The History of al-Ṭabarī, Vol. 30: The ‘Abbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid पीडीएफ

क्लिफोर्ड एडमंड बोसवर्थ एफबीए एक अंग्रेजी इतिहासकार और प्राच्यविद् हैं, जो अरबी और ईरानी अध्ययनों में विशेषज्ञता रखते हैं। उन्होंने अपनी बी.ए. ऑक्सफोर्ड विश्वविद्यालय से डिग्री और एम.ए. और पीएच.डी. एडिनबर्ग विश्वविद्यालय से डिग्री। उन्होंने सेंट एंड्रयूज विश्वविद्यालय, मैनचेस्टर विश्वविद्यालय और प्रिंसटन विश्वविद्यालय में मानविकी केंद्र में स्थायी पदों पर कार्य किया। वह अकादमिक पत्रिकाओं और समग्र संस्करणों में 100 के लेखों के लेखक हैं। उनके अन्य योगदानों में इस्लाम के विश्वकोश में लगभग 200 लेख और एनसाइक्लोपीडिया ईरानिका में कुछ 100 लेख, साथ ही एनसाइक्लोपीडिया ब्रिटानिका और एनसाइक्लोपीडिया अमेरिकाना के लेख शामिल हैं। वह वर्तमान में एक्सेटर विश्वविद्यालय में एक अतिथि प्रोफेसर हैं, जहां उन्होंने 2004 से इस पद पर कार्य किया है। उनकी पुस्तक द इस्लामिक डायनेस्टीज का अरबी और फारसी में अनुवाद किया गया है। वह इस्लाम के विश्वकोश के मुख्य संपादक और इनसाइक्लोपीडिया ईरानिका के परामर्श संपादक हैं।

The History of al-Ṭabarī, Vol. 30: The ‘Abbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid पीडीएफ क्लिफोर्ड एडमंड बोसवर्थ

This volume of al-Tabari's History covers nearly a quarter of a century, and after covering the very brief caliphate of al-Hadi, concentrates on that of Harun al-Rashid. During these years, the caliphate was in a state of balance with its external foes; the great enemy, Christian Byzantium, was regarded with respect by the Muslims, and the two great powers of the Near East treated each other essentially as equals, while the Caucasian and Central Asian frontiers were held against pressure from the Turkish peoples of Inner Eurasia. The main stresses were internal, including Shi'ite risings on behalf of the excluded house of 'Ali, and revolts by the radical equalitarian Kharijites; but none of these was serious enough to affect the basic stability of the caliphate. Harun al-Rashid's caliphate has acquired in the West, under the influence of a misleading picture from the Arabian Nights, a glowing image as a golden age of Islamic culture and letters stemming from the Caliph's patronage of the exponents of these arts and sciences. In light of the picture of the Caliph which emerges from al-Tabari's pages, however, this image seems to be distinctly exaggerated. Al-Rashid himself does not exhibit any notable signs of administrative competence, military leadership or intellectual interests beyond those which convention demanded of a ruler. For much of his reign, he left the business of government to the capable viziers of the Barmakid family--the account of whose spectacular fall from power forms one of the most dramatic features of al-Tabari's narratives here--and his decision to divide the Islamic empire after his death between his sons was to lead subsequently to a disastrous civil war. Nevertheless, al-Tabari's story is full of interesting sidelights on the lives of those involved in the court circle of the time and on the motivations which impelled medieval Muslims to seek precarious careers there.