Islamic history
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Greco-Roman Perceptions of the Iranic Peoples (And India): A Cross-Cultural Breakdown
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Capsule Review: A History of the Muslim World
A capsule review of Michael Cook’s A History of the Muslim World, praised as an outstanding survey from the Prophet to the early twentieth century. The reviewer, interested in Indian…
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The Plagues of Amwas and Justinian: The 200 years long series of plagues and pestilence and the conquest of Muslims over Rome and Persia
A blog post by Gypsy Syed, reproduced by Omar Ali, on the two centuries of plagues from Justinian’s to Amwas, including early Muslims’ belief under Umar that the Day of…
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A Shocking Decision
Ali Minai recounts how, around 816 CE, the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun offered succession to the eighth Shia Imam, Ali al-Rida, who accepted only under pressure and died within about a…
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Fringe Harbingers of Enlightenment – Literary Experiment of Ibn Tufayl
A new contributor introduces Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a twelfth-century philosophical tale of an isolated autodidact, as a forerunner of Robinson Crusoe and a showcase for the Andalusian polymath’s…
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Browncast: Tim Mackintosh Smith, author of “Arabs”
In this two-part BrownCast episode the hosts talk to Tim Mackintosh-Smith, author of Arabs: a three thousand year history of peoples, tribes and empires, about his book, Arab history and…
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Browncast – Cliff Smith and Sam Westrop: The Origins of South Asian Islamism
BrownCast: Cliff Smith and Sam Westrop on the origins of South Asian Islamism.
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Open Thread – 08/22/2020 – Brown Pundits
Open thread of 22 August 2020. The opening note warns commenters against Hindu nationalist tropes about Islam and says traditional Muslim historiography should not be taken at face value, any…
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Books for 2019 on Central Asia and Islam
A reader’s request for books on Islam, Persia and Central Asia, followed by a list of suggested titles including Empires of the Silk Road, Lost Enlightenment and The Great Arab…
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Saudi Arabia; Kingdom at the Crossroads..
Hamid Hussain surveys the challenges facing Saudi Arabia and the rapid rise of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
