In order to understand the transition between the revolutionary movement that propelled the Abbasids to power and the imperial government that later took root, Jacob Lassner studies those elements that served to shape the political attitudes and institutions of the emerging regi…
In order to understand the transition between the revolutionary movement that propelled the Abbasids to power and the imperial government that later took root, Jacob Lassner studies those elements that served to shape the political attitudes and institutions of the emerging regi…
"How could I allow my soldiers to sail on this disloyal and cruel sea?" These words, attributed to the most powerful caliph of medieval Islam, Umar Ibn al-Khattab (634-644), have led to a misunderstanding in the West about the importance of the Mediterranean to early Islam. This…
"During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Abbasids were just one of a number of regional powers vying for supremacy and influencing the actions of others. By analyzing the roles played by these caliphs in terms of the institution they represented, the households that they …
