Since we're now bombing northern Iraq in part to try to save the Yazidis, it's worth knowing more about them. This National Geographic piece is a pretty good start: The Yazidi religion is often misunderstood, as it does not fit neatly into Iraq’s sectarian mosaic. Most Yazidis are Kurdish speakers, and while the majority consider themselves … Continue reading On the Yazidis
Tag: history
Islamic History, part 21: The Abbasids take over (750-786)
Islamic History SeriesWell, it's been a while since I had time to put one of these together. Sorry about that. Trying to eke out some freelance work and desperately looking for a regular gig kind of saps your will for big projects, I find.Aside from lacking the time to undertake another chapter of this series, … Continue reading Islamic History, part 21: The Abbasids take over (750-786)
What Is a Caliphate and Should You Be Terrified of It?
Apparently ISIS isn't ISIS anymore. Or ISIL, either. I mean, feel free to keep calling it those things, but the group itself is now just going by "The Islamic State" (IS), or al-Dawlat al-Islamiyah in Arabic. This move clarifies all the questions people have been asking about the group's name, from whether it's better to … Continue reading What Is a Caliphate and Should You Be Terrified of It?
Today in Middle Eastern History: The Siege of Antioch ends, kind of (1098)
The importance of the Crusades to European history is difficult to overstate. You can drawn links between this movement and the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, among other things. But in the short run, at least, it’s fair to say they were a waste of lives … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern History: The Siege of Antioch ends, kind of (1098)
Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
The Ottomans were not the first Islamic power to threaten the Byzantine Empire, and in fact the empire was by 1453 a hollowed out husk of its former glory. Successive waves of Turkish and Mongolian invasions had taken almost all of Anatolia out of Byzantine control, and the Ottomans had by this point conquered much … Continue reading Today in European history: the Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History Series before you read this, first read part I As I said earlier, the Umayyads were able to operate on a religious level in their claim on authority primarily because they were the symbolic embodiment of the communal unity that Muhammad had established decades earlier. What it meant to be a "Muslim" still … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History Series (this got really out of control long, so I split it into two pieces; part II is here) The Arabic word dawlah means "state" in modern parlance, and prior to the rise of the modern nation-state it was often used to describe dynasties. Its root (dawala) is a verb that means "to … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
Islamic History Series In contrast the decline of the Umayyad Dynasty in Syria, a period that I'm sure was as confusing for you to read about as it was for me to write about (imagine living through it), the conquest of Spain is considerably more straightforward, and takes place at a time when the rest … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 18: the conquest of Iberia (711-759)
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH: Islam and the American Slave Experience
Hey, I’ve moved! If you enjoy this post you can find more of my writing at Foreign Exchanges, a Substack newsletter covering a variety of topics in history and foreign affairs. Check it out today and become a subscriber! As we approach the end of African-American History Month, I thought it worth discussing the one … Continue reading AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH: Islam and the American Slave Experience
Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
Islamic History Series The Umayyads didn't have a very long run as top muckety-mucks in the Islamic World, less than a century even, if we start their dynasty with the beginning of Muʿawiyah I's reign in 661 (and I'm not sure how you could start it any earlier). When you look at the list of … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 17: the later Umayyads (705-750)
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 