Islamic History Reader RIS December 2015 Prepared By Imam Zaid ShakirIslamic 8 European Expansion THE FORGING OF A GLOBAL ORDER Edited by MICHAEL ADAS or the American Historical Association TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS PielpiaIslamic History as Global History RICHARD M. EATON The Legacy of Europe's Encounter with Islam Some yeas ago, Harold Isaes wioe Seaton Onin, a book probing ‘he images tha ondnary Americans eld above China and Kia. Subjecting his informants tothe technique of paychounalyis, the author also waned 1 leatn wher, when, and how such images as “inferior” Chinese and “fabulous” Indians had been formed If Tsaes had weten another book seratching American minds respecting Islam or Ilanic history. one su ets he would have uncovered sme al arid images of gin fanatical ‘leres seizing politcal pore the conemporty Middle Bast of genta ampuratng the hands of thieves inthe are of religion, ora women held Jina state of permanent domestic bondage Had he seratched a it more, he ‘ight have found images, infommed perhaps by youthful readings of The Arabin Nigh, of Nab princes veh entertained by sensuous women, of sumpauous banque, or of genie and lapel ein an aumasphere of Oriental splendor and decadence, He mig alo have edged up em ‘he minds of his informant images of mediovalvoknce: of free warriors fon horseback wielding brad eimai or of caliphs delving swift ad nbitary justice via the exeouone. Finally, wel embeded inthe subeon ‘scious of his hypothetical subjet, Isaacs may alo have found sme hay Potion of Islam a1 eligius heres or of Muhammad a alge prophet. Such images are pat ofthe legacy of Euope’s lng and often hostile ‘encounter with Muslim sosites.Forhere was cio that affed the ‘me Gad ofthe Jews and Christians yer dened the Tent, that accepted Jesus a sent to humankind and bom ofthe Vsgin May, yo ected his © iii dat teed ee Teh he Gone and heathen he Jews and Christians, as “people of the Book," yet rejected the claims to exclusivity made by the foamer and the worship of Jesus as practiced by2 | RICHARD M. EATON {he later Unlike Hinduism or Buddhism, which were rendered relatively Jnocuos by their geographical and theological distance from Europe and Cristiani, Islam was simply coo cose ro Europe—both geographically tind theolgially—ro be ueated with anyehing ike equanimity. Hence the Cusader the European forcible atempe to revonguer Palestine for the Cross and, by extension, to uproot the so-called heresy hat Asbo Islam eivilzaion supposedly represented. Contemporary impressions of ‘Arab Muslin ate vividly reflected i the Ganon de Roland, the Fresh pie poem, eralized in the eleventh century, that depress Musims as iolatrs,polthess, and, above alla che atcillsins of Chvstendoms Uthile the Emperor Charlemagne is poresyed a che snowy-beanded de fender of Christendom whe lads the Pench inta mighty srogle waged inthe name ofthe Crintian God. The poem this expresses a worldview ‘ig spitinto a we-chey opp that abouts abvolte a any to be found in Western erature, ‘Since the eleventh century, it wat the fate of Islamic cviliaton to serve inthe European imagination ava lly lien “other” historic sd ‘ormic fil guns which Earopeans defined their own collective identity sa world civization. Gradually, however, Westem scholars became aware ofthe primary textual sources on which Islamic ciation was bul Bo- Binning with the Crusades and continuing eovghoot Eoope’s medieval period, x handflofcholslemed Arabic and began editing, tanaatng, Interpreting, and publishing the immense corpus of primary texte that had accurulted during the rie and expansion of Islami cviration. Some Wished to efte the religious chim of wha they saw a Chistian ten ‘thers sought o recover for clasial scholarship shone text anslaed into [Aabieby Muslims that had been lost in the Greek orignal. Then in he Tne eighteenth century, when much of the Msi werd began falling under European clonal ule, institutional foundations such 2 the Asie Society of Bengal andthe Fonch Asiatic Society were established forthe serious study of Islamic civilization, while in Eutopean universities chairs in Arabi ngage and iterate were funded, From these developments ‘emerged # new cadre of Scholars in the nineteenth and early ewenteth ‘exnturies— people like Ignaz Goldziher, D.B. MeDonal, J. Wellhausen, (Cal Brockelmana, C- H. Becker, Theodor Néldeke, Louis Massignon, Emad G, Brown, and Reynold Nicholion—whe staied Isle el "aon their primary Feld and not just 2 subject anil to some other iscipine “These scola’stzength was their mastery of philology and the pini- pal languages of Islam: Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Many were veritable Pioneers who ransacked obscure private eollections allover Europe and Asi in search of original manuserpts, which were then edited called, bor tanslited. Those who analyzed and published these cents more ot ess BLL MA esa dese 0 IetanicHiary a Gla History 3 {Suniel body of belt ca, and vaca carted and wats in etre. And pebaps somewhat ls onc there sane seh 2 svn hemos es intrest at citation othe Wes i home audanc. But heres dreralde th inocl engin, SG, Inch atempt to ge deniton to Munn cizaon, many of these? schol ended wo pesent Tsim a+ tno” tht sto, ncn, 2 {nd unio and by implication pein the dynamics of change oF tral prose, Moreover, een es ve sens apical ese in much of thi scholip. Scholl concenason onthe cal texts ‘of Islam, and especially on those produced during the formative eighth to cleventh cents, encouraged the bs ha this parealar peat represented sme so of golden agate wich la clzation wes loomed ox slow and pail dete, The notion of dectnng ani Cieztion suggested, in tr, tat Epes reltiely ex conqet of > “Muslim sce inthe eighteenth nd nneteenth centuries and the cor ‘inved European domination over them into the twentieth, had been potas aly neva but ied % consciously endeavored to give dein oIshim as x hilton, tha is se ‘The Rise and Growth of Islam and les Historians For most Europeans and North Americans, he vision of Ila a static ‘monolith o as 2 mysterious, exdc “other” remained deminan onthe ‘mid-twentieth cenury. In the decades ater World War I, however, and ‘spec since the 19605, American and European universes exper- enced x historigraphical evolution that considerably expanded the eon ‘cxpuul famework within which Islamic history was stoded. Whereas Principat object of, seudy implied sift in fos fom he herate elt Gases from whose © rile the authors ofthe csi rex usully came, to those many other {communities whom Erie Wola called the “people without history” The new emphasis nie lation Wars Te on. Tihicentgy thar many had thought ieeobe but that encore examination,a Jrhe new generation of historians thus uncovered an 41 RICHARD M, EATON ite down ino dis palit of communities chat difered vastly overtime and space. Many, infact, ejected the concept of evilizaton ogeher asa urfol category in soc analy, since an reconstruction ‘of Islamic history based primadly onthe Muslim literary dition would i bkely give undo importance to the normative soil vsian conve by istim irene elites. Furthemee, as de abject of histrial analysis changed, so did the questions asked. Baler Islamists had concentrated ‘on poiial and intellect! history lrely because csscl Islamic texts ‘rete themcives preaecupied with these ropis. Bu the new generation ‘of historians began asking questions tht ranged considerably beyond the Political or inteliecral, embracing such subdiocilines as economic his- ry, the history of technology historia demography urban history. soil story, polical economy, nomad history, mitrohistry, and historical mothe methodological techniques employed for addressing these ques- Sows abo expand Try, the immense Srp of Abie ant Fein {exo on wh ole generis of unc ced simon exsiety ‘ci ndiap able fran sony ine Mk ry. Boch tens were fequenty foal wor writen by Msn cnies—many ‘thn te ye pul endow were selec ing thou thes en pronto tent pet with view poet, Hence the texts sch ators podced ete debe osteo orc staccns of peopl or events caring te te ks of Di ule feropenv, or neret thar an scr te ends af ny shor Wurth cw hiner wanted oor spleen uch ext with Info hat had ot heady ben secon packaged fem "Try" by imexmodnne, hy byte ure fo tex wh Sood between hem andthe events or pres thy wise wo destb ‘nee te prince opting anes osu een pray ex srs aceptd nrg as bon the cv amon Horns ing fated outside the Islamic corpur of foram sor of contemporary aria produced by the society quetin tha bad survived igo our ow times. 4 nce the 1950s, the search was oa fr contemporary htrary'soures gen- oF sources! commercial document, 2x restr, ofl land grant, a miniserative seas, census records, coins, avestones, magical incantations wcienon bows, memoirs of pls archeological andachtectarl daa, lbiogranhialdictonaies, inseripsonal evidence, and more recently, ora history. ‘We may ilustate some of the new questions and techniques for ad- Akessing these sources by examining specife sues that have occupied ‘modem historians. These sues include some of the most remarkable ‘movernens in lic history and indeed in globa istry he ic of Ilr amie History as Global Hiwry \ 5 among the ues of seventh century Arb; the eruption of Arab Muss ‘tof the Arabian peninsula and their defeat ofthe two largest and cleo ally most advanced empires in western Asa, Sasoian Peri and Baan: Rome; and the integration of mast of che population of the Mile East io newly constituted Islamic soiesy that ad ecome by the tenth ‘eencury 2 world evasion Cater beganinhe ety decades ofthe seventheontry. Awewtei Arabian“ Se eee «4 mountait near his native city of Mecca. On one such oocasion he was Sareea Say Rea In he name thy Lod Who cet, reneth an bor aot Who eaceth by be pen, “Tench man tu which eke ot! (On subsequent occasions Muhammad received furter revelations, which were committed to memory by the smal baad of alower to whom he began preaching in Moors and who were known leer as Muslims, ‘meaning thase who had “submited” wo Gad. Several decades later Ut ‘man (644-56), the third “niece” reli laf) to Muhanad ss Teader ofthe growing community of believers, ordesed thatthe verses be collected into the canonical serine chat constiutes the Quran. For “Muslims, these revelations represent the ast of several ocatons on which God, through the medium of soecessie prophets, had broken though fom the divine teal, where he alone resis, the human ream, Ths6 | RICHARD M. EATON Muhammad isconneced propbesclly with Abram, Moss, Jesus, and ‘other prophets; yer becnte he me ater the Hebrew popes, his rve= Iation wa believed 2 hve superseded those of is predecessors. Tally, according to eaonal sccm, the oligarchs who domi nated Meces rejected Mulsmmad's prophecy 8 treat to thet position, Buc the nearby city of Mina, which was a hatte split into contentious factions, invited! Matar io come and arbitrate ther internal disputes, In the end they accepted not only Muhammad the arbiter but Miuham rad the Prophet of God, and this the fst Mass community emerged in Medina in the year 622, That Muslims date the begining of Is fom ‘his even indicates tae twas no so much God's brektroygh to human kind that diningise Islam mer word events, Rather, the yea 22 ‘was sigiicant because it represented humanity's response v0 God's mes ‘ze, humanity’ willingness to undereake the moral obligation of obeying (God by forming ew human society—the community of believers called the unma-constrcted sound the divine mess. Since the Ite ninetoenth century, Wester scholars have developed shires oe to um te me bth fc Abe ye | | a8 those used by Muslim tational, but they have dane 0 witha it Binding in those texts explanations tha conform to Western models Social development. Ths sholas Hike Montgomery Watt or M.A. Shi Ian, curtene representatives ofthis trend, have viewed the emergence of Ihe new religion as «function of deeper socioceonomie changes held (0 Ihave been occurring in siath- and seventh century western Aria, Dur- ing the half century o so before the emergence of Muhammad, Mee merchant are sud have become lang distance uadets wh entered and even dominated intationa trade utes connecting Yemen to the south ‘vith Syria tothe north and wlimately India wth Europe, ‘The rise of “Mecca a the hub of an expanding atemational wade network, according ‘0 this view, was the cause of any numberof social problems for Mecea ‘nd wester Arabia general: greater social steatcation, pleats Social is ‘quis, greater dependence of poorer clans on wealthier ones, general Social disruption, anderen spitual malas. Inti situation the Prophet ‘Muhammad emeiged procaiminga message intended to dissolve the etal nits altogether and replace them with snge pan-Ara community to be {uided by a new and snuch higher athoity—God, Since the new move- ‘ment declared all people w be equal before God, converted communities ‘whose aspiacons had previeusly been blocked by soci inequities now ‘scquired, or expected fo sequite, much renter socioeconomic mobi Likewise, dhe movemen’s heavy emphasis o social usce and is rejec- tion a al foams of hierarchy or privilege is sa have found a receptive sndence among the disenfranchised dates of Arab society, especialy the oot slves, and wonten—Mukarnnad himself had been an erphan—for ‘whom the message guaranteed specifi rghs and frm of protection lami Hitery a Gaal History | 7 “Ts the emergence of Muhanad andthe siecess of his preaching js imerpreted in terms ofthe Prophets solutions to specif, contemipo, rary socioeconomic problems, Bu the premise on which thene arguments ‘est—that the problems of Muhammad's day arose from the pid wealth that actue wo Mezes seule often ntemitional rade-has been seriously challenged by several scholar. In partcla,Patica Crone has recendy published eonsidemble evidence shaming tht fa frm ocuying the hub of» vast and expanding commercial network, Mesea athe time fof Muhammad was quite peripheral to world wade and in fact occupied tn economic backwater ot the fringes ofthe worlds two superpower, Stsanan Persia and Byzanine Rome. IfMecea was nt the tvving co ‘metal center that most soil historians had alleged to be, then the entre sequence of sociological argument that estan tit assuinpion and ‘which ie used eo explain thers of stm, colaes ‘A third cluster of scholar has sought to move Beyond exclusive reli- nce on the vast boy of Ani commentaries, histories, biographies nd ther texts that developed within che early rion of ane sholaship nd to study extly Islamic history on the Bais of eoncerporay teary ‘materials writen by non-Muslims in Geek, Hexen, Syriac, Coptic and Armenian. The discovery and use of such ierary sures ave ely evo- Ieconized the il The editor of volume arising ms 197 conference fon ealy Islam tha included a paper on Shia soures wrote: “Forth ist time in our ives many of ws beeame sequined with the outlook of non. ‘Ab, non-Muslim historians onthe conquest and [tei] perperators."= By comparing the non-Arab with the Arabic wutes, ot by combining beth, schol ar om Begining replace ear, ovine views? ‘with more refined interpretations of ery Islamic socal history. Ie ss though a generation of Wold War IL historians who had previously used ‘only German sources fr wing about the war sudenly discovered the f= / ‘mountains of wartime sources writen in Engleh, Rusia, Japanese, and "ee, French yt some historians wsh merely to supplement Arabic sources with non: “ta, Arabic ones forthe study of eal Tsim, others, sch a atic Crane and Michael Cook, are more skeptical ofthe rele of the Arabic roc skogether. For, apart fom the Quran ise, hese sources di not begin {0 appear until several centri sfter the death of Muhammad, mean ing that the primary materials Nitorant had been using for writing the aly history af slam are fr fom contemporary. On crcl sues, more over, thee primary sources ae ambiguous o even secon8 1 RICHARD M. EATON (AT Maslin poston recs Sl a6 Raving appeared fly de ‘eloped in the form of Muhanad’ revelation in Meccs and Medina, ‘Contemporary non-Muslim sorees depict the slow evolution in the een- tures Defoe Muhammad ofa monothestc cut that, Heavily infueneed by Tewish practice and Jewish apocalyptic though, absorbed neighboring gan cul in Arabi nthe sme of Mubamenad* Th sum, che Musi scholuty tition generally poswlates a dramatic break between the ae of pr-slam (the tha, of "age of ioranee”) land that of Ilan, In conerat, modem Wester interpretation, inuenced byincteent-century European notions f soa evoluin, have ome regard the origins of Musi history ia distinctly organi teams hats, IS having lgieally grown ou of earersocorelgous strctres, The i= poreant division among Wertra historians s between those whose work Peonfined co the tational Arabic soares and those who have begun tapping int the contemporary non-Muslim sources, reslng in incexpre- tations of Islam's origins and curly development that ate mare complex, tnd in some instances fa more controversial tha eater understandings. “Tue eanty conguasrs 1 me Mipoux East During the ten years immediately lowing the Prophets death, fom 165210642, Arb Mslims erupted oof the Arabian peinsu and con ‘gered Tag, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and western Ian. The movement ‘Tnotstop there, however To the west, Ar ships sale ito the Medi- {esrancan Sea, previously 4 "Roman lke” aking Oypus (69), Carthage (68), Tani (200), and Gibraltar (7), before eonqveing Spain (71-16) lind riding southern France (720), Sc, Corse, apd Sarina suflered fepented piling during those yas. Meanwhile, Arb aries during the (30s marched eastward aro the Iranian plateat and completed the de- Stroction ofthe Saranian Empire, forcing the son ofthe Persian “king of Kings” to le tothe Tang cour in Chia. By 712 Arb armies had seed Sates oases towns of Cental Axa—Balkh, Samargand, Bulharay and Ferghana-and would som be meeting Chinese armies face wae. To the south, Muslim navies sailed tothe coasts of western Lia wherein 71 they Conquered an occupied the densely populated Hind-Buddhstsociesy (of Sind. Thus began the long and eventful encounter beoween Islamic nd Indic civilizations, during which sine Islamic clue would penetrate Aleeply into tnd economy, politeal systems, and religious structure "While Arab rule in Sind fs being consolidated, other Ara armies continued the overland drive asivard. Requested by Takis wes to omic Hisory as Global Hiary \ 9 ‘onuered 2 broad swath ofthe known wold fram Gibraltar he ns de and Bad poset both Chin nd Europe by and and se How ‘eeaphin 12 Whence came the ene that had propelled Ay Mastin Sata the Abin enna png he ond othe essen frat A empire and thn ot win? Tana Nr msn ant or er men rons riaclos manifestation of AIS vr with comunity an erre= {on consonant wih nani undestanigs fhe aos erwoon Sivne will end he skal proces, but one ha elles mow of an Seno the of sae hoy. ee ‘Theories of the Mim conquests advanced by many nineteenth, and ely ewentict-entry European Manic ae hardy re etal, ‘The gene tone i caper nthe flowing lines pened in 198 by Si, Wiliam Mu, «Sct whose nerpreion othe Nab cng sons” the ike the sreenplay fra Cea B. De Mile Hm, complse wih tcf, parame von, an stecophonicoundencke Se ee ewe mvt ee en eg th Ane ‘cee. hom ace serine ses hwo an eye Se Andes w hema nfs comencscane te ‘yond compute; of maidens parted on the very field of bale “w every mana Siow desu Oneal sh trotted get eke eee ioued forth and asening ora pes neat mates the Hat ad fete Wen? Ine end, though, after the chundering hooves have passed ad he ‘das as setled in artemping to explain the conquests, Muir eaves us ‘witht of substane, spre rom simply asserting the Aras the “scent of war thet love of “apn,” oF the promise of10 | RICHARD M. EATON ic Hoyas Global Hisory \ WL 0." Mui’ sion of mito, resect sam gone berserk eee in Above ll, what is msn fiom eater xplanations is any mension of von w teal European serotypes clot er ehat Europes ov Islam tell. Oe des occasionally come across references tothe hte af Krust sabes might, in joxt sch ocastike manner, se up in eva an Islamic pare filed with ar-eyed eauts swating the fenied {ud dive the Europeans bac nae. Si Willan ater al wa inet believer who would marty hinsct in bate, bot sch roman alleen » ja enor Dish of in clo Inia a wll an aggresive acs ‘pear o be fokovers fom older stereotypes ssocatng Iam wih ek 8° forthe Christan nisson thre. Bue his was no fringe school concerning ‘and violence, By and lage, Westem historians ofthe nineteenth ad early the the of hm or the subusquene congue indeed, his undesand- 'vendeth centuries diapned sehen inability to accept the possi Sys dined ess i an ie te wan Msn thatthe reign elf ould have played fandom, opposed jmerpreuaton, telus more sbout We nararr than the subject 4 soppotv, ole inthe moverent. In eset ye howere, tee th the early fenethGenury, scholar induced the thesis tha ‘ben an efor to bring religion back inn the discussion by foesing on eh pepe eeap pr rele ieee rebar | ‘he Musi community's soil icy during the ears yeas of it for ‘ied fom a secre, shorter descnton tht de he nomadic Abs ‘ation, and especialy the voltlity of divine revelation asthe asso ie to eae hteraly fr grener pastes. Although Toke convincing authori. Thus the death Muhammad in 632 onfnted the commun + gidence, this theory fond plenty of advocates then, a it cotinucs to ‘ofbeliver, hen confined to the popultion of western Arabi, with thet Jo todey Vraons a the descston theory, feng fm evidence fis genie esis How would th carats authority ofthe Prot, » hci thr povery, verpopostion, or oh sch socal miseries a deen ‘whoforeen eas a provided both pian pola ade sip wots the Arabs out of thet homeland. Stil ober hitoians shifted actenton owing amma, be sustained or channeled when he was nage reson {fom the Ambs themscves co Byzance Rome and Sasaian Pei, the Some ties, aparently supposing th with the las ofthe Bop the tho great empires of western Asia, whose domains incined, respectively, continuing autho of revelation hal end, splywithdiew fam the Syrsand lng, These empires were porsyed “exhausted” fr several community altogether. Others besa lowing val prghets—releastemo funds yar of mata ware, ths erblng the more igo Arab tmenand one woman sprang up in he Arabia ntror--mbocamed be {oa over both with eat. But this thesis kw lacked empirical ev ‘eecving continuing revelations fom God Alene and, above al alle to account forthe Arabs coninoed expansion ‘Wilh boc he politcal an he elgious basis of he ding comme {nt lends far beyond she dai feher cmp. Meanie, the ation nity thus threatened, Muhammad's ist suceon as lender ofthe conn ofthe hab spn itn eine yh wigs deine of 1H, Au a, moved grey hl he voile eee or holy war, generally sil fms popula sentiment about Muslims it, he forbade any wie leave the community once hevng yin ‘ian corfu i sway ns iy eno othe rset Sy tnd second, inorder to prevent the movement fr splinerag Sa real hough in somewhat es uid version than Mois prey ontmunities around ival prophets, he deched tha Muhammed hed been ‘Wheres ocr theories sa the invasions random or unorganized the last prophet of God. There moves noun in elec wo decaton inf of raga hordes posted outa the peninsula by popslatonpesire ‘ot war against those ribes who ad abandoned the nme or sobscribed to tt den by he fove of apne, recent resentch has evealed methodically ‘other seltproimed prophets. Thus the itl burt of Mos eapan ‘lined and well-executed miltry maneuvers directed bya central car sion afer the Prphec's death wa dicted nt agains no Mua but {hand in Medina and nderaken fr quite rina purposes There was he saint jos such Arab tes within the pens Inthe proess ‘Sonomic need ta poi the owing community with mail SUPPER — essing these rbens, however, Abu Bar made alances with tides ‘complished by the movements capture of Ioemtive te routes and nthe southern ils of Ira ad Sys, and sche ce such lances “Ze tow url producing wegns-whih the rele meager economic widened, Musi Arabs Soon clashed with cen bes ofthe Saal Sources of Abia could nt provide. And there wat the plies! need to 3nd Byzantines and evenly wh Sasnan and Banner foe Contin and chanel the temendoos ners released bythe Prophets Ghemsetes Z Socioreligious revolton. In this ler seas, the initial Arb conquests resemble the French or Russian revoitions, n which socoideologcl ‘Sergi genrated in the proces of eonsoldaing the original movement proved innse chat they cold not be exntined geographically and ovcrinto adjacent eons.12 | RICHARD M. EATON et he manent imamate mane ofA iy cpatingin the expansion came o ead the movement sch ea $Sinmedasy stable Hen, for hem the Gabon othe ces Ct conquered lnds song mention ofthe community, which eked © sere ah rie eles indy ed wa he el reached by the Propet, fats vecoccnamie equa smong Eire Phelmponaneof rn rey the hone Ofte fe and mst serous divide moverens nam, the Kha tmovenent, was scateaded in conred ley by men of pity hse tilary pends Ra just Been rouced. Leaders ofthe revolt, which re ‘ike isthe autoton of he Caliph Uma in 656, jned thle Scions by emphasizing the rac ela, ncloing soil ua for women, that had on peachod by the Pot. ln she, esen nan of teeny An conquest, nik eer Euopesn toe, five faced on sia proces ate thn sca seeps and on os ineral panic of ay Msi scey ad eligi Early Islamic Civilization and Global History ‘om the pempectie of gba history, peas te most sigan theme reat iy sth celaton osc paecia beat nae inlzation, idee history's rst uly gel viizaong the Nab coe este nsiguaed thourad-yeat cy lating. mth seventh to the [ih enor when alse mirc he 8 on exo Roman, Iano-Senie, Sask, MalyJeense and Chinese — ere forth re ime troght inn cont ith ne sotherby snd within single oerrching eatin. What more, Mosins synthe ee fren rom thse other ciaon pei the Grek, Pern, a adn hoe of thet Arian ena evolves dantve chi 2a ofthe mon il nd drs Isuainc staves as Isto eres Inthe ext yeas ofthe Islamic venue, the community had been ruled rom Medina by an Arab merchant aistcracy led by four conseeu: ‘ive successors wo Muhanad. By dhe second ha of the seventh centiry, ‘sic Hisory as Global History \ 18 however, polit power had shifted out Arabia and int the hands of "wo sucessve imperial dynasties—the Uyyad, which soverned de facto Arb empire fiom Damascus between 6t and 780, and the Abie, 'd, which overcew the Unayyadsand reign, ito always ruled. feo its splendid capi city of Baghdad tl 1258. Thus while Meccs od Medina remained the spiital hubs of Isami cleat, rifoced by ‘he annual pilgrimage to the Ka'ba shine the Ari sul ik Sos ad Iraq inherited fom the Persian and Roma empies taditons ard a ‘ures that fatated their own transton to imperil ul. These included Dotion of absolut kingship, cour rituals and sven, an cies hace rate administaton, a functioning mit and eciage sytem sanding ‘iy, a postal service, and the kind of land revenue system oh which the political economies of ll great empires ofthe Ferle Crescont had eed Even the Ivan Kista, the famous royal pace of the Persians othe banks ofthe Tigi River. had been conveniently vacated by the le Susann emperor, Yazdegin Il, aif to beckon it new Arb occupants to cuba ‘on and fil che own imperial destiny ‘This they cerainly did. Ealier historians, wing under the spell of Arabic naratves dwelt onthe swifines nd thowughnes ofthe ror ‘vests, emphasized the sense of discontinuity bernee he ol tod oe new oners. More recent hisevins, however especialy thane dating (non-Arab a well Arabic souees, have tended to sce move cont, s tuity betaecn he oo ers In fa een fret sgh Ano aid anion tom if of dsc moma oe of ne fake reed agely fom te expectation of tr mn Mean ups 4m Ep. th ees Ager aed he point eh 72 Pinch jot ay Bysanine vero ha done in ay the A gees or dude dots ang Nesorn Chat ao ites the Nestorins hemases, frat ws wha the SaanianEovermen al ne: Far the sity yas oft le. the An even conned ‘in coins inthe ison ofthe Sosa, complete with pret of i Persist on oe side. The Penn of of wei chet sae sate wa uid oven Abbas ovement Ah eal, though ‘etl the scr athe Pers ade ape de zl te mo ct ene ah mye faba the Shain pedecesyevenaingthe stn “Depa Gand “Shadow of Gon Earth Ths caliphs ao aed oer the Sanne, se of pani» serio, subi lan fr Zea ‘They apeited gd, o Musi judge, ad pnmoted he sonst of moses, state Peta hovng seed he &141 RICHARD M. BATON feeds imperial ealiate, though sly speaking violation of Islomic motions of the esualty of believer, served 38a vehicle forthe [cowth of lami cvzaton ia ts widest sense. ths the social historian Ua Lapis has shown, al of chis growth cok place inthe content ofthe exrordinary urbanization tat son followed Te comust, which became one of the hallmarks of Islamic evasion, Wile or ctis like Damascus, Jerusslem, Isfitan, Mery and Cordova seSimply occupied other, like Cairo and Basta, began a arson cis Turan older a development eulting in parc om a policy of seting tne ubaniing otherwise potendallycurulent nomads ites, both new ANG ol, ao grew in response t the caliphate’ ned for adminstatve Enters and these, once place, dew in and absorbed the surtunding ‘Sulation'asuiban proletariat classes, The most specticlt such cite ie hat of Baghdad. Established in 786, the new Abbasid capital api le to pepulton of about half «lion, or ten times the sie of Testy Cecsipon, the former Sasanian capa. Exerywbete fom Cordova Teeln these sprang up great ees, which, stimalted by the appetite Sr the ruling canes for husury goods, became burgeoning centers and hates forthe prodeton and consumption of mamerous crafts and ind Convfasion 10 stat ‘Roother dimension to the entry of Islamic chvlacon ito global his sory ws the mass conversion of Middle Easter sedentary communities ‘Grid Unlike ether great conquests ia which the foreign conqueror ‘Merely etme and went—or perhaps eae and asimiated—by the tenth din leven centuries slam was wellon is way to becoming the dominant ‘Rligon in the Middle East. The dynamics ofthis moverment have been urfelly explored in Richard Bull's Concern a flaw i he Medical Pond: hv Bry in Quantitatce History «book whose subsite iusates Oey of new soci sence techniques int afield that had former Deca the cacasive preserve of clasia, textual cholshi. Bullies com 2m we tape the poce and direction of conversion by ebulatng the anc Hisory as Global Hitry \ 18 pcs of chang in personal names orden ferslected Mise Eas ommaniion ene evonacs cane et es nv eps he ing xe of mut ani the eomeron proces. an imp st ‘tural effeets of the conquc Ir Moron gue hat om et in Tag Michal Moroy arc that Yor ‘Muslims found it easier to accepe Islam when ideas, fe Cun aleady present, import fom Ari astirdes, oF ist ing se that by tury Mastims were earing hemes scare of tl ctzaon Late EOD ie penn are Bot communes Geek On Chas Mihi Neo i fanatic or nen wi rit Mie een nvr no raga acne cia g saan are tonomous community modeled on tone they wld-—creby presen = linge they could ery to bring all these diverse commuitis snd rations eterno ane elt ayes. Dring the al de iecceieataeen erica pactcal as on religious grounds, Convinced of the polit impnudence & ‘of tiny ethnic minority ruling indeBtely over an enormous on Musi snajorty, the caliphs openly encouraged their non-Arab subjects to convert. %16 | RICHARD M. EATON The Muslims quite selconsciusly saw dhemseles a playing eis Lunifsing role seems en be the import ofthe Quran’s passages exhorting ‘Jews and Christians leave aside thei diferences and eeu tothe pe, unadulterated monotheism of Abraham, shir common ancestor. Verses to this effece were insrbed around Isl’ ealest surviving monument, ‘ewsalem’s magnificent Dome ofthe Rack, bul i 651: (© making! The mesenger hath come uno you wi he Tra frm your [Lon Therefor bein: fe ter rou ‘OFeaple ofthe Spare! Do narexggerscin youre rater aught ancring Aish svete th. The Mant, Jonsson of ary. was oy ¢ ‘mesenger oA, snd His wow whieh He conveyed ut Marana spt frm in So bac a Al pl is menengr, a ay not “The” (Cee! itis) beter fr out—Alla sony One God. Fri it emved om Fis Teancendne Mae ha He shoul hve an. Hi al ea the heavens anal nthe cath, And Alb sufent sDeender® ‘As an invitation cleat intended fr the Jews and Chistian of Jerus lem, and of Palestine generally these words pint othe unifying, ites tive ole tha Murlims sa themecles plying amidt she older religious teaiion of the Mile Ease. Um cite a bce tel abn bea of suite od nee ft ane ft wad en tos kin tether ef the nl Comscr cunt st ‘epemahing Te nian oon soo oe oars SN dolar Cane wee nae apo Tae Stet eeemete we tte sa ened a hc Ce Sms ee cin payee oh fen rp ed hough Abn pee of he eh omy Rag Ld spa by 900 ha cs by th ely rel pan ander nec nd Sie wae ren Bag Papemahng coy nt ener ng ten eth hone Ata Tus acd in Noh nin ete cera ti ent see eas pe alist gone ubontnen cere ede he neh 17 es Een ple tu Bape per peed te Bp > wterrun Storsver since paper ithe beaucars sock in ade Pepe, i300" ‘making technology greatly contributed to the expansion and consolidation Sine costs wcmerc acs fom cen en nee poli consequences, Since Musins believe thatthe Quran every syle lable of itis the aceual Word of God, the ison ofthe Quran any accelerated by the new technology, contributed to the growth of the ree tion as well. Indeed, when one conier the powerof cry andthe ae of erate communis in arcealasing nd prereving the substan ofl religion, or education, the pred of papermaking technology must be ser 2 having played an enormously inportant rl nthe post-ighcenry history ofthe globe, and especially inthe expansion of lm vie with which the initial fusion of paper wat most eal associated (One of the most exciting ares of recent reseuch i the sty ofthe ‘worldwide difsion of agua products, hough, and rm the eat ‘Muslim world, In terms ofthe umber of species and the geographies! scope involved his was probably the mot damatic asic event it orld history prior othe meeting of ee peales af the Westctn and East. fm hemispheres inthe fiteeeh centr. nz superbly documented sty, ‘Andsew Watson has recent lid ores the myths thatthe Arabs, Bocas of thei desert, pastoral background, were somehow disinclined to gical ture and that early slic mes had witnested a decline in acute ae had bought b Tin and sucessfully begun colivatingstapessuch i hard wheat, re, sugarcane, and pew vat ‘es of sorghum ris such a banana, sour orange lemon, ime, mang ‘watermelon, and te coconut pals vegemble sucht spinach, arichoke, and eggplant and the key industial tp, cotton, From lag, these crops (xcept the mango and coca then spesd west all the wa to Mite lim Spain, which was transformed into veritable gaden undet Muslin tule. Other crops passed by ship from southern Arabia to East Ac, nd reached as far south at Madogscr, while il thers moved by earavan from northwest Affe across the Sahara to copical West Af. ‘This wat ‘expecially te for cotton, whose difasion in Ac dieclyprlleled the spread of Ilr itself. Finally, beginning inthe thirteenth cena, mat oF these crops were inteed ino Europe via Spain, Sil, and Cyprus, Dut ity a ey 19 pot “he ito fer cle vu tte gon velo 418 | RICHARD M. BATON ‘2 compnatively slow rate owing vo the Europeans’ nfvie agiulural Skills, their more ited ieigation technology, and thet lower population ‘density, which made it unnecessary to maximize dee sol productivity "Brerythere they were culated, the new cops contibuted fun damental social changes. Since the tadisonal cops of the pee-tlamie Middle Ear and Mediterranean ares had een winter rope, the Bld of ‘hose regions generally ay fallow in the summertime. Bot ak mon ofthe newly intoduced crops mere summer cope, adapted to Inds No, mon ‘oon climate, their sped int western Asa vastly increased apriclra ‘roduetivey by adding, in effect, another growing season foreach eae tar year, Moreover, since the Indian rope were adapted high afl regions, ehey required more water than enuld be provided by the ist Son systems alveady present inthe prefslanie Westen world. Hones the Arabs sucessful dision ofthe Indian cops aso involved an intensif ‘atin of existing ization technology (eg underground water canals, watering devies) and the invenson of sl ober (ef, certain pes ast as they had bortowed,asimilced, and difused Indian agricul ‘ure, Muslims did the same with Greek and Indian knowledge. By the seventh century the Byzantine Greeks had long neglected he ssc inellecul tradition of Arswrle, Ptolemy, and Galen, the eulvaton of ‘which migated eastward when ligious perceation dove Syrite-speaking ‘Nestoran Christiane into Irn, ‘There the Nestoians continued to teach ‘Greck sciences under the late Sasanians. Inthe eighth and ninth centuries this submerged intellectual waion esuaced when the Abbasids extab lished their eeptal, Baghdad, in the heart of the old Sasanian Empie Enger for what they deemed practical knowledge —for example, keep ing themselves physically well measuting the Bel, predicting the apr ‘aural seasons fram heavenly badies—the caliph opened a "house of indo,” in eaenoe a tranaation barca for rendering Anbic cron of Greek, Sytne Sanskrit and Persian works dealing wih beoadspeetum ‘of foreign though, especially medicine, stontmy, and rather, By the ninth, tench, and elevech centres, Muslim scents, most of whom ‘were Arabiewriting Iranians, were no longer merely transaing but were reatvely assimilating this foreign Knowledge. Fom dhe Greeks they 3 ‘xpted the notion that behind ee apparent chaos of reality lay an onder Tying order ron by laws that could be understood by human reason. Ta ‘ition to this imported ronal ation, scholars evolved thei own pit wadition that developed especly rich knowledge inthe Bel EGG A NC reer of medicine 1+ Weal see ths combining of various inlet trations in mathe ‘mates and astronomy. Around 770, Indian scholars brought to Baghdad lwatzes on astronomy tat the caliph prompely nde ranslaed int Ars bic. Some decades ate, the eransations fll into the hands of Khaz (4 ca. 850) the famous asuonemer and mathematician, who then com. bined and hatmonized Greek, Hania, and Indian systems with stronom ‘alfiningsofhisown. The Indians halo bought workson mathematics ‘0 Baghdad, and ic was from these that Mosh scien ssinated what aso them, and would be forthe restof the wo, evlationay sytem of denoting numbers, including the concept of ze, Called by Muslims “Indian (Hind) numeral” hey were known a8 "Arabic mers” when subsequently received by Europeans vis Spanish Arab. Building on this knowledge, Khvatzmi combined principles af Greek geometry and lain shes to evolve che system af mathematic known algebra, self an Abie word takea by Europeans frm the tile of ene of is wu, Hid ablabr atop ‘The accumulation ofthis sor of knowledge thus hada compounding sffeet tat moved Ishmie science ensderably Beyond the merely imitative eclectic: Indeed, ane may iy challenge the popu content hat in the eleventh century Chistian Buse “redcovered clas Greek knowledge in the libaies of Toledo or Granada in conqucted Muslim Spain. This isin realty Eurocenui view, ae iplies thet Mushins played a sity passive role, in which thet historic destiny was o pt ‘tly European knowledge int cold storage unt such time ay it ould oe he Abs ealiphs began ‘ose ther ripon powervehen Turis military aves, recried gard te eliphs ind the empite, began taking coatol int thet own hands ‘The caliphate was ths reduced to a mere fguchead cfc, wile teal power devolved armong various sultanates hraughout the Muslin word ‘Then blow came in 1258 when Mongol armies, havig moved rom East 1 Southwest Asia in the early thiesnth century, entered socked, and20 1 RICHARD M. EATON esuoyed the Abbasid capital of Baghdad. What is more, they executed the list Abbasid caliph and abolished his ofc, thus severely undermining, the symbolic unity ofthe Maslin word, Invent cencries many West: ‘tn scholay came tn derstand! these events a sgnaling the beginning “os protracted pesid of decline fot Islamic cvization. Batic now seems x SS ‘apparent that such an interpretation of ploom and decline confused the ‘essing of Islamic cviation asa whole with that of Musi wets and ‘heir tates—a peteepion that in tm retleces an earlier historiogrephical temphasson dynastic and pical-military history. ‘Over the pas several decades, histovians have cast tei vision far be= yond the political careers of che caliphs, sultans shah and amis that Ih figured so prominently in ear stadies of Ilamic history. In pat this shift in emphasis eects 3 more feneal wend, prevalent ¢hvoug (ut the historical profession, from pols to seal history. Moreover, Stadens of Islami history hed to ade an apparent contaditon that politi! history could not esl: In the postthiteenthcentury period, the very time tit it fragmented pital, Islami civilization ot only ‘mainained its interal eahesivences but achieved ies highest eur fo: rescence. Moreover, at that time, Isami civilization alo embed on 1 carer of worldwide difusion een more impeesive i scope than the ‘Nab conquests ofthe seventh and eighth eentres. Hence, mach resent ‘tol has focused on individ or nstctions that provided Muslin focicties wth internal cohesion a ‘ation los its pola eaherence favicctgious asmptons. Since Moti hve sayy understood an the respon ofthe community of belcv to ine command it be- Upllbt ne exentlth onnay Miss Know eva how they sould 2c ‘nth oad eee fellow humans and oad God. Ths eae the cabo iy acon of he Sher ie wo ipo an theremembered words and deedsf the Propet, the Saris undetod ’ completely comprehensive uid ie Nocatal pies, the Mond wince sft s cas ta include jadges, nerpeters for jes, Qu rovers, par leaders, and prescers. For tt ting there wee af se foal college a satesuppoted ches chal, but mos ‘Islamic Lae, and hace the emergence of specil- Matis gee ae taal pe pe aie History as Global sory 424 Soe a es ee ee See cee per er ShOpuceceeeeieemannttor site Pee re ear Sanyal So emerges tar ee schools. Yet the tradition of informal scholarly networks has persisted son tes menor : Tf — Fa vocation of the ‘nfamd to inform ordinary Muslims ral Secateurs ame el Soot tity ceecsg aceon Bibiana sna Pn Sank read wapme age enone ing literature has appeared in recent years analyzing the rise and growtt ‘stn Sm, ng ome eat eso ly jac en fn se the nsf Msn eer he i ee uli communities fen bean withthe appearance of annymoca fe ran holy men whom the fol popslton might asocite mh maulou powers. Typical isthe following extact rom the medieval ok erat of eatem Bengal: sho ie ecm aoe 5] tite that i ews nd ir we orice igh fie or pa nd ie Eros hed tt pve Ipod mc ein ew hae Sey, tT a rh22 | RICHARD M, EATON stan hoor e opened he mouth... Hunde of nen and women came ‘rey day apy bm hei regee, Whatever hey waned they minelouy [eto hi stn, Pesns a ee, fr and other dts Fd, gat ‘hse, and fowls came in he quan to his dor, OF these feng their didnt ouch aie bt ety arbed al among te oor” kis apparens here hat the Suis widespread poplar rested om his potcivedsupematon sling, ad peyebic powers and the simple gen- toys pled the por, Moreover, me an dt ee a ey a Islam in the Wider World, As the acompanyng able illaseates, move than two-hitds ofthe world’s ‘5900 milion Musi ive outside che Mile Eas, Furthermore, over four Fhe ofall Musims are non-Arab, withthe majonty ofthe wosldide ‘community living in South and Southeast Asia Indonesia has the largest, “Mustim population fan count inthe mori, followed by Pakistan, Ba lash, and India. Yer scolaty work on Islamic history in Asia and Afi ‘as lagged fac behing tha done inthe Mid Eas, As recently 8 1976 callege-ivel textbook entitled trade Iam eaain neglected to dacuss—citing “practical easons”—the ewo-thidsof the Muslim word that estes beyond the Middle Ese” Research in the past several decades, however, has gone far in redes ing this scholarly imbalance. Especially noteworthy is Marshall Hodgson’ three-volume Varo lm (1974), which remains today the most sympa- thetic and comprehensive history of Islam onthe market. In thee impor tant respects -concepesl, geographical, and chonalogial—Hodgson's ‘work broke decisively with mart eater scholarship, Fit, he endeavored to understand Islamic history on is own tems anid not view i though the tinted lenses of European hiss Even before Hodgson wrote, the er had pussed when the caliph war csully termed Islas pope, the Quran ite Bible, the mosque it church, or Shilsm ie Protesuat sect. But the ‘Wortowe Distusumow o Mest, 183 Perens of Pore of oro Tota Wore ot Gomer o Rage (oom) (ea) China 20 Souths Aa u none 6 ‘nd mainland counties 2 South » Broads » (Cota sa 6 Midi Ease 2 “Tukey ‘ len s ‘eka 2 Exspe 5 North fice a Sdn 5 ‘Abin Penile td Feel Crescent ‘ Wes ios ° Remaining Wes Ace 4 Base Aiea 3 Reming Ease Ai 2 Sra Hi Woks, Me Pepe: Word tape, no eer ‘Cnn recomand Pah Cd om di gent241 RICHARD M. EATON inte pin ngs ae ‘Pl scious terminological assumptions, themselves legacies of a thousand years {Abs bu insisted instead tha the only proper unit forthe study of Islamic ‘9/ iseory isthe enti belt of agrarian lands stretching from the Mediteta i vith the worldwide demographic distribution of Muslims (as seen in the Wi ac Ia a a ae ie coor annette resets Teh Sc eet Ss ements ade anranr cnet ° | atte ma re cultural floresceneein Islamic history. Above lhe understood that twat ; nly in the centuries afte 1288 that the Islamic eign, ab belie system ala ements, paceman Se poneea hacen TEAMeaat Hodges a ce tun cea i hat veet lel th sd a empire an sy ‘hepato wey ox gsc pnd ey 10 cei sur andanandnat bu pal hewmen Oreo 10.» Mangere concr ef uaen cetera hee re nsw oc sins rate mand ‘ct Now boa pled ope eer seen tae Pec ar slome ciety 8 Leven Coen hes (OP ‘Sipe tb ney. mit en omen ls rly lantaon peso pe tbe econ ose tr + pp.ip consent, oh nom ste ot ican ll Een tee: bet vt wont net npn epee foe sung n Me, 4, ling a pon neering eecspnog eligi de ha PU sniform and monolithic, one adopts the perspective of someone standing inavcote al ty viagra se tn ee Hace denctnemtcet tole aaah nerhaed 2CcLean am othe mene, ose tom nee gs Taian penpecic ha ae conga se oe thc ‘Sour nk oxy so labor atone te doar fh fee Sie! veilae nici a cate aoe ence lf Tslam beyond the Middle Bast anda the sae of historical scholarship Upp senceingthae owe eamicHisory as Global Hiry \ 25 ‘Where Indi is concerned, ow fnes of historical inguiy are disceen- ible, one of them intellectual, the other soci {cont century. But what would the new rling ess, self ony recently ‘converted eo Islam in Central Asia, make of the land of the Hida, Shiva, sx! the manelousinamations of Vishnu? And wo what extent would Islam ‘adaptor change in order to Bind for tela niche in Tdi’ ich cultural ‘universe? Larkin behind these apparenly innocent questions were funda ‘mental issues, both for modem historians looking back over the pst even ‘entries and for Indian Muslin living i ay ane of them. In its {old accommodation with Indias eultore, wat Islam becoming diced? (Oc was icsimply growing withthe times, adapting to new ccumstances, building on what was aleady there? These were ungent question bes ‘aus in coming terms With Tad formidable cult lepacy, Moss ‘wer also compelled to come to teams with thet ne, As reent research suggests, Indian Muslin fle a deep-seated ambivalence tard Indian culture, with responses ranging fom an enthusiastic embrace of Hind philosophy fr example, by Prince Daa Shiko, d. 1659 oan outright ‘ejection of Hindus as “worshipper of idols and cow-dung” (Zia a Din Baran, 1387) ‘Whatever ube incellecuals may have fee about Indian culture, how- cover, a he folk level millions of Indians were converting to Lam, oF ‘more precisely, assimilating Itami ritual, contaoges, and erator into cei local religious symems. Beginning inthe fourteenth century and continuing through the Mughal perio (1526-1858), converted Indian Muslims became the majority community in the ester and western wings ofthe subcontinent. Regarding these regions, a leer inthe Maslin ‘world, scholars are developing undersandings of the conversion process far more refined than eae, cde stereotypes of alam ae war sl Bion. Recent research sugges that the growth of sedentary aziclare in Tightly Hinduized regions of India wll ell us more about conversion than wil the movement of medieval sacs Tn eat sin the West, Punjab and Sind svincs of great Sufs arate and integrated pragratan and non-Muslin pastor lane nt thc2 | RICHARD M. EATON socioeconomic, and politica opis, Deseendanes of such Sufi then estab lished marsagaliznces withthe leaders ofthe pastoris clans, while the Delhi sultans and Moga emperors granted huge tts of sich land for the supporto the rita ceremonies performed atthe shrines. The shrines thon served as important medting agenciex both with the sate and with Islamic cosmology the very moment tha these commniis were pass ing fom 1 He of pastoral nomadism t one of settled wheat agricul ‘bo involved ere was the expansion of gation echnology, which, 18 rote eater, typ acenmpanied Islamic evizaton and, in his ase, permitted sap growth in wheat production. A sila thing happened at the other end of Uni in enga, where Muslim poncers acquired grans from the Mahalo clear virgin fret for expanding the empire's area of ‘ie‘eulivation, These pincers so constructed mosques that functioned {S inagetsintegsting non-Muslim forest peoples both into an agrarian tmay of life focused onthe mosques and ito a Telly served syle of Talae heavy inflected withthe cure of ints and sine veneration. AS ‘result of such processes, bythe eighteenth cenery le communities of “Manlinnpeusants had appeased in both Panjab and Bengal In contrat in Indi’s hearland, where both spriulare anda sedentary Hindu society svete well established, conversion wo Ilan was fa ese sigan ‘Malaber, Indiv’ southwestern coastal region also saw the dramatic ‘rowth focal Musi commis. Unlike Puna ar Bengal, Malabar ly Freyond the obit of Mughal imperial influence andthe Pesasized culate ‘oncated wit tc Rich in pepper cardamom, and ginger, and sategialy Tocated a the midpoint of Indian Ocean de routes, Malabar diy how: ‘rer fl within the obit of Ara maritime commescal influence, From at Teast che ninth century, when the oder surviving masque appeared, Ara merchants had established a fixed residence in port cities along che spice ‘ich cousin. By the fourteenth and fifteenth cents, when the pace tf this ade quickened andthe entie Indian Ocean came alive with An “dhows loaded wth spices and textes, a substantial resident community tf Ab eadets appeared in Malabar, living under te protection of Hinds ings ho profted handsomely from the wade). Eventually, a sable Marti community emenged though Arab inermariage with the Toe population. Inthe sstenth century, eke appearance ofthe Portuguese, esressvely hostile rival for the pepper ade, dramatically soled the barnstorming ome i a of mean Ny ff neal afiiatcs into an armed communcy with Fixed Sokal boundaries. Islamic Hiary os Global Hisory 1 27 cenrk under Iie hegemony: chad hntean fruiting Pesan infos by Hind cious clue; ad ats cei phase inf Satur evolution i was challenged by aggresive European Sommer powers tle wo Misi tnders But the soc aca er comet Ingthe pth of sam in Soutcat a—fepmens of uf pace, acy Aciphemble preston highly sac cur choir arent any spare but tes case thatthe line diving mythtoy nbs tne whore presence phage plema sy he ng a pea co vanish completely, Neverthe ts ceruin tar bythe en of the thincenhcenury + Msim ctype at Par nthe oy mt of Suman Ths wa fled in th oucnth and cay icon centres by ote predominant Musi cys von he coasts of Sumatra and North Jove, and most pra at Maacen inthe Sai o Male. When Mais wes cpu by Porugte cap in It, Masi unde shied Acsh on Sums’ orth csr, When Dutch power aed «century ater, usm mocha ain shied hs ime {© Makan a he sues cast of Ochs (Ses) ‘or horns ave on wo an es of runt inex ining the penecraton of sam n aay peaking Suthes Ass,Onc Centeron Be extort expenien of repona od intatina time ae nthe Todan Osan ding th oncom and cence tues This acti sed nam fm te dminated weaned trade ote lowing the Mongol invasions of Cena a Wes Aan teeter with nen demand in Buon for Sots Asa see ‘Thus tere emerged nthe Stas of Mara andthe Ja Seater ceptonaly cxmopolan amaspere that was mutetnk vith cde {rom sou Chin Gaur, Tarn Na, ong Malad the Arian recond line of argument fcises non the quickened pace ofcom- mete as such, but onthe intellectual and prt! networks hat emerged 15a consequence of, oF alongwith, the commercial diaspora. In 1512— 15, the Portuguese traveler Teme Pires noted thc foreign merchants in Southeast Asin port towns were accompanied by “ehiely Arab ml” ‘eateyory that could have iced scholars and Sofa well preach28 | RICHARD M. EATON crs, Seiring on this elue and building on the fragmentary writings that ‘Sls and scholars themselves have left, historians suchas Antony Johns have attompred to reconstittheitellectl and spstual mew of the commercial pore owns inthe sixteenth and Seventeenth centres andthe fate of thee contact both with thet Sumatran or Javanese hintedands ‘nd with scholars in India of Ania. BY painstakingly idensiying who ‘died with whom, whete, when, and under whose (if anybody’) patron- ge, the hope is that we may one day be able to make rore meaningful "atements abou the proces of slamizaion nthe Malay word CGinciding with the developments deserbed above, frum the late BE teenth entary, Muslim ity-stues of Java's north cost—noubly Den- ‘mak—egan expanding into the inci of Java, Southeast Asin’ richest, find most densely populated ind, Here Muslims couftonted, not Eur pean merchant captains, bu ancient Hindu-Budshist civilizations pos ccring hierrchialy gained socal structures, refined teat, elo tate cnur tual, revenue-coletng arsoctaces, and dense populations ‘of sice-culivating petsans. In the early snteonth century, «coaion ‘of Maslin Kingdoms defeated the Hinde-Buddhist kingdom of Madj- ahi, which was replaced by several new Muslim states he most impor tant being the Sultanate of Matarun in ental Java. The history ofthis fc, which reached its height of power ander Sulean Agung (1613-1646), ‘was matked by the appearance af enouousy invent Javanese Sus Jidiyayt) shadowy Bgues abou whom fantastic legends have been em ‘dred —who sem aceaionaly to have asst sultans to power and sionally to have wed hee considerable influence withthe ual masses undermine the sultans’ power. Despite sate persextion and their own Feouous historic, however, the ay have survived in the coletive fmemory ofthe Javanese peaaney as vivid eultral heroes. Cutoff rom fexular exposure to the wider Islamic world of the port ets, the yay eakivated forms Islamic myc that were heat cnged with Hind Buddhist and native Jovanese conceptions, Hence, if ee Islamizaion of che outer ind was inked othe rise of international ade and its spiual, er nelcctual offshoot, the pattems of Islamia inthe more densely populated interior of Java ate associated with the activites of cours Foaming sins mhowe luminous quasemthoogical lives have served, for suleqbene generations, connect Hind Java with Muslim Java Tn sub-Saharan Alii, abn Southeast Asi, Muslim communis rose ‘most ypally with he growth of trade, Unik the Romans or Byzantines, ‘who had! drawn fried lines between themselves and the native Betbet pstorlists of Now Aca whom they considered "barbarian hence Ber- bre the Arubs endeavored vo incorporate cere peoples into the Musi ‘omimnity alter their conquest of the exon inthe eal cighth century. Tinfact, the Arab expedition acors Gibraltar Spain was in reality int ic Hier s lobalHisory \ 29 Arab- Berber endewor. To the south, one branch of Heber, the Sanja, Ind already expanded aes the Sahara Deset and exablished commer: ‘ial conic with the bck peoples ofthe brad east-west Sune bel ‘Their ame caravans eased sale down fromm North Ai in exchange for ld brought up from West Alia, which ukimately wound up in Europe Sometime in he renthcentry, the Sanijah Berbers nominally converted ‘0 Islam, and toward the end of eat century, the kingdom of Gana ex panded far enough nocth to meet them, thersby inaugurating a process {hat has continued forthe past showsand year the grad Islamizsion of Were Ac, ‘Although the commitment ofthe Saat Islam was intl tent tive, this change when ane oftheir chief, Yay i ram, made the Pilrimage to Mecca in 103, Asis eypicl For pilgrims coming from the ‘cdg ofthe Muslim Wot, the experience of ining in itl soiarity ‘with Arabs, Turks, Indians, Persians, and Pyptins conveyed to this chic? {sense ofthe truly global cope of slum, in eons othe mote pate Ince cults fiat hi in his naive and. Ispised impart such 4 ‘eligious vision to his own people, Yahya iba Tbrahim brought back with him an edcated Arab teacher, Abdallah ibn Yasin, fr instructing the Ser ‘aja onthe finer points af the fith, More chan that hi tesches on the ‘model ofthe Prophet Muhammad's vigil movement in western Arabia, ‘revitalized the Bevbess inthe name of san and spared a miliary expen slonst movement, the Almoravid, that swept overall Morocco an Spain inthe eleventh and twelfth centuries.” ‘To the souh, meanwhile, Arab and Berber merchans continued to open up ade outes, which escrossed the Saharan and Sudanie belts of ‘Altea and inked Caio, Tripoli, Tons, and Fer inthe north with Lake ‘Chad, Mali, and Ghana in the south Consequently, th eriest Muslims ‘© apearin places like cleventhcentay Ghana were foreign tars fom the north who tive in separate won quarters under pagan king: lt “ation began only after agricul peoples became dawn ito expanding ‘commercial networks ofsuch traders ashappened othe Soinke former Ssiculturl group that tok up uading between the Ghanian plifilds and Musi merehans rom the north, As Affi commis Soh the Soninke became detached frm thir peasant way of if ther tachment ‘oa deities diminished; a ther asciaton with foreign merchant in ‘eased, they gradvally incorporated Muslim rials. So ight was the ‘beoween cade and Isl, in fac, chat when this process was verse as 's documented in sever cases of converted metcane groupe tat ete to. peasant life, they reverted to thei former pagan ul, As Tong as West Africa rlers remained pagan, however, miss con version among the peasantry didnot osc. And despite the presence of inflcnial Muslim rerchant clases in eeir mide, the rere fended to30 | RICHARD M. EATON remain a eat nominally pagan, since thee pis! legtimacy rested on fituns and belief associated with local cults popular arog the peasantry fon whos loyalty they depended, In these crcamstances, the physical ex. Danson of kingdoms and the consequent conversion of dings ota led to Islamization. For example as thteenth-century Mal expanded fom a small chiefdom to a vast empire, in the process incorporating peoples of ‘ying ethnie backgrounds auached to Yrious cults, the religious ore tation of ie rulers aligned with Muslim metehans, the ony communi ‘whote towitrialfeach spanned the whole empire. Hence, by the fu ‘enh century, Mali wa internationally recognized as a Mosim state, But inthe Fifteenth century when it sve Backta iy micea polity and wat shandoned by many of ts Musi merchants, Mal rules reverted othe kingdom's former cults. merchants ft introduced the slgion of Allah and Kings pao ‘ned iwhen poiically expeien,iewas let to seholars to sable it. For ‘unlike the indigenous cults whose audrey was based on moral rise, Islamic authority ws based on writen srigte, giving Islam « saci among West Afian cults that was by comparison immortal and wnchal- lengeable. Moreover, in West An asin India, Muslims first introduced paper and papermaking cehnology. And with paper came the knowledge fof writing and a clas of scholars expere in applying the Sacred Law. In this way networks of teachers and student, roether with the coms of it- cate urns and judges the weachers produced, came ro provide the sturdy Scalfoling that would Hold togethers permanent Muslim community. In {he thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, center of learing sprang Up a ‘over West Afi, by far the mort istrions being Timbuks. Strategically Toested on the bend af the Niger River and at deja ofthe desert and the savann, Timbulkcu had emerged sound 1100 as an impotent com- meri center, but by 1400 its mercantile wealth was visibly converted into scholarship. Indeed, Tambul West Ac’ finest example ofthe ttl imerependenes of mean svi and ch maitre Islamic educational igi IuamicHisory as Global Hisary \ 3 Diiraltslim as a World Systom In secen years there has een much tak in historical circles of wordy ‘um teary a apronth ogobal istry. This theory x concsned with the expansion of eeonamie networks, erpeilly expt networks, that hisrically have ev arss polities! boundaries ineffoe to incorporate _ peoples into uniform structures, Whatever tay be the vl of such an “approach for stents of global history, historians of lla ae beginning ‘0 realize tha in the post-thiteenh-centuty peri, Muslims also con structed a world system, bu one radials dfeent fom that modeled on Hem onomiew, Twas, het, weld eytem linking neh snd women ‘hvough informal networks of scholars and stints, built on shared under standings of how to see che world and stoctire one's relationship to ie Above al. twas a world stem consteted around a book, the Osh, and of humanity's attempt to respond to its message by Tliling both its extemal pac of bling a rgheous saci oder and i incl project ‘of desing humans neater thir Make [Nowtere is this Islamic word sjsem mae vividly caprured thin in the gene of whatcan best be described as ravel erature” that merged in the pose-shiteent-century petid, The Quran itself enjoins its eam: ‘unity to "journey inthe Ind, then bchold how He oiinte exaton™ (29:20), From the eatest days of Islam, pious Muslin flowed this in junction; indeed the raion of priate scholars and sun is waceable im prt o this verse. In the fourteenth and teenth centuries yet another Purpose for "joumeying inthe lind” appeared when increased European demand for spices and Mongol disrupons of oveland routes triggered tude diasporas throughout the Indian Ocean and Saha Desert. For both Pious and commercial reasons, Mustins during these two centuries began ‘oving smug the own won upc umber, slo ed Tepeatedly refered ton West- em literature asthe Marco Polo af the Muslim word, But the comparison is badly misleading, First, having for hy years ersscronsed North and ‘West Afi, the Middle East, the steppes of Cental Asa Indi, South ‘ast Asia, and Chins, or an estimated ttl of 73,000 mies Ibn Barta traveled much farther and visited many more pices than dil Maco Polo ‘Second, unlike the hard-nosed Venetia, Ibn Batts emerges a mote ‘engaging fellow who shares wth ws ust about everthing he see, lars.32.1 RICHARD M. EATON kereaons between rival Su bothethoods in Anatala over which one ‘would have dhe honor of hosting him, the sexval customs of the Maldive Islanders, the techniques of coconut harvesting in Arabia, andthe itl ceremonies ofthe kings of Ma The evo caver uillered most profoundly in their reisonship to ‘he societies they visited. Maro Polo, whe died in 1524, the yeu before Ibn Barua embarked from Moroce, hd been s sanger everywhere he ‘vent, nde knew it Indeed, his fae derives rm his havingntedvced Europe, which inthe thirteenth centory was just emeyging from being 2 global backwater, co a fabulous but utterly allen word of which ie had ‘nly che aziest impressions. In eoouast, ha Batts, in his itecontnen= {al wanderings, moved though single cult universe in which he was ‘tery at home. Most of is eaves tok place within what Musi have slays called Dir al llam, the “abode of Ina"; chat i, the inhabited ‘ext where Muslin predominated, oiling that, where Muslim author ties were in power and could uphold the Stara. Everywhere he went he ound de eized company of merchants, schol, Suf, or pines and ‘ith them he would eaves, in Arsie on pies ung fom mysticism to jurisprudence, and especialy on events taking place elsewhere in Dir ‘astm. Overall is book convey 4 seleasured tone ia which the eu ‘ural uiey of Dara, fom Spain vo China, was not even an ses ie ‘vas simply taken for granted, Tir was «word in which «ude learned inthe Sacred Law could expect wo nd employment serving the Musi community wherever he went. Idec, the Morocean traveler spent many ‘otis thie yeas away from home doing jus tht bn Bars incuiiely understood tat che Masti word of his day constituted a wuly global civilian, even a "world este” (though he would have taken offense at auch soil cence jargon) thas taken Wes em hstotans some considenble sme to understand tas sch, To beste in jos the past generation historians have sharply refined both thee con” expan and geographical understanding of Ime history, Conceptually, Europe's ninetcenth-century mystfcavon of Islam, and move beady, af ‘Orientalism, though sil alive ina few dusty comety has forthe most prt given way to newer approaches, Socal scents, for hee put have been collecting data on the history of Muslim societies, while historians ‘of relgion have been exploring sistem of meaning embeded inthe i= Aigenous conceptions andthe discourses of Mslime themselves, Thus both approaches have yielded eh harvests Geographically, to, the fed has expanded. Although the study of| Islam in China and the Soviet Union femtne the moet serious deficiency ‘in storia scholarship oday-—even eximatesof the curent poplin ‘of Chinese Muslin ae only guesses, ranging fom 15 milion to 50 mi Tion—major region such a+ West Afi, Sout Asia, and Southeast Asia lame iar Cabal Hisary 38 sre beginning wo be iatgrate int age surveys of Isla history. At the sme time the stady of Islam is gradually extrietng el fom che pip of Near Eastern sts and the easy equation of Islam with Arb cule Wie have also winessed a burt of research monograph covting sine very comer ofthe Musi Word. But jst adding ducusion of more Mus lim nations to our coutses and ou textbooks—a lecture hete or chapter tere—is not enough: ‘The key is o understand the plobal nature ofthe tema, ad above al that the nation state, Muslin ot oer, elf a ‘ery recent European polialeeory having no root in Islami istry ee raion hrmnnrumnpemn ois ctaberg bey, tut, iis beeause in veent times the Islamic amg has been split asunded , iro modem noma —~hc langem gph of he Pech Reale ton. Nationalist scainens fave even nected Musi temelen awl recent cones berween Islan "nations" epenely demonstrate Hence the challenge facing historians is wo tanseend perspectives roted in re y ‘tafe Sten eet aes es ie hese eet ae ot ele ly aa ns fStop 4 af, 1. See Dory L. Sayer, tb, Te Song of Rlod (Baines: Penguin Books, 187, 9. 15-76 2 Marae Pkt, Te ri Keron: Allen Un, 1976, Sura er vem 1-5, pH. 5. Aong these se Clade Cabos, Mice Moros: Wasbough, tn Danii SP. Back, G, Re Hag, Patisa Cone, and Mishel Coo. While ‘these authors ve wile teary materials Deytod the Abie wees, they aoe fer sharply on oo of nepeaie, “SGHLA. Joysol ed Sauron ar Crary of lam Sasi (Can le: Souter tins Unies re 982 p. 2 'S For cumple, Stheenary Greek sure, witen ovo hnked yes before Minami, Yepoted Ab communis i mre Nba pat prisaive form of mono, which ebugh oped bythe nance of thie ign neighbos, war dena hat practic bythe Herews te dye foes The same soume aed tht these Ar had ce nn cae wih Nores