Zanj Rebellion
Encyclopedia
The Zanj Rebellion was the culmination of series of small revolts. It took place near the city of Basra
, located in southern Iraq
over a period of fifteen years (869−883 AD). It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over “tens of thousands of lives in lower Iraq”. The revolt was said to have been led by Ali ibn Muhammad, who claimed to be a descendent of Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib. Several historians, such as Al-Tabari and Al-Masudi, consider this revolt one of the “most vicious and brutal uprisings” of the many disturbances that plagued the Abbasid central government.
The Zanj revolt helped Ahmad ibn Tulun
to create an independent state in Egypt. It is only after defeating the Zanj Revolt that the Abbassids were able to turn their attention to Egypt
, and end the Tulunid dynasty
with great destruction.
boomed and the Arabs became richer during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution
, agriculture
and other manual labor jobs were thought to be demeaning. The resulting labor shortage led to an increased slave market.
The Zanj
were needed to take care of:
Their jobs were to clear away the nitrous top soil that made the land arable. The working conditions were also considered to be extremely miserable. Many other people were imported into the region besides Zanj.
Also around the time of the revolts, the Abbasid
caliphate was
The rise of the Shīʻa also occurred around this time, so the Abbasid government was fighting on two fronts.
Some scholars believe that the Zanj revolt was not necessarily a slave revolt. In this view there were also Zanj immigrants in Iraq who were a big part of the revolt. taken by M. A. Shaban who argued:
and not much else is known about his early life. Eventually he moved to the "Abbasid
capital, where he mixed with some of the influential slaves of Caliph al-Muntasir
(861-862 A.D.)”. It was here that ʻAlī b. Muhammad learned the workings of the caliphate and financial differences between the Muslim citizens. From here, ʻAlī moved to Bahrain
, where he pretended to be Shīʻī and started to rouse the people into rebellion against the caliphate. “Ali’s following in the city grew so large that land taxes were collected in his name.” The rebellion eventually failed and ʻAlī relocated to Basrah in 868 CE. Also in 868 C.E., a leader of the Zanj Rebellion claimed to be the incarnated form of the former Alid rebel Yahya ibn Umar
.
In Basrah, ʻAlī b. Muhammad preached at the mosque
, advocating against the caliphate and for the people.
When he heard news about another scuffle between Basrah’s factions he “began to seek out black slaves working in the Basrah marshes and to inquire into their working conditions and nutritional standards.” He told the Zanj and other slaves that he was sent by God to liberate them from their bonds.
Origins have a large part in establishing oneself in Arab
society and especially when dealing with slaves. Initially
, who preached that the most qualified man should reign, even if he was an Abyssinian
slave.” ʻAlī also took on the title Sāhib az-Zanj, which loosely translated means “Friend of the Zanj”.
However, ʻAlī b. Muhammad was not just the friend of the Zanj but of many other socially downtrodden peoples. This included “semi-liberated slaves, clients of prestigious families, a number of small craftsmen and humble workers, some peasantry and some Bedouin
peoples who lived around Basrah.” “Hostilities began in and around Basrah in the area known formerly as Dajlah al-‘Awra’, but eventually spread to the whole area between Shatt al-‘Arab and Waset. Much of this area... was swampland”. Since the revolutionaries were more mobile than the heavily armed caliphate army it was easy for them to wage guerrilla warfare
and overcome most of their former oppressors.
Their ultimate goal however was control over the whole Basrah area and they
.”. After several encounters, the caliphate army started to make examples of rebellion leaders.
peoples.”["Thawrat al-Zanj"] It was probably at this time that the Zanjī constructed their capital which was called Moktara (the Elect City). The Caliph sent vast armies and numerous commanders to suppress the rebellion but most of them were slaughtered by guerilla warfare waged by the rebels.
In 879
C.E., after the revolt in Persia was settled, Al-Muwaffaq
came back and continued to wage war on the rebels. In 881
AD the better-trained and better-equipped Abbasid
army surrounded and outnumbered the Zanj
on all sides. With the capture and execution of ʻAlī after the fall of the Zanj capital city of al-Mukhtara the revolt ended.
In the end, “most of the Zanj joined Al-Muwaffaq
, but not all. Over 1000 died in the desert of exhaustion and thirst, trying to flee the embattled Iraqi territory. Others remained unsubdued in southern Iraq after their leader was killed; they continued to rob, plunder, and murder throughout Abbasid space until they either joined the Abbasid or died refusing to be anyone’s soldier.”
By the tenth century, instead of using slaves as a sign of treaty between two cities, private trade was used.
work "History of the Prophets and Kings
". It has been the subject of research by such famous Orientalist
s as Theodor Nöldeke
(Sketches from Eastern History) and Louis Massignon
(The Passion of al-Hallaj); Alexandre Popović has authored a more recent monograph
on the subject.
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, located in southern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
over a period of fifteen years (869−883 AD). It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over “tens of thousands of lives in lower Iraq”. The revolt was said to have been led by Ali ibn Muhammad, who claimed to be a descendent of Caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib. Several historians, such as Al-Tabari and Al-Masudi, consider this revolt one of the “most vicious and brutal uprisings” of the many disturbances that plagued the Abbasid central government.
The Zanj revolt helped Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Ṭūlūn was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt briefly between 868 and 905 AD. Originally sent by the Abbasid caliph as governor to Egypt, ibn Ṭūlūn established himself as an independent ruler.-Biography:...
to create an independent state in Egypt. It is only after defeating the Zanj Revolt that the Abbassids were able to turn their attention to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and end the Tulunid dynasty
Tulunids
The Tulunids were the first independent dynasty in Islamic Egypt , when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid dynasty that ruled the Islamic Caliphate during that time...
with great destruction.
Background
As the plantation economyPlantation economy
A plantation economy is an economy which is based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few staple products grown on large farms called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash crops as a source of income...
boomed and the Arabs became richer during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution
Muslim Agricultural Revolution
The Arab Agricultural Revolution is a term coined by the historian Andrew Watson in his influential 1974 paper postulating a fundamental transformation in agriculture from the 8th century to the 13th century in the Muslim...
, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and other manual labor jobs were thought to be demeaning. The resulting labor shortage led to an increased slave market.
It is certain that large numbers of slaves were exported from eastern AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
; the best evidence for this is the magnitude of the Zanj revolt in Iraq in the 9th century, though not all of the slaves involved were Zanj. There is little evidence of what part of eastern Africa the Zanj came from, for the name is here evidently used in its general sense, rather than to designate the particular stretch of the coast, from about 3°N. to 5°S., to which the name was also applied..
The Zanj
Zanj
Zanj was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the coast of East Africa and its inhabitants, Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj...
were needed to take care of:
the Tigris-Euphrates delta, which had become abandoned marshland as a result of peasant migration and repeated flooding, [which] could be reclaimed through intensive labor. Wealthy proprietors “had received extensive grants of tidal land on the condition that they would make it arable." Sugar cane was prominent among the products of their plantations, particularly in Khūzestān ProvinceKhuzestan ProvinceKhuzestan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahwaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...
. Zanj also worked the salt mines of MesopotamiaMesopotamiaMesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, especially around BasraBasraBasra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
.
Their jobs were to clear away the nitrous top soil that made the land arable. The working conditions were also considered to be extremely miserable. Many other people were imported into the region besides Zanj.
Also around the time of the revolts, the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
caliphate was
mired in a period of financial weakness, both internally and externally… The financial strain imposed on the accession of each new caliph contributed to the ability of the Zanj revolt, which began in 868 AD, to sustain itself for as long as it did.
The rise of the Shīʻa also occurred around this time, so the Abbasid government was fighting on two fronts.
Some scholars believe that the Zanj revolt was not necessarily a slave revolt. In this view there were also Zanj immigrants in Iraq who were a big part of the revolt. taken by M. A. Shaban who argued:
“All the talk about slaves rising against the wretched conditions of work in the salt marshes of Basra is a figment of the imagination and has no support in the sources. On the contrary, some of the people who were working in the salt marshes were among the first to fight against the revolt. Of course there were a few runaway slaves who joined the rebels, but this still does not make it a slave revolt. The vast majority of the rebels were Arabs of the Persian Gulf supported by free East Africans who had made their homes in the region”
Revolt
The actual revolt started with a descendant of slaves named ʻAlī b. Muhammad. He had grown up as in SamarraSamarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
and not much else is known about his early life. Eventually he moved to the "Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
capital, where he mixed with some of the influential slaves of Caliph al-Muntasir
Al-Muntasir
Al-Muntasir was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 861 to 862. His pious title means He that Triumphs in the Lord.Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records that in A.H. 236 al-Muntasir led the pilgrimage. The previous year al-Mutawakkil had named his three son's heirs and seeming to favour al-Muntasir...
(861-862 A.D.)”. It was here that ʻAlī b. Muhammad learned the workings of the caliphate and financial differences between the Muslim citizens. From here, ʻAlī moved to Bahrain
Bahrain (historical region)
Bahrain is a historical region in eastern Arabia that was known as the Province of Bahrain until the 16th Century. It stretched from the south of Basra along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, Qatar, and the Awal Islands, now known as Bahrain. The name...
, where he pretended to be Shīʻī and started to rouse the people into rebellion against the caliphate. “Ali’s following in the city grew so large that land taxes were collected in his name.” The rebellion eventually failed and ʻAlī relocated to Basrah in 868 CE. Also in 868 C.E., a leader of the Zanj Rebellion claimed to be the incarnated form of the former Alid rebel Yahya ibn Umar
Yahya ibn Umar
Yahya ibn Umar ibn Yahya ibn Husayn ibn Zayd ibn Ali Zayn al-Abidin ibn Al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Murtada was an Alid Imam. His mother was Umm al-Husayn Fatimah bint al-Husayn ibn Abdallah ibn Ismail ibn Abdullah ibn Ja`far ibn Abī Tālib. In the days of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'in, he marched out...
.
In Basrah, ʻAlī b. Muhammad preached at the mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, advocating against the caliphate and for the people.
His first actual contact with Basrah’s slaves seems to have been motivated by a vicious outbreak of hostilities between two Turkish regiments, the Bilaliyah and the Sa’diyah, which contributed to the weakening of Basrah’s political regime. Hoping to exploit the resultant anarchy to his advantage, he tried to win to his side members of one of these groups.The Bilaliyyah and Saʻdiyyah were described by Tabari as guilds in the town or rivaling quarters.
When he heard news about another scuffle between Basrah’s factions he “began to seek out black slaves working in the Basrah marshes and to inquire into their working conditions and nutritional standards.” He told the Zanj and other slaves that he was sent by God to liberate them from their bonds.
Origins have a large part in establishing oneself in Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
society and especially when dealing with slaves. Initially
‘Ali bin Muhammad’s paternal grandfather was said to have been a member of the ‘Abd al-Qays lineage and his paternal grandmother a SindhiSindhi peopleSindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
slave woman. His mother, a free woman, was a member of the Asad bin Khuzaimah lineage... later commentators have presumed him to have been of Persian rather than ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
origin..
Sahib al-Zanj [ʻAlī’s title] declared his rebellion at al-Basrah, during the reign of al-MuhtadiAfter ʻAlī’s lineage was not accepted, he started to preach the “extremely egalitarian doctrine of the KharijitesAl-MuhtadiAl-Muhtadi was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 869 to 870.After the death of al-Mu'tazz, the Turks chose his cousin, al-Muhtadi, son of al-Wathiq by a Grecian slave-girl, as the new Caliph. Al-Muhtadi turned out be firm and virtuous compared to the last few Caliphs...
, in 255 A.H. He claimed that he was descended from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, but most people recognize this as a false claim and reject it.
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
, who preached that the most qualified man should reign, even if he was an Abyssinian
Abyssinian
Abyssinian may refer to:* Abyssinian, Habesha people and things from parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, formerly known as Abyssinia* Abyssinian , a cat breed* Abyssinian, a breed of guinea pig* The Abyssinians, a Jamaican roots reggae group...
slave.” ʻAlī also took on the title Sāhib az-Zanj, which loosely translated means “Friend of the Zanj”.
However, ʻAlī b. Muhammad was not just the friend of the Zanj but of many other socially downtrodden peoples. This included “semi-liberated slaves, clients of prestigious families, a number of small craftsmen and humble workers, some peasantry and some Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
peoples who lived around Basrah.” “Hostilities began in and around Basrah in the area known formerly as Dajlah al-‘Awra’, but eventually spread to the whole area between Shatt al-‘Arab and Waset. Much of this area... was swampland”. Since the revolutionaries were more mobile than the heavily armed caliphate army it was easy for them to wage guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
and overcome most of their former oppressors.
No sooner had they taken up arms against their exploiters that they became adept at night-raids on enemy territory, liberating weapons, horses, food and fellow slaves burning the rest to cinders to delay retaliation.Over the course of time, the Zanj even
trained expert engineers who blocked the enemy’s advance by constructing impenetrable fortresses, cocooned inside layers of water canals or conversely built rapid bridges and communication lines for uninvited courtesy calls to the citadels of the gods.[broken footnote]They even had somewhat of a navy to take on the Caliph’s ships.
Their ultimate goal however was control over the whole Basrah area and they
finally accomplished their objective with a tight blockadeMas’udi provides even more gruesome details. “Most people hid in homes and wells appearing only at night, when they would search for dogs to slay and eat, as well as for mice.... They even ate their own dead, and he who was able to kill his companion, did so and ate him.”BlockadeA blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
that prevented goods and victuals from reaching the besieged inhabitants, and by exploiting the sectarian and ethnic differences among section of the population. Basrah was finally taken in 871 A.D. and totally devastated, then burned..
Ali’s soldiers were so outrageous as to auction off publicly women from the lineage of al-Hassan and al-HusseinThe caliphate eventually sent out a large military force led by the Vizier Al-MuwaffaqAl-HusseinAl-Hussein may refer to:* Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad* Abdullah II of Jordan, King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, the current King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and al’Abbas [meaning descendants of AliAli' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
and the ruling ‘Abbasids] as well as other from the lineage of Hashem, Qureish [the Prophet’s lineage] and the rest of the Arabs.”["Thawrat al-Zanj"]
Al-Muwaffaq (vizier)
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil , better known as al-Muwaffaq , was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid....
.”. After several encounters, the caliphate army started to make examples of rebellion leaders.
For instance, Yahya of Bahrain, a noted leader of the rebel troops, was taken with a small group of men and sent to SamarraThis did nothing to hinder the Zanjī and they continued to raid towns and villages. “When the caliphate became preoccupied with the Saffarid secessionist movement in Persia, the Zanjī extended their control further north with the aid of the surrounding BedouinSamarraSāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
. There he was flogged two hundred times while CaliphCaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
al-Mu'tamidAl-Mu'tamidThis article is about the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu'tamid of Baghdad. For the Andalusi Arabic poet who was also the Abbadid king of Seville, see Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid...
watched. Both his arms and legs were amputated and he was slashed with swords. Finally, his throat was slit and he was burned.
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
peoples.”["Thawrat al-Zanj"] It was probably at this time that the Zanjī constructed their capital which was called Moktara (the Elect City). The Caliph sent vast armies and numerous commanders to suppress the rebellion but most of them were slaughtered by guerilla warfare waged by the rebels.
The revolt ends
Towards the end of the revolution most of the former slaves themselves started to turn into the very masters they despised and started to break down as a community.In 879
879
Year 879 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia as an independent state....
C.E., after the revolt in Persia was settled, Al-Muwaffaq
Al-Muwaffaq (vizier)
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil , better known as al-Muwaffaq , was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid....
came back and continued to wage war on the rebels. In 881
881
Year 881 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Charles the Fat is crowned Western Emperor.* Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu: Louis III of France routs Norman pirates....
AD the better-trained and better-equipped Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
army surrounded and outnumbered the Zanj
Zanj
Zanj was a name used by medieval Arab geographers to refer to both a certain portion of the coast of East Africa and its inhabitants, Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj...
on all sides. With the capture and execution of ʻAlī after the fall of the Zanj capital city of al-Mukhtara the revolt ended.
In the end, “most of the Zanj joined Al-Muwaffaq
Al-Muwaffaq (vizier)
Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil , better known as al-Muwaffaq , was the brother and regent of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu'tamid....
, but not all. Over 1000 died in the desert of exhaustion and thirst, trying to flee the embattled Iraqi territory. Others remained unsubdued in southern Iraq after their leader was killed; they continued to rob, plunder, and murder throughout Abbasid space until they either joined the Abbasid or died refusing to be anyone’s soldier.”
By the tenth century, instead of using slaves as a sign of treaty between two cities, private trade was used.
Historical revisionism
Ghada Hashem Talhami, a scholar of the Zanj revolt, argues that the Zanj rebellion is inaccurately named. In fact, most of the military were not Zanjian to begin with. It was only after a time, after most of the other slaves were freed that the actual Zanj imported slaves took hold. Talhami cites from various historians and works to make her point that the rebellion was more of a religious/social uprising made by the lowly-classed and suppressed citizens of the Basrah area, and included a wide variety of people, including white and Indian slaves. She even says that the most significant element of the rebellion was not the Zanj slaves, but Bedouin from around Basra, who provided regular support throughout the conflict. "Despite much evidence to the contrary, including the absence of major Arab settlements along the coast, the silence of Arab and Persian geographers on an oceanic trade, and the generalized equation of Zanj with 'black,' it has been used to infer an important commercial relationship between Africa and the Middle East several centuries before such an exchange can be proven to have existed…. The assumption that ‘Abbasid writers used Zanj to mean specifically the East African coast, and that therefore the people they called Zanj originated in a specific part of that region, is completely unjustified."Sources of Information
Much of the current knowledge of the Zanj Rebellion comes from the Persian Sunnī historian Tabarī'sMuhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari was a prominent and influential Sunni scholar and exegete of the Qur'an from Persia...
work "History of the Prophets and Kings
History of the Prophets and Kings (book)
The History of the Prophets and Kings is a historical chronicle written in Arabic by Persian author and historian Ibn Jarir al-Tabari d...
". It has been the subject of research by such famous Orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
s as Theodor Nöldeke
Theodor Nöldeke
Theodor Nöldeke was a German Semitic scholar, who was born in Harburg and studied in Göttingen, Vienna, Leiden and Berlin....
(Sketches from Eastern History) and Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon was a French scholar of Islam and its history. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West; among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards...
(The Passion of al-Hallaj); Alexandre Popović has authored a more recent monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
on the subject.
Further reading
- African Presence In Early Asia, by Runoko RashidiRunoko RashidiRunoko Rashidi is a writer and public lecturer based in Los Angeles. His academic focus is on "the Black foundations of world civilizations". Many of his claims are incorrect, however, as evidenced by various anthropological and DNA studies...
& Ivan van SertimaIvan van SertimaIvan Gladstone Van Sertima was an associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States.... - African Holocaust: Dark Voyages
- Al-Muntazam fi Akhbar al-Umam (History of Nations) – al-Djawzi
- Al-Athar al-Baqiyah ‘an al-Qurun al-Khaliyah (Surviving Relics of Past Centuries) - Biruni
- Dirasat fi al-‘Usur al-‘Abbassiyya al-Muta’akhira (Studies in Late Abbasid Times) – Abd al-Aziz al-Duri
- Les Négriers de l’Islam - La première traite des noirs VIIe - XVe siècles, Jacques Heers, Éditions Perrin, 2003.
- Murudj al-Dahab wa Ma’adin al-Djawhar (“Meadows of Gold and Mines of Diamonds”) – Ali ibn Husay al-Mas’udi
- Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (Annals of Prophets and Kings) – Tabari
- Thawrat al-Zanj (The Zanj Rebellion) – Faisal al-Samir