A monograph on 'Religion and Politics in Late Medieval Islam: Conversion to Islam in the Mongol Ilkhanate (1218-1357)'
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oriental Institute
Abstract
Context of the research
During the 13th century, the Mongols established the largest contiguous land empire in history, thus coming to rule subjects whose life-styles, legal and political systems, and religious beliefs and practices differed greatly from their own. Eventually, the formerly Nestorian and Shamanist, then Buddhist Mongols in Western Eurasia (Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East) converted to Islam.
In this monograph I shall study the Islamization of the Mongols in the Middle East during the 13th and 14th centuries. While an important study on the Islamization of the Mongols in Russia (the Golden Horde) was published in 1994, the Islamization of the Mongols in the Middle East (the Ilkhanate) has so far only attracted a few articles. The proposed book will be the first monograph on this topic.
Moreover, while the history and material culture of the Ilkhanate has been well studied, its intellectual history has been little explored. By focusing on the intellectual debates of the Ilkhanate, this monograph will shed light on a period that has traditionally been considered a period of decline, and will prove why more attention should be paid to it. It will also lead to significant advances in our knowledge and understanding of the period not only by shedding light on the particular Islamization process in the Ilkhanate, but also by challenging the widespread notion that during the Medieval period, the subjects generally followed the religion of their rulers: In this instance, more or less the opposite was the case.
Aims and objectives
This monograph will put forward and examine the following theses:
- In the Ilkhanid case, conversion spread from the bottom up and from the outside in - from the non-Genghisid Mongol commoners and generals to the Genghisid family, from lateral Genghisid successors to the lineal descendants of Genghis Khan, and from Central Asia, Anatolia and the Russian Steppes to the Islamic heartlands in Iran and Iraq.
- Conversion to Islam was initially effected by contacts between the Mongols and their Turkish subjects. The local, Persian and Arabic speaking population in the Middle East contributed little to Mongol conversions initially, though by the early 14th century, religious debates between the recent Mongol converts and local Muslim elites were frequent.
- The Mongols' Islamization contributed in the long term to their assimilation and virtual disappearance from the Middle East.
- The Middle East and Islam did not remain unchanged by the Mongol experience: with the abolition of the Abbasid caliphate, and the influx of men, materials, and ideas from Mongolia, Tibet and China, the intellectual elites in the Middle East experimented in unprecedented ways in various areas, including astronomy, medicine, philosophy, musical theory, the arts, law, and political theory.
- The Mongols' contribution was more than that of transmitters or catalysts. Their ideal of their quasi-divine code of law, the yasa, and its application in co-existence with the Muslim shari'a, e.g., formed the basis of later Islamic legal theories and practices.
Potential applications and benefits/dissemination
This volume will be an attractive book for students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Medieval History and Historiography, and Religious Studies, and anyone with an interest in conversion, Islamization, and the intellectual history of Islam. The monograph and two papers I shall present at international conferences in London and Freiburg in 2007 and 2008 will shed light on an understudied period, and hopefully inspire future research and debates.
During the 13th century, the Mongols established the largest contiguous land empire in history, thus coming to rule subjects whose life-styles, legal and political systems, and religious beliefs and practices differed greatly from their own. Eventually, the formerly Nestorian and Shamanist, then Buddhist Mongols in Western Eurasia (Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East) converted to Islam.
In this monograph I shall study the Islamization of the Mongols in the Middle East during the 13th and 14th centuries. While an important study on the Islamization of the Mongols in Russia (the Golden Horde) was published in 1994, the Islamization of the Mongols in the Middle East (the Ilkhanate) has so far only attracted a few articles. The proposed book will be the first monograph on this topic.
Moreover, while the history and material culture of the Ilkhanate has been well studied, its intellectual history has been little explored. By focusing on the intellectual debates of the Ilkhanate, this monograph will shed light on a period that has traditionally been considered a period of decline, and will prove why more attention should be paid to it. It will also lead to significant advances in our knowledge and understanding of the period not only by shedding light on the particular Islamization process in the Ilkhanate, but also by challenging the widespread notion that during the Medieval period, the subjects generally followed the religion of their rulers: In this instance, more or less the opposite was the case.
Aims and objectives
This monograph will put forward and examine the following theses:
- In the Ilkhanid case, conversion spread from the bottom up and from the outside in - from the non-Genghisid Mongol commoners and generals to the Genghisid family, from lateral Genghisid successors to the lineal descendants of Genghis Khan, and from Central Asia, Anatolia and the Russian Steppes to the Islamic heartlands in Iran and Iraq.
- Conversion to Islam was initially effected by contacts between the Mongols and their Turkish subjects. The local, Persian and Arabic speaking population in the Middle East contributed little to Mongol conversions initially, though by the early 14th century, religious debates between the recent Mongol converts and local Muslim elites were frequent.
- The Mongols' Islamization contributed in the long term to their assimilation and virtual disappearance from the Middle East.
- The Middle East and Islam did not remain unchanged by the Mongol experience: with the abolition of the Abbasid caliphate, and the influx of men, materials, and ideas from Mongolia, Tibet and China, the intellectual elites in the Middle East experimented in unprecedented ways in various areas, including astronomy, medicine, philosophy, musical theory, the arts, law, and political theory.
- The Mongols' contribution was more than that of transmitters or catalysts. Their ideal of their quasi-divine code of law, the yasa, and its application in co-existence with the Muslim shari'a, e.g., formed the basis of later Islamic legal theories and practices.
Potential applications and benefits/dissemination
This volume will be an attractive book for students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Medieval History and Historiography, and Religious Studies, and anyone with an interest in conversion, Islamization, and the intellectual history of Islam. The monograph and two papers I shall present at international conferences in London and Freiburg in 2007 and 2008 will shed light on an understudied period, and hopefully inspire future research and debates.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Judith Pfeiffer (Principal Investigator) |