Posts

The Narrators of Barmakid History and Independent Works on the Family

Image
Regarding the Barmakids, the most renowned family of viziers throughout the Abbasid period, many aspects remain unclear despite the abundance of historical, literary, and biographical sources.  Identifying the earliest and most important transmitters of accounts about this family, examining the numerous historical and narrative works written about them, and comparing and conducting a stylistic analysis of these works and accounts may help clarify some of these unresolved issues.  This article introduces the most important transmitters of these accounts, as well as the known monographs on the Barmakids dating from the 4th century AH onward. The sources for research on the Barmakids—the most renowned family of viziers and administrators of the Abbasid era—can be divided into two main groups: The first group consists of a vast body of reports which, in accordance with the importance of this family and the fundamental role they played in shaping the political and administrative or...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Administration Crisis of Basra during the Umayyad Interregnum: Local Governance in the Aftermath of Yazīd b. Muʿāwiya’s Death

Image
In this article, we sought to demonstrate how the people of Basra, who intervened in the administration of the city due to the administrative crisis that emerged following the death of Yazīd b. Muʿāwiya (d. 64/683) while Basra was under Umayyad rule, governed the city through governors they selected from among themselves.  Our study was based on data obtained through examinations of the primary sources of Islamic history. By combining the data we obtained with our own interpretations, we concluded that in situations where state authority disappears from governance, the populace may experience chaos; that administering a city through temporary governments gives rise to various problems; and that, in order to overcome these problems, the establishment of a new state authority becomes necessary. It has been observed that, due to the absence of a higher authority, the lives and property of individuals in society were placed under threat, state supervision ceased to exist, and anarchy r...
Post a Comment
Read more