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A particular feature of medieval Islamic civilisation was its wide horizons. The Muslims were heir not only to the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean, but to the ancient Near East and the empires of Assyria, Babylon and the Persians. Beyond that, they were in frequent contact with India and China to the east and with black Africa to the south. This intellectual openness is present in many inter-related fields of Muslim thought: philosophy and theology, medicine and pharmacology, algebra and geometry, astronomy and astrology, geography and the literature of marvels, ethnology and sociology. It also impacted powerfully on trade and on the networks that made it possible. This openness is reflected in this series. It covers a wide range of topics, periods and geographical areas, including studies of literature, history, religion, law, art, economics, sociology and science.

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1 results in Edinburgh Studies in Classical Islamic History and Culture

A History of Herat
  • From Chingiz Khan to Tamerlane
  • Shivan Mahendrarajah
  • Published by:
    Edinburgh University Press
    Published online:
    18 October 2023
    Print publication:
    30 September 2022
  • This book tells the history of Herat, from its desolation under Chingiz Khan in 1222, to its capitulation to Tamerlane in 1381. Unlike the other three quarters of Khurasan (Balkh, Marw, Nishapur), which were ravaged by the Mongols, Herat became an important political, cultural and economic centre of the eastern Islamic world. The post-Mongol age in which an autochthonous Tajik dynasty, the Kartids, ruled the region set the foundations for Herat's Timurid-era splendors.

    Divided into two parts (a political-military history and a social-economic history), the book explains why the Mongol Empire rebuilt Herat: its rationales and approaches; and Chinggisid internecine conflicts that impacted on Herat's people. It analyses the roles of Iranians, Turks and Mongols in regional politics; in devising fortifications; in restoring commercial and cultural edifices; and in resuscitating economic and cultural activities in the Herat Quarter.