The Fatimid Empire / / Michael Brett.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2017
• VerfasserIn: Brett, Michael,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2017
• Rok wydania: 2022
• Język: English
• Seria: The Edinburgh History of the Islamic Empires : EHIE
• Opis fizyczny: 1 online resource (352 p.) :; 25 B/W illustrations 2 B/W tables 8 maps

A complete history of the Fatimids, showing the significance of the empire to Islam and the wider worldThe Fatimid empire in North Africa, Egypt and Syria was at the centre of the political and religious history of the Islamic world in the Middle Ages, from the breakdown of the ‘Abbasid empire in the tenth century, to the invasions of the Seljuqs in the eleventh and the Crusaders in the twelfth, leading up to its extinction by Saladin. As Imam and Caliph, the Fatimid sovereign claimed to inherit the religious and political authority of the Prophet, a claim which inspired the conquest of North Africa and Egypt and a following of believers as far away as India. The reaction this provoked was crucial to the political and religious evolution of mediaeval Islam. This book combines the separate histories of Isma'ilism, North Africa and Egypt with that of the dynasty into a coherent account. It then relates this account to the wider history of Islam to provide a narrative that establishes the historical significance of the empire.Key FeaturesThe first complete history of the Fatimid empire in English, establishing its central contribution to medieval Islamic historyCovers the relationship of tribal to civilian economy and society, the formation and evolution of the dynastic state, and the relationship of that state to economy and societyExplores the question of cultural change, specifically Arabisation and IslamisationGoes beyond the history of Islam, not only to introduce the Crusades, but to compare and contrast the dynasty with the counterparts of its theocracy in Byzantium and Western Europe

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Boxes -- Illustrations -- Introduction: The Question of Empire -- 1. The Coming of the Mahdī -- 2. The City of the Mahdī -- 3. The Conquest of Egypt -- 3. The Conquest of Egypt -- 5. The Formation of the Empire -- 6. A Failure of Direction: The Reign of al-Óākim bi Amr Allāh -- 7. The Regime of the Pen -- 8. The Crisis of the Empire -- 9. The Fatimid Renascence -- 10. The Reorientation of the Dynasty -- 11. The Final Failure -- Conclusion: The Fatimids in Retrospect -- Genealogy of Shīʿite Imāms -- Genealogy of Fatimids -- Bibliography -- Index of Persons -- Index of Dynasties, Peoples and Sects -- Index of Places -- Index of Subjects