The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion

by Peter Jackson

Overview

An epic historical consideration of the Mongol conquest of Western Asia and the spread of Islam during the years of non-Muslim rule

The Mongol conquest of the Islamic world began in the early thirteenth century when Genghis Khan and his warriors overran Central Asia and devastated much of Iran. Distinguished historian Peter Jackson offers a fresh and fascinating consideration of the years of infidel Mongol rule in Western Asia, drawing from an impressive array of primary sources as well as modern studies to demonstrate how Islam not only survived the savagery of the conquest, but spread throughout the empire.
 
This unmatched study goes beyond the well-documented Mongol campaigns of massacre and devastation to explore different aspects of an immense imperial event that encompassed what is now Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Afghanistan, as well as Central Asia and parts of eastern Europe. It examines in depth the cultural consequences for the incorporated Islamic lands, the Muslim experience of Mongol sovereignty, and the conquerors’ eventual conversion to Islam.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300227284
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	543,392
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Peter Jackson is emeritus professor of medieval history at Keele University and has written on the Crusades, the eastern Islamic world, and the Mongols. His previous books include The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410. He lives in Staffordshire, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Plates and Maps ix

Preface xi

List of Abbreviations xiii

Author's Note xix

Introduction 1

1 Medieval Authors on the Mongols 14

2 The Islamic World and Inner Asian Peoples down to the Mongol Invasion 46

3 The Mongol Westward Advance (1219-53) 71

4 Apportioning and Governing an Empire (c. 1221-c. 1260) 95

5 Hülegü's Campaigns and Imperial Fragmentation (1253-62) 125

6 Devastation, Depopulation and Revival in the Age of Conquest 153

7 The Era of Inter-Mongol Warfare 182

8 Pax Mongolica and a Transcontinental Traffic 210

9 Mediated Sovereignty: The Client Muslim Kingdoms 242

10 Unbelieving Monarchs and their Servants 269

11 The Rule of the Infidel 297

12 The Onset of Islamization: (a) Common Themes 328

13 The Onset of Islamization: (b) Royal Converts and Muslim Resurgence 352

Epilogue 381

Conclusion 409

Appendix 1 Glossary of technical terms 419

Appendix 2 Genealogical tables and lists of rulers 421

Notes 428

Bibliography 554

Index 587

Editorial Reviews

A welcome addition to courses on cross-cultural exchange in the pre-modern era, at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, or for anyone curious about the Mongols and Dār al-Islām beyond the conquests that brought the two face-to-face.”—Lan Wu, Reading Religion

“No study has attempted to examine the topic across the empire in both time and space—at least none until the appearance of Peter Jackson’s magnum opus, The Mongols and the Islamic World. . . . The sheer volume of the bibliography is astounding, citing sources from eight traditions or regions and in seven languages. . . . His expertise is unlikely to be superseded in the near future.”—Timothy May, Journal of the American Oriental Society

“[An] extensive work by a distinguished medievalist. . . . The book is based on systematic and meticulous work with primary sources in a variety of languages, . . . discussed and interpreted with rare erudition.”—Jana Valtrová, Religious Studies Review

“A re-examination of the main primary sources on the Mongol rule.”—Maryam Kamali, Canadian Journal of History

“At last, we now have a thorough scholarly analysis examining the initial Mongolian conquest and final collapse of their alien regime. Peter Jackson’s The Mongols and the Islamic World is the definitive resource text on the Mongol presence and influence in Central Asia and the Muslim world. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of the Muslims or the Mongols.”—Jack Weatherford, author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

“This is a work of great erudition which benefits from Peter Jackson’s life-long mastery of both the Muslim and the European sources for the history of the Mongols. The book is a must for any scholar or student interested in the Mongol Empire.”—Michal Biran, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“Written with a depth and a degree of insight never previously achieved, this accessible study is the most important book on the history of the Mongol Empire to have been published in years.”—David Morgan, author of The Mongols

From the Publisher