narrative sources’
Ansāb al-ashrāf and Futūḥ al-buldān
Dating the text
The limitations of the Futūḥ and this research
Author, editor, compiler: The many professions of an early Muslim writer
The deliberate intention of the author: Historical analysis through textual analysis
Notes
Chapter 1: The text of Futūḥ al-buldān
The modern scholarly editions
The surviving manuscript tradition of the Futūḥ
Notes
Chapter 2: The author and the context
The Biography of al-Balādhurī
Contextualizing the Futūḥ: Military transformation and the Turkish military crisis
The economic crisis of the ninth/third century
The fracturing of central authority
Kharāj, Amwāl, and Hikma: Writing the books that were needed
Notes
Chapter 3: The sources of Futūḥ al-buldān
Introductory words and the collective Isnād
Al-Balādhurī’s use of Qāla as an introductory phrase in the Futūḥ
A most important informant: Al-Ḥusayn b. ‘Alī b. al-Aswad al-‘Ijlī
Abū ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim b. Sallām and Kitāb al-Amwāl
Conclusions
Notes
Chapter 4: The content and themes of the text
Administering conquest: The conquest context and al-Balādhurī’s presentation of history
Conquered status and settlement agreements
The exploitation of land and resources
Building projects and cities
Attitudes towards the Umayyads, the ‘Abbāsids, and the caliphal office
Administrators on horses: Commanders, governors, and executive bureaucrats
Literary features of the Futūḥ
Poetry, the Futūḥ, and the early Arabic historical tradition
Conclusions
Notes
Chapter 5: The matter of genre and the classification of Futūḥ al-buldān
What’s in a name? Medieval classifications of Futūḥ al-buldān
Futūḥ al-buldān as conquest literature
Futūḥ al-buldān as a legal text
Futūḥ al-buldān as administrative geography
Origins of a profession: Futūḥ al-buldān’s ‘appendices’
A unique time and place: The audience of Futūḥ al-buldān
Conclusions
Notes
Chapter 6: The medieval reception and reuse of the Futūḥ
Textual reuse and the Futūḥ: To cite or not to cite?
The where and what of Futūḥ reuse
Ibn al-Faqīh’s Kitāb al-Buldān
Yāqūt’s Mu‘jam al-buldān
Ibn al-‘Adīm’s Bughyat al-ṭalab fī ta’rīkh Ḥalab
Ibn al-Athīr’s al-Kāmil fi-l-ta’rīkh
Ibn ‘Asākir’s Ta’rīkh madīnat Dimashq
Qudāma b. Ja‘far and Kitāb al-khāraj’s Futūḥ section
Repetition and emendation: The common features of reused material
Conclusions
Notes
Conclusion: A portrait of authority
A different kind of history
An administrator’s handbook
Notes
Bibliography
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Index
