History 739Topics in Near Eastern and

World HistoryDr. John Curry

john.curry@unlv.eduhttp://faculty.unlv.edu/curryj5

Room B-326 (History Conference Room)

Class meets: 4:30-7:30pmOffice Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:00pm

Background for Richard Bulliet’s Islam: View from the Edge

Columbia University (1976)

Early contributor to world history; Camel and Wheel

Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period (1979)

World History textbook Earth and its Peoples

Controversial theses: View from Edge and Case for Islamo-Christian Civ.

Maps for Persian geography

Maps of major cities in Iran and its northeast

Medieval Islamic expansion

Early Islamic conquests and provincial structure

Provincial structure of Abbasids

Note Khorasan and Gorgan (Jurjan) at upper right

Abbasid decline by the 900s

Map showing collapse of Abbasid power over time

Central Asian demographics

Central Asian populations in modern times

Discussion of Bulliet (not to be limited to points below)

What is the basic narrative that Bulliet advances for Iran’s history from the 600s through 1200s?

Why does cotton matter? Why does climate matter? Why do camels matter? What kinds of evidence does Bulliet advance,

and how does it relate to his earlier work? Why a “moment in world history,” and what are

potential consequences for a wider audience?

A different type of chronology for Iran’s history in Bulliet’s work

400-650 (Period of Sasanid dominance) 650-900 (Gradual introduction of cotton) 900-1000 (Heyday of “dual agriculture”) 1000-1050 (Arrival of the “Big Chill” and

Turkmen nomadic peoples) 1050-1150 (End of cotton growing and

flight of Iranian scholarly classes) 1150-1250 (Failure to recover; Mongol era)

Comparison: standard chronology for wider Islamic world

622-750 (Islamic conquests; Umayyad rule)

750-860 (Classical Islamic civilization under the Abbasids)

860-945 (Abbasid decline) 945-1040 (Decentralization/competition) 1040-1100 (Great Saljuq reconsolidation) 1100-1220 (Institutional finalization) 1220-1405 (Turco-Mongol invasions)

Conversion to Islam argument

Conversion models for various regions of Near East

Issues of chronology: why technology matters

Expanding production of cotton + religious tensions

Silk of earlier times limited to non-Muslims

Lack of arable land leads to Muslim involvement with qanat-building

What is a fulanabad? Result: trade boom and

monetarization (silver)

Issues of the “Big Chill”: climate change and history

New tools in historical study: dendrochronology and climate change

Various medieval chroniclers corroborate tales of cold and shortage

Weakening of cotton market coincides with cultural/ religious shifts

Shift to nomadic goods

Of Saljuqs and camels: a turning point in world history?

The Oghuz, the Ghaznavids and the Saljuq Turks

Explaining the sudden collapse of Mahmud’s state after 1030 C.E.

Issues of “ecological determinism”—did camel-herding cause migration?

Saljuqs inherit economic decline, intellectual flight

Extent of the Ghaznavid state

Extent of the Ghaznavid empire ca. 1030 C.E.

Making old work anew: Bulliet’s Cotton, Climate, and Camels

Reading the intellectual genealogy of the work: begins with Camel and Wheel

Links new ecological-historical advances into early work on conversion in medieval Persia

Seeks to cover some of the weak or poorly-sources elements in Islam: View From the Edge

Introduces world historical significance grounded in textbook writings and comparison of Islamic and Christian civilizations

Issues of immediate concern for the future

All October classes (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) will focus on the writing process

Be prepared to present at least 2-3 pages of writing for evaluation to the class

Make 4 copies for me and your fellow three members of the class (or e-mail in advance)

November 4: status report going into final phase

November classes on the 11th, 18th, and 25th will be cancelled for holidays

Presentations on Dec. 2, final paper on Dec. 9