1st Edition

Islamic Urbanism Political Power and Social Networks

Edited By Tsugitaka SATO Copyright 1997
    246 Pages
    by Routledge

    246 Pages
    by Routledge

    Islamic cultures in the Middle East have inherited and developed a legacy of urbanism spanning millennia to the ancient civilizations of the region. In contrast to well-organized states like China in history, Muslim peoples formed loose states based on intricate social networks. As a consequence, most studies of urban history in the Middle East have focused their gaze exclusively on urban social organization, often neglecting the extension of political power to rural areas. Covering Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Brunei, this volume explores the relationship between political power and social networks in medieval and modern Middle Eastern history. The authors examine social, religious and administrative networks that governed rural and urban areas and led to state formation, providing a more inclusive view of the mechanisms of power and control in the Islamic world.

    Chapter One Political Power and Social Networks Chapter Two Administrative Networks in the Mamluk Period Chapter Three Informal Networks Chapter Four Political Power and Social-Religious Networks in Sixteenth Century Fes Chapter Five The Pastoral City and the Mausoleum City Chapter Six Water Village Until the Foundation of Land-Based Settlement Chapter Seven Elites, Notables and Social Networks of Eighteenth-Century Hama

    Biography

    SATO Tsugitaka is Professor at the University of Tokyo