Description
In the 'encyclopaedic' fourteenth century, Arabic chronicles produced in Mamluk cities bore textual witness to both recent and bygone history, including that of the Fatimids (969-1171CE). For in two centuries of rule over Egypt and North Africa, the Isma'ili Fatimids had left few self-generated historiographical records. Instead, it fell to Ayyubid and Mamluk historians to represent the dynasty to posterity. This monograph sets out to explain how later historians preserved, interpreted and re-organised earlier textual sources. Mamluk historians engaged in a sophisticated archival practice within historiography, rather than uncritically reproducing earlier reports. In a new diplomatic edition, translation and analysis of Mamluk historian Ibn al-Furat's account of late Fatimid rule in The History of Dynasties and Kings, a widely known but barely copied universal chronicle of Islamic history, Fozia Bora traces the survival of historiographical narratives from Fatimid Egypt. Through Ibn al-Furat's text, Bora demonstrates archivality as the heuristic key to Mamluk historical writing. This book is essential for all scholars working on the written culture and history of the medieval Islamic world, and paves the way for a more nuanced reading of pre-modern Arabic chronicles and of the epistemic environment in which they were produced.
In a modern world where sectarianism can take on violent forms, this is a rigorous historiographical demonstration of the unacknowledged broadmindedness of many medieval Arab historians.
About the Author
Fozia Bora is a lecturer in Middle Eastern History at the University of Leeds, where she is also the director of postgraduate research in Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. She received her DPhil from the University of Oxford and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cambridge Muslim College. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and was recently awarded the Royal Asiatic Society's Staunton Prize for 'outstanding work by an early-career scholar'.
Reviews
This is a truly impressive piece of scholarship. Bora's recreation of the intellectual milieu in which Ibn al-Furat and his peers operated is both persuasive and thought-provoking. * Al-Masaq, Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean *
Through this text you not only gain insight into what was produced but the historiographic questions medieval historians were asking themselves, which could well overturn assumptions about pre-modern historic works. Bora's is to be commended for her contribution to global medieval studies, her book could become a key for others to explore these texts in new ways. * The New Arab *
A valuable contribution to scholarship on the intricacies of Arabic-language history writing in the Middle Period, going beyond the focus on narrativity and exploring its open-minded all-inclusiveness instead. * Der Islam *
There is much to recommend about this book. Bora has a good command of the literature and the analytical deftness with which she presents current discourses can be very helpful for those who want an accessible overview of the field on historiography and archival studies. * Journal of the American Oriental Society *
Bora has done a great service to the field and Writing History in the Medieval Islamic World offers a great deal of value for medieval Arabic historiographical studies as well as Fatimid studies. Bora's work is a theoretically sophisticated case study on the utility of the Tarikh al-duwalthat will hopefully guide future scholarship. * Cyber Review of Modern Historiography *
Bora's mapping of medieval Islamic Egyptian historiography is a tour de force. Through a razor-sharp analysis of primary and secondary literature, she traces the reception of Ibn al-Furat's writings through the broad sweep of late Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk historical and archival traditions. She navigates the reader through the rich intricacies of the shaping of these historiographical traditions, while also educating about their value and relevance for our changing times. * Dr Shainool Jiwa, Head of Constituency Studies & Senior Research Associate, The Institute of Ismaili Studies. *
In this carefully researched book, Fozia Bora achieves something remarkable: major advances not just in our understanding of Fatimid historiography and history, but more broadly in the sociology of classical Islamic scholarship. Empirically based and theoretically ambitious, it restores and interrogates narratives that had been lost to history. * Chase F. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of History at City University of New York and Director of Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries *
The present monograph is a very important contribution to what is now termed 'global medieval studies' and, of course, the cultural history of the Islamicate world of the pre-modern era. Fozia Bora's book should be read by all who are interested in understanding modes of knowledge production, creating narratives of the past and what constitutes an archive. She also asks very pertinent questions about how we approach pre-modern texts and as such this book should be really read by anybody interested in epistemological issues in medieval studies. * Emilia Jamroziak, Professor of Medieval Religious History and Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds *
Book Information
ISBN 9780755638512
Author Fozia Bora
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint I.B. Tauris
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 386g
In a modern world where sectarianism can take on violent forms, this is a rigorous historiographical demonstration of the unacknowledged broadmindedness of many medieval Arab historians.
About the Author
Fozia Bora is a lecturer in Middle Eastern History at the University of Leeds, where she is also the director of postgraduate research in Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. She received her DPhil from the University of Oxford and held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cambridge Muslim College. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and was recently awarded the Royal Asiatic Society's Staunton Prize for 'outstanding work by an early-career scholar'.
Reviews
This is a truly impressive piece of scholarship. Bora's recreation of the intellectual milieu in which Ibn al-Furat and his peers operated is both persuasive and thought-provoking. * Al-Masaq, Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean *
Through this text you not only gain insight into what was produced but the historiographic questions medieval historians were asking themselves, which could well overturn assumptions about pre-modern historic works. Bora's is to be commended for her contribution to global medieval studies, her book could become a key for others to explore these texts in new ways. * The New Arab *
A valuable contribution to scholarship on the intricacies of Arabic-language history writing in the Middle Period, going beyond the focus on narrativity and exploring its open-minded all-inclusiveness instead. * Der Islam *
There is much to recommend about this book. Bora has a good command of the literature and the analytical deftness with which she presents current discourses can be very helpful for those who want an accessible overview of the field on historiography and archival studies. * Journal of the American Oriental Society *
Bora has done a great service to the field and Writing History in the Medieval Islamic World offers a great deal of value for medieval Arabic historiographical studies as well as Fatimid studies. Bora's work is a theoretically sophisticated case study on the utility of the Tarikh al-duwalthat will hopefully guide future scholarship. * Cyber Review of Modern Historiography *
Bora's mapping of medieval Islamic Egyptian historiography is a tour de force. Through a razor-sharp analysis of primary and secondary literature, she traces the reception of Ibn al-Furat's writings through the broad sweep of late Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk historical and archival traditions. She navigates the reader through the rich intricacies of the shaping of these historiographical traditions, while also educating about their value and relevance for our changing times. * Dr Shainool Jiwa, Head of Constituency Studies & Senior Research Associate, The Institute of Ismaili Studies. *
In this carefully researched book, Fozia Bora achieves something remarkable: major advances not just in our understanding of Fatimid historiography and history, but more broadly in the sociology of classical Islamic scholarship. Empirically based and theoretically ambitious, it restores and interrogates narratives that had been lost to history. * Chase F. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of History at City University of New York and Director of Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries *
The present monograph is a very important contribution to what is now termed 'global medieval studies' and, of course, the cultural history of the Islamicate world of the pre-modern era. Fozia Bora's book should be read by all who are interested in understanding modes of knowledge production, creating narratives of the past and what constitutes an archive. She also asks very pertinent questions about how we approach pre-modern texts and as such this book should be really read by anybody interested in epistemological issues in medieval studies. * Emilia Jamroziak, Professor of Medieval Religious History and Director of the Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds *
Book Information
ISBN 9780755638512
Author Fozia Bora
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint I.B. Tauris
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 386g
