In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic EmpireIn just over a hundred years--from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750--the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time. How this collection of Arabian tribes was able to engulf so many empires, states, and armies in such a short period has perplexed historians for centuries. Most accounts of the Arab invasions have been based almost solely on the early Muslim sources, which were composed centuries later to illustrate the divinely chosen status of the Arabs. Robert Hoyland's groundbreaking new history assimilates not only the rich biographical information of the early Muslim sources but also the many non-Arabic sources, contemporaneous or near-contemporaneous with the conquests. In God's Path begins with a broad picture of the Late Antique world prior to the Prophet's arrival, a world dominated by two superpowers: Byzantium and Sasanian Persia. In between these empires, emerged a distinct Arabian identity, which helped forge the inhabitants of western Arabia into a formidable fighting force. The Arabs are the principal actors in this drama yet, as Hoyland shows, the peoples along the edges of Byzantium and Persia--the Khazars, Bulgars, Avars, and Turks--all played critical roles in the remaking of the old world order. The new faith propagated by Muhammad and his successors made it possible for many of the conquered peoples to join the Arabs in creating the first Islamic Empire. Well-paced, comprehensive, and eminently readable, In God's Path presents a sweeping narrative of a transformational period in world history. |
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - ajdeus - LibraryThingIn God’s Path does not meet expectations Hoyland is among very few that approach the formation of the Islamic world as unbiased and systematic as one could in a subject matter that is inflamed with ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - DavidWineberg - LibraryThingTo counter the almost universal impression that Arab armies swept over the Mediterranean and out to central Asia like a cloud and virtually overnight created an Islamic empire, Robert Hoyland has done ... Read full review
Contents
Chapter Two THE FIRST BATTLES 630640 | |
Chapter Three EASTWARD AND WESTWARD 640652 | |
Chapter Four THE PUSH FOR CONSTANTINOPLE 652685 | |
Chapter Five THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD 685715 | |
Chapter Six RETRENCHMENT AND REVOLT 715750 | |
Chapter Seven THE MAKING OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION | |
Sources and Source Critical Remarks | |
Genealogical Tables of Quraysh and the Umayyads | |
Other editions - View all
In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire Robert G. Hoyland Limited preview - 2014 |
In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire Robert G. Hoyland Limited preview - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
Abbasid Abd alMalik Africa Arab armies Arab civil Arab conquests Arab Empire Arab rule Armenian attack authority Baladhuri battle Berber Byzantine and Persian Byzantium Byzantium and Persia caliph capital captives capture Caucasia Christian Chronicle commander conquered conquerors Constans Constantinople contemporary cultural Damascus defeat desert dispatched dynasty Early Islamic eastern Egypt elite emperor example fight garrison God’s governor Hajjaj Heraclius historians Hoyland Ibn Abd alHakam imperial inhabitants inscription Iran Iraq John of Nikiu khagan Khazars Khurasan Khusrau king kingdom lands later Maslama Medina Middle East military modern mountain Mu‘awiya Muhammad Muslim sources Nikiu nobles nomads nonArab nonMuslim northeast northern northwest Persian Empire political preIslamic prophet province Qur’an Quraysh raids region religion religious Roman rulers Rutbil Samarkand Sasanian scholars Sebeos seventh century siege slaves Sogdian soldiers southern Syria Tabari Theophilus Transoxania tribes troops Turgesh Turks Umar Umayyad Uthman west Arabia Yazdgird Yazid
Bibliographic information
| Title | In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire Ancient Warfare and Civilization |
| Author | Robert G. Hoyland |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 2014 |
| ISBN | 0190209658, 9780190209650 |
| Length | 272 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Ancient / Rome History / World |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |