history 739 topics in near eastern and world history
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History 739 Topics in Near Eastern and World History. Dr. John Curry [email protected] http://faculty.unlv.edu/curryj5 Room B-326 (History Conference Room) Class meets : 4:30-7:30pm Office Hours : Tuesday 2:30-4:00pm. Background for Richard Bulliet’s Islam: View from the Edge. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
History 739Topics in Near Eastern and
World HistoryDr. John Curry
[email protected]://faculty.unlv.edu/curryj5
Room B-326 (History Conference Room)
Class meets: 4:30-7:30pmOffice Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:00pm
Background for Richard Bulliet’s Islam: View from the Edge
Columbia University (1976)
Early contributor to world history; Camel and Wheel
Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period (1979)
World History textbook Earth and its Peoples
Controversial theses: View from Edge and Case for Islamo-Christian Civ.
Maps for Persian geography
Maps of major cities in Iran and its northeast
Medieval Islamic expansion
Early Islamic conquests and provincial structure
Provincial structure of Abbasids
Note Khorasan and Gorgan (Jurjan) at upper right
Abbasid decline by the 900s
Map showing collapse of Abbasid power over time
Central Asian demographics
Central Asian populations in modern times
Discussion of Bulliet (not to be limited to points below)
What is the basic narrative that Bulliet advances for Iran’s history from the 600s through 1200s?
Why does cotton matter? Why does climate matter? Why do camels matter? What kinds of evidence does Bulliet advance,
and how does it relate to his earlier work? Why a “moment in world history,” and what are
potential consequences for a wider audience?
A different type of chronology for Iran’s history in Bulliet’s work
400-650 (Period of Sasanid dominance) 650-900 (Gradual introduction of cotton) 900-1000 (Heyday of “dual agriculture”) 1000-1050 (Arrival of the “Big Chill” and
Turkmen nomadic peoples) 1050-1150 (End of cotton growing and
flight of Iranian scholarly classes) 1150-1250 (Failure to recover; Mongol era)
Comparison: standard chronology for wider Islamic world
622-750 (Islamic conquests; Umayyad rule)
750-860 (Classical Islamic civilization under the Abbasids)
860-945 (Abbasid decline) 945-1040 (Decentralization/competition) 1040-1100 (Great Saljuq reconsolidation) 1100-1220 (Institutional finalization) 1220-1405 (Turco-Mongol invasions)
Conversion to Islam argument
Conversion models for various regions of Near East
Issues of chronology: why technology matters
Expanding production of cotton + religious tensions
Silk of earlier times limited to non-Muslims
Lack of arable land leads to Muslim involvement with qanat-building
What is a fulanabad? Result: trade boom and
monetarization (silver)
Issues of the “Big Chill”: climate change and history
New tools in historical study: dendrochronology and climate change
Various medieval chroniclers corroborate tales of cold and shortage
Weakening of cotton market coincides with cultural/ religious shifts
Shift to nomadic goods
Of Saljuqs and camels: a turning point in world history?
The Oghuz, the Ghaznavids and the Saljuq Turks
Explaining the sudden collapse of Mahmud’s state after 1030 C.E.
Issues of “ecological determinism”—did camel-herding cause migration?
Saljuqs inherit economic decline, intellectual flight
Extent of the Ghaznavid state
Extent of the Ghaznavid empire ca. 1030 C.E.
Making old work anew: Bulliet’s Cotton, Climate, and Camels
Reading the intellectual genealogy of the work: begins with Camel and Wheel
Links new ecological-historical advances into early work on conversion in medieval Persia
Seeks to cover some of the weak or poorly-sources elements in Islam: View From the Edge
Introduces world historical significance grounded in textbook writings and comparison of Islamic and Christian civilizations
Issues of immediate concern for the future
All October classes (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) will focus on the writing process
Be prepared to present at least 2-3 pages of writing for evaluation to the class
Make 4 copies for me and your fellow three members of the class (or e-mail in advance)
November 4: status report going into final phase
November classes on the 11th, 18th, and 25th will be cancelled for holidays
Presentations on Dec. 2, final paper on Dec. 9