Early Islamic Institutions Administration and Taxation from the Caliphate to the Umayyads and Abbasids

by Duri, Abd Al-Aziz

• ISBN13: 9781780766485
• ISBN10: 1780766483
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-01-15
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

The rapid expansion of the early Islamic world is conventionally ascribed to a combination of brilliant military leadership and religious fervor. In this book, Abd al-Aziz Duri demonstrates how the growth, development and durability of early Islamic governance derived from highly sophisticated systems of administration (in which the idea of a Muslim ummah was the central feature) as well as efficient mechanisms for taxation and tax collection. The fact that in a highly dynamic period of Islamic history a seamless system of administration could endure for several centuries, from the early Muslim conquests and the later Umayyad era to the end of Abbasid rule, is testimony to the political and organizational skills of these early Muslim leaders. Duri's work makes a major contribution to our understanding of how Islam established itself and flourished as a lasting major force in the development of world history.

Author Biography

Abd al-Aziz Duri (1919-2010) was Professor of History at the University of Jordan, having previously served as President of Baghdad University from 1963 to 1968. Among the most influential of his books that also marked a point of departure was his The Economic History of Iraq in the Fourth Century AH (1948), which established a new sphere of emphasis in Arab studies in the field. Duri would go on to contribute seminal works in Arab- and Islamic history including Studies in the Late Abbasid Period (1945), An Introduction to the History of the Dawn of Islam (1949), and The Early Abbasid Period (1988) as well as a critical analysis of Arab historiography itself in Research into the Origins of the Discipline of History among the Arabs (1960). He would also author treatises on Arab nationalism such as The Historical Roots of Arab Nationalism (1960) and The Historical Formation of the Arab nation: A Study in Identity and Consciousness (1987).

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Origins of the Political Systems – al-nuæum al-siyÆsyah
2. Fiscal Systems – al-nuæum al-mÆlyah
3. Administrative Systems
Notes
Bibliography
Index