Abbasid History Podcast
by AbbasidHistoryPodcast.com
An audio platform for the study of the pre-modern Islamic(ate) past and beyond. We interview academics, archivists and artists on their work for peers and junior students in the field. We aim to educate, inspire, perhaps infuriate, and on the way entertain a little too. https://linktr.ee/abbasidhistorypodcastSuitable also for general listeners with an interest in geographically diverse medieval history.
Episodes
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🖋️EP065 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Jami (d. 1492 CE): End of an Era
A prolific poet, Jami, is the embodiment of the photo-Ottoman Bengal-to-Balkans cosmopolitan Sufi intellectual. Jami was born in 1414 near the border of modern day Iran and Afghanistan during the tail end of the era of the shadow Abbasid caliphs before the Ottoman claim to the Caliphate. He…
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🖋️EP064 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Hafez (d. 1390 CE): Tongue of the Unseen
Regarded as the pinnacle of Persian literature, his works are a household item for Persian-speaking families and read during the Yalda winter solstice festival and Nowruz spring equinox festival. He was also widely known amongst European intellectuals, with even Engels mentioning him to Marx in a...
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🖋️EP063 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Saadi (d. 1292 CE): the Master
Abū Muḥammad Musharrif al-Dīn Muṣliḥ b. ʿAbd-Allāh, better known as Saadi is called simply as the Master in Persian for his place in classical Persian poetry. His Bustan and Gulistan takes pride of place in the canon of Islamic literary creations. Saadi was born in Shiraz 1210CE. He was alive...
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🖋️EP062 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Nizami Ganjavi (d. 1209 CE): the Romantic
Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī better known as Nizami is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature. His love story of Layla and Majnun inspired the Eric Clapton hit record of 1970, "Layla" and there are monuments of Nizami as far as Beijing and Rome....
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🖋️EP061 Ali Hammoud on Attar of Nishapur (d. 1221CE): the Spirit of Persian Sufi Poetry
Farīd al-Dīn Abū Ḥamid Muḥammad ʿAṭṭār lived and died in Nishapur. Though he was little known beyond his city as a poet, his enduring legacy can perhaps be summarised by Rumi: Attar has roamed through the seven cities of love while we have barely turned down the first street. (1) Attar was born…
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🖋️EP060 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Sanai (d. 1141): Poeta Doctus
Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam, better known as Sanai, was an influential poet of Sufism who was attached to the Ghaznavid court in modern day Afghanistan. His major work The Walled Garden of Truth has been an enduring classic. An adaption of his verses were quoted at the end of the 2017…
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🖋️EP059 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Omar Khayyam (d. 1131CE)
Writing to his brother from prison in 1949, a young African American man opens his letter citing these lines from a medieval Persian poet: Indeed the Idols I have loved so long, Have done my credit in this World much Wrong: Have dropped my Glory in a shallow Cup, And sold my Reputation for a song...
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🖊️EP058 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Nasir Khusraw (d. c.1088CE): The Proof
Born 1004CE in present-day Tajikistan then under control of the Ghaznavid dynasty, Abū Muʿīn al-Dīn Nasir Khusraw was an Ismaili convert and missionary who became better known for his poetry. To discuss with us today the life, works and legacy of Nasir Khusraw is Ali Hammoud. Ali Hammoud is a PhD...
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🖊️EP057 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Ferdowsi (d.1019CE): author of the epic Shahnameh
Born under the Samanid dyansty and living through the rule of the Ghaznavid dynasty in Tus located north Iran, Ferdowsi is author of the epic Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") of 50,000 lines taking 30 years to compose. The work is of central importance in Persian heritage. Q1. Ferdowsi was born in...
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🖋EP056 Ali Hammoud on the life and works of Rudaki (d. 941): Father of Persian Poetry
Living under the Samanid dyansty in modern-day Tajikistan, Rudaki is considered the first of the great classical Islamic Persian poets and the father of Tajik literature. Despite being a celebrated, patronised court poet, he would fall into poverty near the end of his life dying blind and alone.…
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📖EP055 Faheem Hussain on Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam"
Thomas Bauer's "A Culture of Ambiguity" stands out as one of the most important contributions to Islamic Studies in recent decades. First published in German in 2011, it wasn't until 2021 that it became available in English. Bauer's three decades of knowledge and expertise shine through in the...
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💧EP054 GUEST EPISDODE (8/8) The Great Valens Aqueduct of Constantinople/ Istanbul
The longest aqueduct of the ancient world, the Valens aqueduct brought water to the capital of the eastern Roman empire: Byzantium or Constantinople, today known as Istanbul. Monumental sections of the aqueduct bridge still majestically stride across the city. In this episode we talk about the...
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💧EP053 GUEST EPISDODE (7/8) Qanāts: Harvesting Water on the Edge of the Desert
In this episode we discuss what is perhaps the most famous and distinctive invention of Middle Eastern and North African hydraulic engineering is the qanāt (also known as foggaras, khettāras, and aflāj): an underground tunnel dug horizontally into a hillside to harvest water from the water table....
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💧EP052 GUEST EPISDODE (6/8) Water and the White Monastery: Water Management at a Single Site
It is often difficult to reconstruct the water infrastructure at historical sites due to recent building and patchy excavation and survival. In this episode we look at a site in which we can see a great deal of the water supply as a connected system, and how it developed over time: the great late...
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💧EP051 GUEST EPISODE (5/8) Toilets and Waste in Andalusia
You can't think about clean water without also thinking about removing dirty water and other waste. In this episode we take a deep dive into sewage (figuratively speaking) on the basis of excavations and documents that survive about cities in Muslim Spain in the Middle Ages. Speaker: Ieva...
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💧EP050 GUEST EPISODE (4/8) The City on The Tigris: Baghdad, Drinking and Water Transport
Ep4. The City on The Tigris: Baghdad, Drinking and Water Transport Medieval Baghdad was probably home to 200,000 to 500,000 inhabitants. In this episode we look at how water functioned as the life blood of this great city, providing drink, but also transportation that supplied the city with food...
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💧EP049 GUEST EPISODE (3/8) The Beginnings of the Bathhouse in the Middle East, from Rome to Early Islam
The bathhouse is an iconic feature of the medieval middle eastern city up until the present. But how did this come to be? In this episode we look into the origins of bathing culture in the Middle East by going back to the Roman, late antique and early Islamic development of bathhouses. Speakers:...
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💧EP048 GUEST EPISODE (2/8) Mesopotamia: Taming the Euphrates
Part of the "Source of Life: Water Management in the Premodern Middle East" project (Radboud Institute for Culture and History). Ep2. Mesopotamia: Taming the Euphrates Mesopotamia means "the land between the rivers." The fertile silt and life-giving waters from the rivers Tigris and Euphrates...
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💧EP047 GUEST EPISODE (1/8) Water History and the Pre-Modern Middle East. "Source of Life: Water Management in the Premodern Middle East" (Radboud Institute for Culture and History)
This episode was produced by Edmund Hayes and Jouke Heringa. Ep1. Water History and the Pre-Modern Middle East The cities of the medieval Middle East were some of the largest in the world, dwarfing the major cities of western Europe, for example. So how did they support large populations in...
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🕸EP046 Prof. Hayrettin Yücesoy on his new book "Disenchanting the Caliphate"
Hayrettin Yücesoy is a historian with a specialization in the premodern Middle East. His scholarly interests revolve around the intricate realm of political thought and practice, covering themes such as political messianism, monarchy, republican practices, visions of social order throughout...
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🖋EP045 Nasim Hassani on an illustrated manuscript of al-Maqāmāt by Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥarīrī (d.1122CE)
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥarīrī was an Arab poet, scholar and Seljuk government official who died in 1122CE aged 68 years old. His work al-Maqāmāt, a compilation of 50 highly-stylised comic anecdotes about the exploits of trickster Abū Zayd, received widespread renown in his time across the Muslim world…
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💒EP044 The Curious Tale of Isaac: An Egyptian Jew baptised as godson to King Edward II (d. 1327)
In 1319 Roger de Stangrave, a Hospitaller knight, and a Jew named Isaac arrived in England. For a ransom of 10,00 gold florins, Isaac had freed Stangrave, a stranger to him, from over 30 years of Mamluk captivity and then accompanied the knight home to be repaid. By 1322, Isaac has converted to...
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💰EP043 Dr. Isabelle Imbert on a Beginner's Guide to Investing in Islamic Arts
This is the second part of two presentations. More on our guest: https://isabelle-imbert.com 0:50 In your previous presentation, you gave us an overview of the history of Islamic art. Give us an overview of the Islamic arts market scene: who are the main players? Where are the main auctions, and…
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🕌EP042 Dr. Isabelle Imbert on a Very Brief Introduction to Studying the History of Islamic Arts
Works of Islamic arts mesmerise their viewers, be it calligraphy, vases or mausoleums, but knowledge of their developments continues to be weak for the general enthusiast. To give an introductory survey on how to delve deeper into the fascinating ocean of Islamic arts is Dr. Isaballe Imbert. Dr....
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💡EP041 Dr. Abdul Azim Ahmed on Shahab Ahmed's "What is Islam? The Importance of being Islamic"
Dr. Azim Ahmed, Research Associate in British Muslim Studies at Cardiff University, discusses the late Shahab Ahmed's (no relation!) seminal work "What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic" leading us to identify the Anglophone as the New Persianate for the Cathay-to-California Complex.…
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🎈EP040 Muhammad Ali Mojaradi (@sharghzadeh) on Rumi (d. 1273CE): Life, Works and Legacy of a Muslim Poet (#RumiWasMuslim)
Despite many a tattoo of his alleged verses decorating limbs of heartbroken US college students, the actual life, works and legacy of the Sunni Hanafi jurist and Māturīdī theologian Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī have been conveniently overlooked. To provide a historical introduction to Rumi, we are...
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🏔 EP039 Dr. Ramon Harvey on Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d.944CE): Life, works and legacy of the seminal Sunni theologian
Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d.944CE) was a Persian Sunni Hanafi jurist, theologian, and scriptural exegete based in Samarkand. His eponymous codification of Sunni creed became the dominant theological school for Sunni Muslims in Central Asia and later enjoyed a preeminent status as the school of…
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🧊EP038 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Twitter Space (Monday 27th December 2021). Part 12 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Our series concludes with this live session with our guest and listeners. For more on our guest, see kblankinship.com. Sponsored by shop.ihrc.org Terms and conditions apply. Contact IHRC Bookshop for details.
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🗻EP037 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī (1278-1349 CE): Poetry in the Mamluk era. Part 11 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī was a Shʿī poet who was born in Iraq but lived much of his life in Mardin in modern day Turkey. He was an exemplar of versatility in verse for the much neglected Mamluk period of literary history. Timestamps 01:20 Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥillī was born in 1278 just over a decade after...
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🟥EP036 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Ibn ʿArabī (1165-1240 CE): The Red Sulphur sings. Part 10 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Ibn ʿArabī was an Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher. He is renowned among practitioners of Sufism by the names al-Shaykh al-Akbar ("the Greatest Shaykh"; from here the Akbarian school derives its name). Timestamps 01:36 Ibn ʿArabī was born in 1165 in Andalusia whose…
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🥀EP035 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Ibn Zaydūn (1003-1071 CE): Love, Longing and Lost - an introduction to Andalusian poetry. Part 9 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Abū al-Walīd Aḥmad Ibn Zaydūn al-Makhzūmī, or simply known as Ibn Zaydūn, was considered the greatest neoclassical poet of al-Andalus. His love affair with the princess and poet Wallada and his exile inspired many of his poems. Timestamps 01:37 Ibn Zaydūn grew up during the decline of the…
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⚔EP034 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Abū Firās al-Ḥamdānī: the Prince, the Prisoner, the Poet. Part 8 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of Abū Firās al-Ḥamdānī, prince, prisoner, poet. Al-Ḥārith b. Abū al-ʿAlā Saʿīd ibn Ḥamdān al-Taghlibī, better known by his nom de plume of Abū Firās al-Ḥamdānī, was an Arab prince and poet. He was a cousin of Sayf al-Dawla,...
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✒EP033 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on al-Mutanabī (c.915-965CE): 'the Shakespeare of the Arabs.' Part 7 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of al-Mutanabbī, whose poetry continues to inspire. Timestamps 01:44 Al-Mutanabbī was born in 915CE in the city Kufah in modern day Iraq at the height of the Abbasid caliphate but with rising challenges from sectarian foes....
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😷EP032 Prof. Peter Adamson on the life, work and legacy of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (d.925CE): Physician, Philosopher, Provacateur
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī (865–925 CE), also known by his Latinized name Rhazes, was one of the greatest figures in the history of medicine in the Islamic tradition, and one of its most controversial philosophers. While we have ample surviving evidence for his medical thought, his...
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EP031 Dr. Antonia Bosanquet on Ibn al-Qayyim (d.1350CE) and Dhimma governance
The laws of Dhimma, or governance of non-Muslim minorities in a Muslim polity, can arouse difficult feelings amongst both Muslims and non-Muslims especially at sites of tension and conflict between them around the globe. To discuss with us today a medieval legal work on these rulings is Dr.…
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EP030 Dr. Stephennie Mulder on Imām al-Shāfiʿī (d.820CE), an afterlife: the story of his mausoleum in Cairo and the role of arts and crafts as a source in Islamic(ate) history
"This blessed cenotaph was made for the Imam (al-Shāfʿī)…by ʿUbayd the carpenter, known as Ibn Maʿālai, in the months of the year five hundred seventy-four. May God have mercy on him; may he [also] have mercy on those who are merciful toward him, those who call for mercy upon him, and upon all…
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🎟EP029 Dr. Hannah Erlwein from Kalamopod on a brief history of Kalām (philosophy of religion within the Islamic ecumene)
Literally meaning "speech, word, utterance" among other things, Kalām or philosophy of religion within the Islamic ecumene has divided Muslim believers about it scope, methods and even its validity in itself. To give us a brief history of Kalām is the presenter of a new podcast devoted to...
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EP028 Dr. Jonathan Brown on the life, works and legacy of hadith scholar al-Bukhārī (810-870CE)
Considered by Sunni Muslims as the second most authentic book after the Quran, Muḥammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Bukhārī's collection of the Prophet's sayings and traditions, or ḥadīth, holds an esteemed station in Sunni scholasticism. To discuss with me the life, works and legacy of al-Bukhari is Dr....
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EP027 Dr. Aaron Tugendhaft on philosopher al-Fārābī (d. 951CE), ISIS and Iconoclasm
In February 2015, the former Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released a video showing their destruction of Mesopotamian antiquities at the museum of Mosul. Although perhaps ironic that images are used to show the destruction of images, a video intended to shock can be turned against its...
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EP026 Dr. Philip Grant on the Zanj Revolt 869-883CE: A Slave Uprising against the Caliphate
In and around 869CE, African slaves used to cultivate the salt marshes of Basra in present-day Iraq revolted against their master. Led by an ʿAlī b. Muḥammad, a charismatic messianic figure, their uprising would prove to very damaging to an already beleaguered Abbasid caliphate before being…
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EP025 Dr. Ahab Bdaiwi on Shaykh al-Mufīd (c.948-1022): Life, Works and Legacy of a Seminal Shia Scholar
To discuss with us the life, works and legacy of Shaykh al-Mufīd is Dr. Ahab Bdaiwi. Dr. Bdaiwi completed his PhD at Exeter on Islamic intellectual history and is currently the Cook-Crone Research Bye-Fellow in Ancient and Medieval History at the university of Cambridge. Timestamps 00.00...
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EP024 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on al-Ḥallāj (c.858-922 CE): Life, works and poetic legacy of a martyred mystic. Part 6 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of one controversial Sufi, al-Ḥallāj, whose poetic outpourings continue to inspire. This is the sixth part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utilised in college-level teaching programmes....
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EP023 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Abū Tammām (c.807-850 CE): Life, works and legacy of an anthologist. Part 5 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of one of the greatest Abbasid literary figures, Abū Tammām, known particularly for his anthology. This is the fifth part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utilised in college-level...
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EP022 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on Abū al-ʿAtāhiyyaḧ (748-828 CE): Life, works and legacy of an ascetic poet. Part 4 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of one of the greatest Abbasid poets, Abū al-ʿAtāhiyyaḧ, known particularly for his ascetic poetry. This is the fourth part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utlised in college-level...
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EP021 Abū Nuwās (c.756- c.814 CE). Part 3 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of one of the greatest Abbasid poets, Abū Nuwās, known particularly for his homoerotic verse and wine poetry. This is the third part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utlised in...
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EP020 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on al-Farazdaq (c.641-c.730CE). Part 2 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of one of the greatest Umayyad poets, al-Farazdaq, known particularly for satirizing rival poets as well as amorous verse. This is the second part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be…
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EP019 Dr. Kevin Blankinship on ʾImr al-Qays (501-544CE). Part 1 of 12 - Spring of Classical Arabic Poetry
Dr. Kevin Blankinship, BYU Utah, speaks about the life, works and legacy of the boisterous prince, ʾImr al-Qays. Was he actually a Christian? Are his recorded poems authentic? This is the first part of a twelve part series exploring classical Arabic poetry which can be utlised in college-level...
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EP018 Dr. Christian Sahner on Christianity under the Caliphate
Dr. Christian Sahner gives a fluent and concise introduction to Christian life prior and after the Arab-Islamic conquests of the Levant including the phenomenon of conversion and martyrdom of executed Christian converts from Islam. Sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Visit shop.ihrc.org. Terms and...
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EP017 Dr. Laury Silvers on her Abbasid crime fiction quartet The Sufi Mysteries
Dr. Laury Silvers shows how the move from academic historian to novelist requires the same imagination that the study of history demands. Sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Visit shop.ihrc.org. Terms and conditions apply.
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EP016 Dr.Yasir Qadhi on the life, works and legacy of Jahm b. Ṣafwān (d. 746CE)
Dr. Yasir Qadhi offers insights into this enigmatic figure whose legacy aroused furore amongst Sunni theologians during the Abbasid era. Sponsored by IHRC bookshop. Visit shop.ihrc.org.
About this show
An audio platform for the study of the pre-modern Islamic(ate) past and beyond. We interview academics, archivists and artists on their work for peers and junior students in the field. We aim to educate, inspire, perhaps infuriate, and on the way entertain a little too. https://linktr.ee/abbasidhistorypodcastSuitable also for general listeners with an interest in geographically diverse medieval history.
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