Between the general surveys of Islamic, Arab or Middle Eastern history, of which there are several of varying quality, and detailed monographs on particular aspects of Umayyad history, many of which are not in English, there is little that can be recommended confidently as an introduction to the importance, main events and personalities, and problems of the Umayyad period. The present work tries to provide such an introduction.
The standard modern account of Umayyad history is Julius Wellhausen’s The Arab kingdom and its fall, first published in German in 1902 and translated into English in 1927. In spite of the inevitable dating of Wellhausen’s own political and religious outlook, and the criticisms of his method of source analysis made recently by Albrecht Noth, his book remains of fundamental importance for anyone wanting more than an introductory knowledge of Umayyad history, particularly its political and military events. The present work is certainly not intended to supersede The Arab kingdom.
As an introduction, however, experience has shown that Wellhausen’s work is not especially suitable. Leaving aside the rather idiosyncratic English of its translation, it contains more detail than is readily absorbed, its presentation is not as clear as modern readers expect, and its concern with source criticism is not appreciated by those who do not have even a simplified traditional narrative against which to set it. Attempts to get students to read and digest Wellhausen usually result in puzzlement and the beginnings of a conviction that Umayyad history is too difficult for undergraduate study.
But there is really little else, especially in English, which treats the period as a whole and which can serve as an introduction. M.A. Shaban’s first volume of his Islamic history. A new interpretation, it is true, is readily available and does provide a lively narrative coverage of the period. Its interpretation, however, seems to me to be frequently questionable and on occasion only loosely related to the sources, and the title itself indicates that it was not conceived as an introduction. Similarly, Patricia Crone’s Slaves on horses seems to me a brilliant analysis of the development of the early Islamic state and society but not a book for relative beginners since it presumes, rather than provides, a fairly detailed acquaintance with the events of the period. There still seems a need, therefore, for the sort of introduction which I have attempted here.
Given, then, that the present work is not attempting to provide a wholly new version of the Umayyad period, and that much of it depends on the findings of the many scholars who have contributed to our understanding of Umayyad history, it has seemed unnecessary to provide references to the original Arabic or other sources. Readers capable of studying the primary sources themselves will easily be able to track them down in the secondary works to which references are normally confined in my notes. These notes are usually a guide to further reading, with readers of English primarily in mind, and are not necessarily the sources of particular statements, but in a general way they indicate the scholars and works to which I have been most indebted. Neither the references in my notes nor the bibliography given at the end claim to be complete or extensive, but I hope that I have mentioned most works of fundamental importance.
My special thanks are due to my colleague Dr David Morgan, who kindly read the whole typescript and whose feeling for both history and style has undoubtedly saved me from a number of blunders; to my wife Joyce who has similarly read and commented on the typescript; to Sue Harrop, the Cartographer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, for help with the maps; and to Peter Sowden who first suggested that I write the book and then gently prodded until it was done. For the remaining limitations, imperfections and errors I am responsible.