ABSTRACT
Courts and the complex phenomenon of the courtly society have received intensified interest in academic research over recent decades, however, the field of Islamic court culture has so far been overlooked. This book provides a comparative perspective on the history of courtly culture in Muslim societies from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, and presents an extensive collection of images of courtly life and architecture within the Muslim realm.
The thematic methodology employed by the contributors underlines their interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach to issues of politics and patronage from across the Islamic world stretching from Cordoba to India. Themes range from the religious legitimacy of Muslim rulers, terminologies for court culture in Oriental languages, Muslim concepts of space for royal representation, accessibility of rulers, the role of royal patronage for Muslim scholars and artists to the growing influence of European courts as role models from the eighteenth century onwards. Discussing specific terminologies for courts in Oriental languages and explaining them to the non specialist, chapters describe the specific features of Muslim courts and point towards future research areas. As such, it fills this important gap in the existing literature in the areas of Islamic history, religion, and Islam in particular.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|240 pages
Politics
part |70 pages
The Prophet and the early Caliphates
part |91 pages
Muslim court cultures of the Middle Ages
chapter 5|12 pages
Redressing injustice
chapter 7|26 pages
Courts, capitals and kingship
chapter 8|19 pages
Between dihlīz and dār al-ʿadl
chapter 9|14 pages
The Mongol court in Baghdad
part |76 pages
Muslim court cultures of early modernity
chapter 10|17 pages
Monolithic or dynamic
chapter 11|19 pages
Court culture and cosmology in the Mughal Empire
part II|213 pages
Patronage
part |32 pages
Networks of patronage
part |64 pages
Sciences
chapter 16|31 pages
Enacting the Rule of Islam
part |26 pages
Literature
chapter 18|11 pages
Royal dishes
chapter 19|13 pages
The Guidance for Kingdoms
part |89 pages
Art and architecture