The Breaking of a Thousand Swords - A History of the Turkish Military of Samarra (A.H. 200-275/815-889 C.E.)

A portrait of the Samarran Turk community while in the employ of the 'Abbasid caliphate during the ninth century.
The Breaking of a Thousand Swords provides a portrait of the Samarran Turks as members of a community with a specific and complex history in the early medieval Islamic world. It considers: the encounter of the Turks as rough, non-Muslim outsiders, with the sedentary, urbane world of Baghdad; the closely related encounter of the Turks with the Islamic tradition in its urban, scholarly guise; the settlement of the Turks, in Baghdad then in Samarra, through the use of land grants and appointments to office; the impact upon the affairs of the Turkish community of not only a military ranking but of a socio-political hierarchy as well; the construction by the Turkish elite of an elaborate network of patronage and support, both within urban Iraq and throughout the provinces (Egypt in particular); and the emergence, and impact, of factionalism within the community.

About the author

Matthew S. Gordon is Assistant Professor of History at Miami University, Ohio.

Product details

• Authors: Matthew S Gordon, Matthew S. Gordon
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.12.2000
• EAN: 9780791447956
• ISBN: 978-0-7914-4795-6
• No. of pages: 324
• Dimensions: 157 mm x 234 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 549 g
• Series: Suny Medieval Middle East Hist
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous