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Hugh Poulton: Who are the Macedonians? xvii,

218 pp. London: C. Hurst & Co., 1995. £25 (paper
£12.50).

H. T. Norris

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies / Volume 59 / Issue 03 / October 1996,
pp 572 - 573
DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X0003086X, Published online: 05 February 2009

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0041977X0003086X

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H. T. Norris (1996). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 59, pp
572-573 doi:10.1017/S0041977X0003086X

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572 REVIEWS
an ejective consonant (p. x) should be altered immediately checked the Georgian of Zosime's
to 'one for which, in addition to the buccal 'Praise and magnification of the Georgian
closure, the glottis is also closed, both closures language' when towards the end Rayfield's
then being released almost simultaneously to source has ' 104 years' against the '94 years'
produce the acoustic effect of sharpness'—if of the version with which I was familiar (viz.
no air were emitted and one kept one's vocal S. Q'ubaneishvili's Jveli kartuli lit'erat'wis
cords shut, one would asphyxiate oneself! In krest'omatia ' Chrestomathy of Old Georgian
the table of the five archaic letters of the literature', 1,1946,416). The Aorist Subjunctive
alphabet (p. xvi) I would suggest for the second damc'ardes is translated (p. 141) as a perfect,
character a scientific transliteration of ' ey'. I 'has turned bitter', but must surely be either
cannot interpret the reference (p. 1) to 'the future ' will turn' or the expression of a wish,
Christian Greek order' (sc. of the Greek 'may it turn', and the same may be said of
alphabet) as providing the explanation for why viq'vnet (p. 143), which should be either 'shall
the letter representing the sound [v] in we become?' or 'are we to become?' rather
Armenian should occupy the 30th position in than 'we have become'.
the Armenian alphabet (as against the The present volume will long serve both
digamma's sixth position in the Classical Greek interested amateurs and professional scholars
alphabet accounting for the Georgian letter vin of Georgian (that such a dual audience is
occupying the sixth slot in the Georgian envisaged is clear in the reference to both
alphabet). On the same page the original writers and their works by use of English and
digraphic representation of the vowel [u] is Georgian forms), furnishing them with both
stated to have evolved into a single letter in the hours of pleasurable reading and many
miniscule nuskhuri script—this is true, but the thought-provoking insights from a committed
Georgian representation of it given here is and entertaining specialist who is never
actually its mkhedruli form (viz. 3), whereas frightened to say what he really thinks. I am
what we need is the k'utkhovani graph n|. The happy wholeheartedly to recommend it.
introduction of alien participial constructions
into Old Georgian (p. 11) is correctly ascribed GEORGE HEWITT
to Greek influence, but subordinate-clause
constructions are as natural to all four
Kartvelian languages as they are to Indo- HUGH POULTON: Who are the
European tongues. In the 'Praise and magni-
fication of the Georgian language', running Macedonians? xv'n, 218 pp. London:
across pages 19-20, the c'ili, translated as C. Hurst & Co., 1995. £25 (paper
' part' (p. 20, 1. 3) is actually here the name of £12.50).
the fourth from last letter of the Modern
Georgian alphabet and so should be rendered Hugh Poulton's latest book will be of a
c'il(i) in the translation. The Greek itdprvpos special interest to Balkan specialists and to
(p. 40) is given minus its accent; though it didthose who are concerned with ethnic conflicts
indeed mean both 'witness' (Classical fidprvs) in Eastern Europe. Very little has been pub-
and 'martyr' (Classical /xdprvp), according to lished in book form on Macedonia in this
Liddell and Scott the word is rare and virtuallycountry in recent times. This fills a vacuum
confined to Homer. admirably. Poulton's study will be indispensable
for students and for governmental and aid
Lazica (p. 56, foot) seems to be defined as agency researchers whose access to the sundry
though it were coterminous with modern-day source material which he provides—some of it
Lazistan, running along the Turkish hinterland published in Skopje, Sofia, Sarajevo, Salonika
from Rize (rather than Trebizond) to the and Ankara—is severely limited and even non-
Georgian border at Batumi, but in the period existent. Poulton is an expert on the subject,
under discussion, when Georgian sources refer but he differs from others who have a detailed
to it as egrisi, it extended from somewhere knowledge of Macedonia in his specialist
between Trebizond and Rize around the coast knowledge of the countries which surround it,
to include today's Georgian provinces of Ac'ara or rather ' besiege' it, on every side.
and Guria, as well as Mingrelia, eventually The author's scholarly background is in
abutting Abkhazia, the central portion lying Turkish studies and his knowledge of' Turcica'
between the rivers Ch'orokhi and Rioni. I is extensive. As a consequence, his book can
would be very reluctant to rely on the figures be recommended to Ottomanists (ch. iii,
of five million speakers of Georgian being ' Group identity in the Ottoman empire: from
reduced to two million (p. 98)—how do we millet to nation', in particular) and to all those
know? Would not the definition offered of the for whom 'The Near East' in its widest and
verse-form mukhambazi (p. 134) as 'a five-line classic sense is a prime focus of attention.
verse where the fifth line has the same rhyme Macedonia has characteristics shared with the
in all verses' be improved if supplemented by Caucasus, with Cyprus and the Levant. One
the illuminating schema given in the 11-volume may note, in passing, the presence of Armenians
Georgian Encyclopedia as 'aaaaa, bbbba, and Circassians (pp. 32-3), Turks (pp. 137-41
cccca, etc..'? The historian-geographer and passim), the Jewish community which was
Vakhusht Bagration is mentioned (p. 138), formerly dominant in Salonica (pp. 42-7) and
though we are not informed of the title of his sundry local Muslim communities which
important work, nor where we may consult include Albanians (pp. 182-91 and passim),
it—in fact, I would have liked to have seen Torbashis (pp. 195-7), Vlachs (pp. 136-7) and
throughout more information of this sort 'Egyptian' Romas (pp. 191-5). Every page of
appended to works mentioned and/or trans- this book has something to say about one or
lated, so that, for instance, I could have other of these largely Muslim groups in what
 REVIEWS
is at heart a strongly Orthodox people. The
approach is principally historical, geographical
and political. Ancient history is glanced into,
but the content is at its most thorough when
discussing the post-war period and recent
events (pp. 78 onwards). The central conflict of
Greek claims over the true identity of the new
republic is discussed in great detail. Objectivity
and personal sympathy are well balanced. An
important issue, also discussed here, is the role
currently being played by Turkey in the Balkans
which is symbolized by the project for a new
Via Egnatia to link Albania with Turkey
through Macedonia and Bulgaria, whose view
of each other is discussed.
Islam per se is central to ch. iii, and here
some attention is paid to the Arab world where
relevant, and to current debates between nation-
alism and religious priorities in the wnma, with
a discussion of the similarities and differences
between what is taking place in Macedonia and
in the ex-USSR. A comparison with Alexandre
Bennigsen's writings proves rewarding here
(p. 30, n. 10). Apart from some detailed studies
on Sufi orders in Macedonia (for example,
A. Popovic's, Un ordre de derviches en terre
d'Europe, Lausanne, 1993, 106-29, reviewed in
BSOAS, LVIII, 1, 1995, 219) the only general
introduction to Islamic practice and belief is
Niyazi Limanoski's short study, Islamskata
Religija i Makedontsi Islamiziranite (Skopje,
Makedonska Kniga, 1989). Other works may
have been published recently though none is
easily obtainable. Only occasional reports on
the Muslims in Macedonia have appeared in
the press, hence this book is an essential
reference.
The book is attractively printed. Its con-
densed content surpasses in substance many a
more massive and more costly tome. The two
maps included set the bounds on the ' historical
Macedonia' which has yet to be defined and
accepted. The book ends on a remarkably
positive note. One hopes that the author's
predictions will be fulfilled, and not only for
the Macedonians.
H. T. NORRIS
JOHN RENARD: All the king's falcons:
Rumi on prophets and revelation.
xviii, 216 pp. Albany, NY: State
University of New York Press,
1994. $16.95.
Professor John Renard's book, a revised and
abridged Ph.D. thesis originally presented at
Harvard University in 1978, takes its title in
part from a qasida by Sana'I (d. 1131) in which
the poet writes:
'The falcon prays: "O Lord, protect the
Prophet's community in their faith and
keep them secure!" '
For Renard, the prophets are the ' Lord's royal
falcons'; his book, fundamentally, is a study
of Rumi's prophetology. In her foreword to
the volume, Professor Annemarie Schimmel
notes: "The reader will be grateful to John
Renard that he has chosen this topic as the
573
basis for his investigations into Rumi's theolo-
gical approach. Trained as a theologian and
orientalist he is in a position to put Mawlana's
prophetology into the central place where it
belongs, and many of Mawlana's numerous
allusions to the prophets offer a fascinating
picture of the various aspects of a prophet's
role. Thus, the book will be an eyeopener for
many of Mawlana's admirers.'
Renard draws attention to three main
approaches which have characterized Jalal
al-DIn Rumi studies in recent times: the Sufi,
the poetic and the theoretical, the latter tracing
such aspects as Neoplatonic influences in his
work. Yet he believes little attention has been
given to Rumi's prophetology and, to rectify
this, Renard gives us eight chapters which
'look at Rumi's insights into the meaning of
the second half of the basic Muslim creed,
namely the nature and function of revelation
through prophets.' The author proclaims Rumi
as a 'Muslim miner, sifting the rare earth of
Islam's prophetic lore'.
After examining the role of Rumi in the
history of Islamic prophetology, via the five
headings of historical, philosophical, theolo-
gical, theosophical and mystical prophetology,
and identifying the thematic image of the
royal falcon in Rumi's prophetology, Renard
entitles his second chapter ' Flight of the royal
falcons'. Here he assesses 'the dynamics of
prophetic revelation'. How do the prophets
relate to the world to which they are sent?
What constitutes the nature of revelation? In
what way are the prophets mystics as they
relate to God?
The succeeding four chapters then provide
in-depth studies of Rumi's treatment of four
of the major prophets of Islam, Abraham,
Joseph, Moses and Jesus with the latter (ch. vi)
also embracing a number of other Gospel
figures. Renard ends, logically enough, in his
penultimate and final chapters by examining
the Muhammad of history and the Muhammad
of faith, as the founder of Islam is treated,
albeit unconsciously, by Jalal al-DIn. ' It seems
clear enough that the poet was very much
aware of Muhammad both as an historical
figure and as an ongoing presence.' Renard
asks, in an 'Afterword,' about Rumi's real
views on prophets and revelation. His conclu-
sion is that 'where the Qur'an employs the
prophetic stories chiefly as moral exampla,
Rumi the teacher uses the prophets and their
stories as a convenient reservoir of familiar and
attractive images with which he catches the ear
of his listener .... What Rumi is really selling
is a vision of the relationship of the divine to
the human and of a way homeward. Prophets
and their deeds thus become metaphorical
guideposts.'
Renard has written a fascinating, and very
well structured, volume which differs refresh-
ingly from the mainstream of preoccupations
in Rumi studies. His careful analysis and well
documented chapters constitute a useful model
for an examination of the prophetology in
many other of the great mystical writings
of Islam.
IAN RICHARD NETTON