Description
Book SynopsisThe Prophet Muhammad acknowledged by his followers to have been the hand with which God wrote his definitive Word enshrined in the Koran was born into the Quraishi tribe at Mecca c. 570 and died in Medina in 632. The great religion founded on that Word, which first claimed the submission (Islam) of the Arabs, rapidly expanded across North Africa, into southern Europe and east as far as China. This book examines the architectural tradition which developed with the religious culture. With its source in the ubiquitous courtyard house, the development of the mosque as both place of worship and the centre of the community, its form a response to the requirements of prayer set out in the Koran, was given a range of forms as Islam came up against the traditions of Egypt, Persia, India and China. The tradition developed further in tombs, palaces and fortifications, all of which are described and illustrated here.
The story continues with the glorious architecture of the Timurids, Sa
Trade Review
'The greatest value of this fine study lies in its enormous and detailed range, encompassing not only the Islamic heartlands, but traditions as diverse as those of the sultanates of North Africa, the earliest Moslem dynasties of India and the legacy of Tamerlane. A prodigious labour of love.' – Colin Thubron
Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: Dar Al-Islam 1.1 Ascendancy of the Caliphate and the Assertion of Orthodoxy 1.2 Decadence of the Caliphate: Shi’ite Challenge 1.3 Sunni Reaction: Caliphate and Sultanate Part 2: Beyond the Western Pale 2.1. Cordoban Caliphate 2.2. Moroccan Sultanates 2.3. Andalusian Enclaves Part 3: Dar Al-Islam Divided 3.1 The Central Axis of the Turks 3.2: The Orbit of Iran Part 4: Beyond The Eastern Pale 4.1. Afghans, Turks and Their Delhi Sultanate 4.2. Regional Gravity 4.3. The Mughals: Advent 4.4. The Deccan: The Qutbshahi and Adilshahi Sultanates 4.5. The Mughals: Apogee Epilogue: Hindustani Syncretism Glossary Further Reading Index
