Working to improve mutual understanding between the Middle East and the West
Working to improve mutual understanding between the Middle East and the West
£60.00
edited by Ali M. Ansari
Format: Hardback (197x264mm)
Published: April 2022
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9781909942592
An impressive collection of essays by distinguished scholarly authors to celebrate the career of Carole Hillenbrand.
Carole and Robert Hillenbrand are acclaimed academics who have made immense contributions to the fields of Islamic history and art history. The respect and affection of the academic community towards them is legendary. For these two volumes, editors Ali Ansari and Melanie Gibson have gathered a wide-ranging selection of scholarly essays by some of their longstanding colleagues as well as by recent students who now occupy academic positions across the world. The volume dedicated to Carole Hillenbrand includes eleven articles on subjects which include the elusive Fatimid caliph al-Zafr, a Crusader raid on Mecca, and the Persian bureaucrat Mirza Saleh Shirazi’s History of England.
Carole Hillenbrand is a Fellow of the British Academy, Emerita Professor in Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of St Andrews.
Ali M. Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and Founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews.
| Theme | Art |
|---|
Contributors
Ali Ansari
Stephen R. Burge
John Chalcraft
Shainool Jiwa
Alexey Khismatulin
Christian Lange
Alex Mallett
W. Richard Oakes, Jr.
Andrew C.S. Peacock
Kirsten Thomson
Saeko Yazaki
CONTENTS
Foreword 6
Melanie Gibson and Ali Ansari
Carole Hillenbrand: An Appreciation 8
Ali Ansari
Carole Hillenbrand: Publications 10
The Fatimid Caliph al-Zafir: A Reassessment 14
Kirsten Thomson
Penning the Foundations: A Comparative Reading of Fatimid Origins Narratives with Abbasid and ʿIbadi Texts 24
Shainool Jiwa
Crucicentric Foundations for Tenth-Century Ismaʿili Caliphates 56
W. Richard Oakes, Jr.
Problematising the Islamic: Evidence for the Crusades. The Frankish Red Sea Raid of 1183 68
Alex Mallett
Al-Suyuti’s Taʾrikh al-Khulafaʾ: A History of Politics or Piety? 76
Stephen R. Burge
The Death of Dargazini 90
Christian Lange
Attribution of an Anonymous Qasida. Appended to the First Redaction of the Siyar al-Muluk: Stylometry Results 108
Alexey Khismatulin
Two Royal Almanacs from Late Fourteenth-Century Anatolia 122
A.C.S. Peacock
Mirza Saleh Shirazi’s History of England 140
Ali Ansari
Egypt’s 2011 Popular Uprising in Gramscian Perspective 160
John Chalcraft
The Islamic Manuscript Collection of A.S. Yahuda in Princeton University Library: A History of Acquisition 176
Saeko Yazaki
Author Biographies 190
Foreword
The idea of produCing companion volumes to jointly honour Carole and Robert Hillenbrand was born at the 2017 Symposia Iranica at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Assembling two separate volumes, one for each scholar, and presenting them together seemed a particularly apt decision: these two formidable scholars represent a team in every sense of the word, the veritable ‘power couple’ of
Middle Eastern historical studies who work together to be a force multiplier for the discipline. Carole and Robert have been friends of Gingko since its founding in 2016, and it is with great pleasure that Gingko offers them a double festschrift consisting of individual volumes in recognition of their distinctive contributions, combined to highlight the unique partnership which has grounded and driven their successful careers. This is not the first festschrift either scholar has received, but it is perhaps the first to recognise the collective nature of their endeavour, and it a testament to their post-retirement energy and passion. The volume for Carole naturally focuses on her areas of interest, principally the history of medieval Middle East with essays centred on the classical age of Islam, including the Fatimids, the Crusades and Anatolia. Two colleagues have tentatively ventured into the modern Middle East with a reading of the Arab Spring in Egypt and an interpretative translation of one of the earlier Persian histories of England.
The volume for Robert encompasses a number of his wide-ranging interests, with one section devoted to architecture, a second to painting and calligraphy, and a third to the iconography and context of objects, with two essays filling previous gaps in our understanding by introducing little-known or misattributed pieces: an inlaid metal dish with a Nilotic scene of the eighth century and a carved ivory flask of the Ayyubid period. We hope these collections will reinforce the affection and esteem in which both Robert and Carole continue to be held.
Melanie Gibson and Ali Ansari
‘Fruit of Knowledge, Wheel of Learning is an outstanding tribute to a truly exceptional honorand. Like the volume itself, Carole Hillenbrand’s scholarship calls out to lovers of learning from the medieval Islamic world to the twenty-first century, inviting us to work together to promote mutual respect and understanding. Read this book and savour for yourself the fruits of knowledge at their sweetest.’
–Caroline Humfress, Professor in Medieval History, University of St Andrews
‘A lively and scholarly collection of new articles, mostly about the ‘middle period’ of Islamic history, ranging from the Fatimids and Seljuqs to a nineteenth century Persian history of Britain. In its different approaches and erudition, this volume is certainly a worthy celebration of Professor Hillenbrand’s achievements.’
–Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic, SOAS, University of London
‘In a long and distinguished career of scholarship, teaching and university service, Carole Hillenbrand has led from the front, nurturing generations of research students and younger colleagues. This handsome volume brings some of them together to pay tribute to her formidable achievements. Written with insight and a keen eye for detail, the essays in Fruit of Knowledge, Wheel of Learning will inform and delight historians and scholars of Islam for years to come.’
–Yasir Suleiman, Emeritus Professor of Modern Arabic Studies, University of Cambridge
Our work relies on the generous support of our donors. Any contribution, no matter how small, helps us achieve our aims.
