A selection of histories read in the period covering January to April of 2020.
In God’s Path by Robert G. Hoyland [Oxford University Press, 2015]
The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire
The rapid expansion of Islam is one of history’s most fascinating events and the exploration of its causes is just as fascinating. How could a group of nomadic tribes pour out of the desert and remake the map of late antiquity by conquering lands from the Atlantic to the Hindu Kush in a century? Hoyland’s book is an erudite account that attempts to answer that question, beginning by explaining the context of pre-Islamic Arabia and proceeding through to the fall of the Ummayad caliphate. It’s an excellent work – highly readable while expertly synthesizing the complexity of the period. The assumed premise of the question I pose above, that the Arabs came out of nowhere, is punctured by one of the many interesting insights the book provides. The Arab conquerors did not come out of nowhere – they had been fighting with and against the Byzantines and Sasanians for decades. The conquering armies weren’t filled with the fire of holy war but the pursuit of booty. They used the time-honored tradition of leaving the locals in charge after the fighting was done (as long as tributes were paid). And the conquering wasn’t as easy as posterity makes it seems, while Islam itself didn’t gain a widespread foothold for a long time (partly as a deliberate policy of Muslims, who realized that the more people converted the less revenue they made off of taxing non-Muslim populations). By no means is this a popular history: but it is highly readable while maintaining a high degree of scholarship. Highly recommended for those interested in the era. [4/5]