The Medieval Central Asia and the Persianate World: Iranian Tradition and Islamic Civilisation eds. by A. C. S. Peacock and D. G. Tor (review)

The history of Islam in Iran and Central Asia is relatively understudied but this region has a rich cultural history that shatters some of the generalisations often made about Islam. The ten chapters demonstrate the rich diversity of Islam and demonstrate the persistence of Persian regional identity and expressions of faith. This collection grew out of a 2013 conference held at the University of St Andrews and features a range of authors with expertise in Islam and Iran, covering such diverse aspects as biography, theology, pottery, literature, civic pride, invasion, and cultural diffusion, among others. Overall, this collection provides many new insights into a region that had a significant shaping influence upon Islam.

Khurasan is well known for the many thinkers, such as al-Qushayri and al-Ghazali, it contributed to Islam. D. G. Tor’s all-too-short opening chapter explores exactly why this region should have played such a pivotal role in Sunni Islam for two centuries. Tor discusses the Khurasanian Abbasid revolution and the region’s later autonomy from the Caliphate. She notes the influence of the Khurasanian military and political class, and the events surrounding resistance to the Mongol invasions. Christopher Melchert then discusses the spread of Hanafi theology in Khurasan and Transoxiana and its link to Muji’ism. He investigates biographies, hadith collections, and law books to discern the nature and extent of any overlap, and concludes that imperial favour and local identity played complementary roles in these political and theological developments.

Louise Marlow explores Ps-Mawardi’s Arabic ‘mirror for princes’ and its specific teaching on how to govern the ‘special people’ and the ‘common people’. Her analysis elucidates a number of important points about character development and administrative organisation. This chapter also provides many insights into regional characteristics that enabled a confident contextualising of Islam. The epigraphic pottery of Samanid Iran demonstrates a beauty that also, according to Robert Hillebrand, reflects a Persian renaissance and anti-Arab identity. Hillebrand discusses the minimalist aesthetics and mysterious calligraphy in this pottery, and reflects on the possible meaning of various compositional devices and letter ornamentation. The visuals accompanying this chapter are rich and evocative, and the author also discusses issues of patronage, the social implications of epigraphic experimentation, and even the role of the Samanids as a bridge between East and West. This is possibly the best chapter because of its breadth and depth.

Alptegin’s conquest of Ghazna was a turning point in Islamic advance, and Minoru Inaba situates this event within the broader regional history, discussing Ghazna both before and after the victory. Lying at the frontier with non-Muslims, the battle of Ghazna legitimised Samanid rule, and the city became a new centre of Islamic influence. Persian panegyric poetry tells us much about how Iran was seen, and Roy Mottahedeh explores, in particular, Ghaznavid court panegyric, with its central themes of feasting and fighting. Analysis of several samples and discussion of the performative aspects give glimpses of how Iranian identity was formulated.

A. C. S. Peacock explores the very local aspects of Khurasanian historiography and notes that local identity predominated over the national or trans-national. He traces the emergence of local historiography through various documents and notes the implicit superiority accorded the Khurasani, given that they were not conquered in the same way that the Syrians and Iraqis were. This chapter is followed by Carole Hillenbrand’s largely successful attempt to redress the historical conception of the life of the vizier Khunduri. She reinterprets the evidence concerning his castration, his administrative and diplomatic success, and his loss to Nizam al-Mulk. Her impassioned reassessment is thoughtful and yet objective.

Jürgen Paul discusses the wide range of meaning of the term ‘raʾis’ within the Iranian context, noting its usage...